Someone messaged me for an update and hope this may be a useful (individual (YMMV)) datapoint.
Still in big law, still like it, or it may be more accurate to say that I still think it’s worth it for where I’m at in life. Without revealing too much, I changed firms and am still at a firm in the same V10 range in the same practice group.
Over the three full years I’ve been over 2000 hours each year, with the high point being just under 2200 and the busiest month being ~250 hours. Still have received positive reviews across the board and have had some cool experiences through the job, like visiting clients and spending time in an international office.
The reason for the firm change is somewhat related to my current outlook on staying in big law. To put it plainly, I plan to stay in as long as I feel that I can meet my personal obligations (family, friends, significant other, etc.) in the way that I think I need to so that I can live a happy life. Obviously, there are sacrifices but I’ve been able to meet that requirement thus far and think that will continue over the short to medium term. The biggest obstacle in the job is unpredictable work flow and I’ve found that as you become more senior and have more responsibility on transactions that becomes less of an issue (but it is still an issue at any level).
The firm change is related because the way I am approaching the job is to pursue partnership until proven to not be worth it. The longer you stay in, the longer you make very good money and the better the exit options, generally, become. Shoot for the moon and you’ll land among the stars type thought process. There were some specific partner oddities that put some stress on the above requirement, but the bigger reason was that, while I had good relationships with the partners I worked with, I do not think they were the types of relationships where they would expend their resources to advance my career. Part of that was due to the proximity of the partners I was closest with to retirement. I could be wrong, but I think interests are more aligned when the person in power has a longer time horizon where I can continue to be beneficial to them as my career advances. Sounds a bit callous but at the end of the day people like working with you because you make their life easier and make clients like using the firm.
A friend I used to work with went in house and got a job that really does seem great. Solid money (i think it was about first year associate salary but I think the progression was much slower), strict 40 hours/week work, good benefits, team seemed cool enough. He basically reached out to me and said I’d have an inside track if I wanted to make the switch. I talked to him a bit and the actual work sounded incredibly boring, not to say any work in big law is “exciting” but it was more mundane by comparison. I came to the conclusion that before I have kids, I think I’d rather make as much money as possible and trade off some free time. Once there is a family in the picture, the value of my time increases exponentially.
A few random thoughts:
I heard a partner say something along the lines of “you won’t make partner or cement your career in your first few years but you can ruin it”. I think the ruin it bit is limited to big law not law at large, but I’m sure someone could ruin it generally. This aligns with my thought process if you’re trying to approach this long term that initially it’s about survival and learning the job generally. Don’t over extend yourself. Don’t burn bridges. Be nice to people. Do good work. You’re probably not going to develop a speciality until the mid to senior level.
Focus on learning the basics and take on more responsibility while you are in relatively comfortable environments. For me, this was in the form of really taking swings at things above my level while working with a mid level that was great and a partner that was very chill. You’re going to make mistakes and obvious ones at first. Once you get your feet under you and know some people, it’s better to do it in front of people that know you’re doing your best and work hard rather than some partner in a different office you might not work with again.
Work flow unpredictability can be slightly combatted if you’re the one pushing things along when possible. People will develop an opinion of you relatively quickly and if their opinion is that you’re responsive and on the spot, they’re more likely to not notice or not mention if you’re a little slow on something every once in a while. If people have to push you to do anything you’re a squeaky wheel and they will have you top of mind because you’re a liability they have to be on top of.
My impression has been that people that enjoy this job or last in it are often the type of people that don’t overreact to stress. I think that’s sort of inherent to who you are and probably not able to be changed. I always remind myself that this job consists of sending emails in air conditioning. You’re not working in a 5 ft deep ditch in below freezing temperatures making barely enough to get by.
Pick up the phone and call people. Ask them how their day is going. You’re working with them not against them. For whatever reason, a phone call is much more likely to get someone to do something or send an email to their client than an email from you is.
Only complain about work to people at or below your level. Probably seems obvious but keep it in mind.
I think the largest big law firms are incentivized to be the last to adopt AI in a way that replaces associates. Big law firms are companies that sell an inventory of hours. Efficiency reduces the amount of inventory they can sell. It’s rare any firm is turning down work because they don’t have the man power. I’m borderline convinced firms bloat their computers with software so that everything moves a bit slower. Probably a conspiracy theory. When it does happen, it will be because clients demand it. Another conspiracy theory I have is that the headlines about lawyers looking like idiots by using AI are promoted somehow behind the scenes to make clients scared to push law firms to adopt and use AI broadly. There are a million holes that can be poked this in this thought process but eh, one can dream.
Thank someone when they explain something. Don’t be afraid to say “sorry but I just want to make sure you have the background on this” to a partner. Partners move quickly and don’t know what’s in the weeds most of the time. Most will appreciate you preventing them from making a mistake and if it’s inconsequential they’re probably not going to be mad unless you said something stupid.
Don’t say stupid things.