u/Desperate_Mammoth_67

Left fed govt last year during the whole quit or be fired fiasco. Joined a v5 doing m&a work for my specialty that I did at the feds.

the biglaw money is obviously insanely nice, but I would love to go back to my job at the fed govt where my hours and time was respected and a fraction of the work I currently put in.

everyone in my life who benefits from me having said biglaw money (but does not have to suffer through earning it like I do) has been guilting me and telling me I’d be making a massive mistake by going back to govt

can someone who isn’t my gf or senior parents please give some input

basically title. I got staffed on a bunch of deals (fine) that weren’t clear about when they would pick up. they all picked up at once, and somehow are all run by extremely unreasonable corporate teams

somehow today ive gotten probably 20+ same day requests, and I literally do not have enough time in the day to complete even a fraction of them on time.

my partners are obviously pissed off at me but it’s not like I didn’t communicate how busy I was before the deadline passed - we’re talking about an insane amount of “day of please give comments by EOD” requests that I couldn’t possibly have anticipated as none of these deals are even close to signing

edit: wrote this while enjoying my one cigarette break I could fit in

title basically

we get an email with new clients/matters each day - I recognize one and have a pretty good idea as to what the deal will be

its an industry I have deep connections/pre legal experience in and would love to do the deal to try and build my “practice“ in said industry. I’m a junior associate in a specialty like tax. I would pitch it from the perspective of I know a lot about the business the client does and it’s nuances.

would it be weird to reach out to the head of my PG and ask to be staffed on it if the deal team staffs my group? we have a good/personable relationship and I am regarded as doing good work/not a liability

they’re just leagues below what I would expect from someone with his creativity and level of career success

not to mention whoever is playing the visuals live clearly doesn’t listen to his music at all

Hi all

when I joined my firm from the feds I took a two year class cut because I didn’t have any deal experience. definitely warranted because as we all know substantive knowledge is one thing but deal work is its own beast requiring its own skills.

at this point however, I feel I have a really good grasp of deal work. I received multiple comments on my mid-year review stating something to the effect of “performs above class year expectations.”

After another year or two, would it be reasonable to ask for a two year class bump (that’s the cut I took coming in)? I feel like at that point I will 100% be performing at my true class year level, as evidenced by the feedback I received. I am a junior but am already handling mid-level work streams entirely by myself and am the only associate handling my specialty’s area for deals I am staffed on, working directly below partners and submitting deliverables with little to zero oversight by my partner.

implicit in my ask would be that I could easily take a lateral offer where I am brought in at my correct class year. I want to stay at my firm because it is a v5 with above market bonus comp.

as we all know, associate pay jumps substantially in years 3-4, hence why I want the bump

seriously. her set at Hollywood bowl was absolutely brutal