Date: May 17th, 2008 3:57 PM Author: Khaki big french chef
but after he passes the bar he has a real chance of success. things may be hard hard at first but then the SKY is the limit.
The worst that could happen would be that you are an assistant city attorney, working 40 hours a week, with lots of vacation time and great benefits, and virtual job tenure.
Paralegal has a low ceiling. His school is not TTT. It is LOW 70s on USNWR. Not all schools follow Loyola's pattern. There are some decent regional schools that are well respected in their area. I do not know if Pitt is one or not.
Date: May 17th, 2008 2:09 PM Author: exciting hot temple chad
Annual base salaries for officers hired during
January 2006 or after:
Police Academy (first six months): $25,100 (Annualized)
Upon completion of six months: $32,700
Upon completion of 1 ½ years: $34,000
Upon completion of 2 ½ years: $38,000
Upon completion of 3 ½ years: $41,500
Upon completion of 4 ½ years: $44,100
Upon completion of 5 ½ years: $59,588
* These salaries do not include overtime earnings, night-shift differential, holiday pay and uniform allowance.
When including base salary, average overtime and night shift differential, holiday pay, and uniform allowance, a Police Officer earns over $35,000, on average, in the first year; $45,000, on average, in the second year; $77,000, on average, after 6 years
CAREER OPPORTUNITIES
The NYPD administers promotional exams for each rank above police officer every two-three years.
IT’S A GREAT PLACE TO ADVANCE….
* 1 in 6 uniformed members of the NYPD are Detectives. A Detective’s (3rd Grade) average earning is
$100,000* (Promotion to Detective is not based on a promotional exam, it’s based on merit)
* 1 in 7 uniformed members of the NYPD are Sergeants. A Sergeant’s average earning is $100,000*
* 1 in 20 uniformed members of the NYPD are Lieutenants. A Lieutenant’s average earning is $122,000*
*These salaries include base salary, average overtime and night shift differential, holiday pay, and uniform allowance. The above ranks do enjoy the same additional benefits described above.
RETIREMENT BENEFITS
After 20 years of service, a retired Police Officer will receive:
* Estimated earnings of $50,783 per year, comprised of 50 % of salary, longevity, night shift differential, overtime and an annual $12,000 payment from a Variable Supplement Fund.
- A retired Police Officer could receive approximately $1.9 million when retired assuming a life expectancy of 80 years. This figure is based on the age of appointment of 22 and the age of retirement of 42.
- The dollar amount of $1.9 million is estimated on 2005 salaries and is not adjusted for inflation or for future raises.
- This dollar amount will be higher for uniformed members that retire above the rank of Police Officer.
* Full health benefits
* Annuity Fund and Deferred Compensation Plan, 401K and I.R.A.
— The amount of total compensation from these funds depends on the market value of the portfolio that the officer has chosen while active and varies depending on the amount voluntarily contributed by the individual officer.
Dood I have tons of friends who got pwned by government. There are massive budget cuts and government jobs straight out of law school are nearly impossible. I know someone with the most impressive credentials you could imagine (for the position she seeks) and she can't get a full time offer.
Not at all. A solid NY 7-8 LA 6. There is a lot of misinformation re: government. Budget cuts and demand for government jobs makes it a very difficult market.
yeah government jobs have a lot of job security but entry level is tough. although i hear that because of budget constraints, some places are more willing to hire people with less experience since they can pay them less.
Date: May 17th, 2008 4:45 PM Author: exhilarant bistre principal's office place of business
let's see: 1. You hang out with ugly girls, 2. You have no future, 3. You have 150k of debt.
I'd say you did a pretty good job of pwning yourself. I'm just here to drive that point home you epic failure. You probably have a TTT social life to match your TTT career. PWNED
Date: May 17th, 2008 2:33 PM Author: Swollen hairraiser windowlicker
This is flame. Top 20% at the 3 schools you mentioned would at the very least get you a midlaw job. It most likely would also give you a shot at Big Law.
So, either you are a liar or a fucking asshole and your interviewers picked up on this.
Dude, I have no idea. having transferred, i had a stellar record and got callbacks everywhere, save 1 firm. that's why so many students hate transfers--we have a strong, proven record and a new, name-brand school. low risk.
you'll be fine, though. i had plenty of friends with similar numbers that did just fine. cast the net wide, and knock them dead during interviews. maybe consider other markets outside of new york at larger firms where it would be easy to get back into NYC if you choose. i had one friend who went to Latham in Newark for a summer, then took their offer in NYC.
I'm going to be a 3L, no SA this summer. I'm not even going to bid firms like latham. I'd like people to help me pick out the least selective firms on that list
Eliminate anything in DC. market's tiny so it's very competitive. list below is probably a good start. i know zero about most of these firms. i just eliminated many of the top tier practices i'm familiar with, because that's what i researched and thankfully landed.
send a bunch of resumes out, too. i know someone who landed at gibson dc that way. another at paul weiss NYC.
like i said, i eliminated top-tier shops i'm familiar with, because that's what i'd researched and landed, and they'd be stretches for nyu 2.9. i edited the list quickly, so i'm sure i missed things along the way (like boies). i only interviewed in NYC & DC and know little about many of the firms i left on.
i still think it's a good idea to paper the market with resumes. lots of branch outfits of top firms in "less desirable" areas that would be happy to bring in an NYU grad. like my latham friend in newark. my understanding, based on a handful of anecdotes, is transferring from one shop to another under the same banner's not too tough.
ocs pretty much told me not to bother with eiw, and to focus on using martindale, so I'm thinking I'm pretty fucked. If I even do eiw I want to bid like the 10 least selective firms highest regardless of location.
Let me explain that for you. The other 2/3 of Yale got clerkships.
You can argue all you want but I'm telling you it's not true. I know the people at my school. Top 20% is a lie. You need top 10% just for interviews. I don't know what else to tell you.
Well, our school has an OCI program with like 110 employers. Maybe 60 of them biglaw. I really didn't think there would be much difference between my school and say, GW.
Date: May 17th, 2008 3:51 PM Author: Cerebral Gaping
I don't know dude, sounds like you'll be alright. You went to a bad school, but there are far worse. You had good grades, you found a legal job. Sure it pays shit, but its your starting salary. As you get more experience your earning potential will increase respectively and you'll be fine. Relax. Things could have been a lot worse.
Why not work in government? Sounds like you have the credentials to get such a gig and with the new IBR program your debt will be written off in 10 years. Until then you only pay 15% of your discretionary income.
Date: May 17th, 2008 4:12 PM Author: federal church building people who are hurt
those jobs are super hard to get in big cities. If you have no problem with moving to Wyoming you can easily be a DA. In NYC it's like winning the lottery.
Absolutely preposterous. I have friends going for the LA sun, and Villagroisa's (spelling?) budget cuts have decimated hiring. They want 1-2 yrs of experience.
Date: May 17th, 2008 4:30 PM Author: excitant cruise ship
he's a mayor with no control over county spending (mayor = city fagot)
all you need is a bar card and you usually get hired the same day of your interview (assuming you can interview slightly above the skill level of a monkey)
Date: May 17th, 2008 3:53 PM Author: federal church building people who are hurt
leave the law and join me in the wonderful world of finance. Honest to god you will do better with a TTT JD working in finance than you ever will in law. I spent 10 months after graduation looking for legal work and it was HELL.
Date: May 17th, 2008 4:11 PM Author: federal church building people who are hurt
my law school grades were average and maybe even below the median, my undergrad grades were stellar (3.8ish) and I did major in finance. Law is a waste of time for most tier 2 grads. There isnt enough good work out there for this number of lawyers. The only law firms I was even landing interviews at were dumps and solo shops that paid complete shit and were demanding ridiculous billable hours.
Date: May 17th, 2008 4:27 PM Author: excitant cruise ship
she would've been better off getting an internet law degree for around $6k total. unless tuition is either super cheap or free, T2 schools are a huge scam.
Date: May 17th, 2008 4:24 PM Author: chartreuse rambunctious station reading party
This really cheered me up. I'm a double ivy with 50k in debt. Out of college I got a 70k job. You really fucked yourself. Why didn't anyone care enough to tell you not to do this? You should have gone to a TTT for free! You'd be getting the same job and you wouldn't have had the pressure to get a job.
But don't worry - it'll work out. Just get some practical trial experience and then lateral from the DA's office to a real firm.
Date: May 17th, 2008 9:51 PM Author: Saffron striped hyena
Most ppl who lateral from the DA's office to a decent firm had good law school credentials to begin with, but just wanted to try out the law and order experience. This guy might be able work for a public defender and then do insurance defense.
Date: May 17th, 2008 4:37 PM Author: Glittery abnormal hairy legs
This thread contains awful misinformation. Top 20% at all three schools will get you interviews at Midlaw, at a minimum. At least at Cardozo, top 20% will get you multiple interviews at Biglaw. If OP isn't flame, readers should know that op's experience is not typical for those schools.
I'm sorry but the data, my experiences and my friends' experiences just don't match your claims. Again, http://www.law.com/pdf/nlj/regional_NY.pdf And that's for the entire AM250.
You should know that when a school claims top 20% get big/mid law, that it's really less than that. You should be expecting them to fib a little,
The top 20% thing is just a lie. Schools stretch their actual results, but only so far that they can get away with it. If it's really top 10% they say top 20%.
Date: May 17th, 2008 4:47 PM Author: Glittery abnormal hairy legs
That data includes students that take clerkships or government jobs. Those people taking clerkships or government jobs include people in the top 10% of the class (in the case of clerkships, most if not all are from the top 10%). This data shows that a good portion of the top 20% will get Biglaw. That said, my point is only that top 20% will be good enough to make cutoffs for Biglaw interviews.
All we know is that only 10% got AM250 (which isn't necessarily even biglaw.) You can claim that all the clerkship ppl (like 4%) and all the govt people could also have gotten biglaw, but you're clearly speculating.
Why are you so reactionary re: OP? Rising 2L at 'Dozo?
Date: May 17th, 2008 4:59 PM Author: Glittery abnormal hairy legs
I think people should be realistic that the odds are against them for getting biglaw if they go to a 2nd tier school. But I think it's unfair to imply that you will graduate with crushing debt unless you are top 10% of the class. I cant speak of Loyola, but BLS and Cardozo are solid schools that provide options if you do reasonably well.
Date: May 17th, 2008 5:14 PM Author: federal church building people who are hurt
people who arent actually lawyers already just dont understand what the situation is really like. Until you've actually been on 20 interviews only to be offered the same 50 or 55k a year everywhere you go you just cant accept how bad it is.
Date: May 17th, 2008 4:53 PM Author: Glittery abnormal hairy legs
And one more thing. Not every non-NLJ 250 is contract work. Many will start in the $80k range. Yeah, it's not Biglaw money, but it's also not contract work.
Date: May 17th, 2008 5:05 PM Author: Glittery abnormal hairy legs
I'm done arguing, but that chart does not disprove that a top-20% student at Cardozo or BLS will be nearly guaranteed interviews with a firm paying at least $80k. Yes, there are a relatively low amount of jobs paying that much. That says nothing about top-20% students at these schools.
Date: May 17th, 2008 5:13 PM Author: Glittery abnormal hairy legs
My god. There are very few firms paying $80k. There are also very few people in the top 20%. Even if I'm wrong, doesnt this data seem a bit out of date to you? The top peaks of $135 and 145 are clearly not accurate anymore.
Anyway, I'm done posting. I'm sorry things didn't work out; although hopefully with your grades, something will turn up.
Date: May 17th, 2008 5:11 PM Author: federal church building people who are hurt
whatever, lets pretend these people get these interviews, this segment of the market is paper thin so even if they land one of these jobs the minute they choose to lateral or are forced to leave their options are basically shit. Biglaw still wont have them and you can BASICALLY count on one hand the number of peer firms they can look at before having to move to toilet law like everyone else. For every WEMED there are 20 Stern and Montanas.
Date: May 17th, 2008 5:12 PM Author: Trip Gas Station National Security Agency
Look at the chart again. Dozo/Brooklyn have the same placement as fucking Temple. Temple charges 15k/yr tuition in-state, while Dozo/Brooklyn charge 40k, plus NYC living expenses.
Date: May 17th, 2008 4:54 PM Author: federal church building people who are hurt
this is complete crap. Most of the clerkships are state clerkships are not particulary competitive. Every year NY has dozens of clerkships spots that it cant even fill because they suck. Cardozo people fill these crap clerkship spots in droves anyway. 2nd department appellate division was looking for people during my admission ceremony! Nobody wants to work low level appeals of no-fault shit brought by the Israel & Israels of the world in Brooklyn.
You are completely unemployeable after doing one of these low level state clerkships anyway. Toilet firms see it as a wasted year that you should have spent actually litigating things in court and not drafting Orders to Show Cause like a paralegal.
Date: May 17th, 2008 4:49 PM Author: federal church building people who are hurt
what you are saying is basically BS. As that NALP study revealed "midlaw" does not really exist. There is biglaw and there there is everything else. What you call midlaw is composed of a relatively small number of boutique firms who specialize in a select few areas of law like IP.
Most smallish firms are generalists, they will take whatever case comes through the door and if they find they cant handle it they have a network of lawyers to which they will refer it out. These firms have zero incentive to really differentiate themselves from all the other firms because differentiation is almost impossible to achieve in this profession so they dont try to specialize and they certainly have zero incentive to pay their people more than the other toilet firms so it is a race to the bottom for the most part.
Date: May 17th, 2008 4:56 PM Author: Glittery abnormal hairy legs
The study that people reference- http://www.law.com/pdf/nlj/regional_NY.pdf includes a large percentage of T2 graduates going to "other firm jobs." Not every "other firm job" is contract work. Many pay salaries that will allow you to repay loans in a realistic time frame. Top 20% at all three schools mentioned will land you multiple interviews with such firms.
Date: May 17th, 2008 5:11 PM Author: excitant cruise ship
but after 3-5 yrs, you can open your own office and profit from the labor of idiots who fell for the T2 scam. it all works out in the end, assuming the victim is smart enough to become the predator.
Date: May 17th, 2008 5:17 PM Author: Trip Gas Station National Security Agency
Couldn't a large prestigious firm make a killing by hiring two top 25% t2 grads at 70k instead of one t14 at 160k, having them bill 2000 hrs, and use the savings in labor (2 for the price of 1!) to enjoy a price advantage over competition?
Date: May 17th, 2008 5:21 PM Author: Trip Gas Station National Security Agency
This is assuming that the corporations hiring the big firms go tooth and comb over the resumes of each associate. Work is slowing down now, so things might change. 160k is a hold-over from the dot-com era.
Date: May 17th, 2008 5:43 PM Author: excitant cruise ship
eh, another bad assumption. what's to stop firms from calling the ttt lawyers something other than "associate.?" how about "legal analyst," and then there's no need to mention that these people exist.
Corporations are mad at lawyer salaries because of the RATES firms charge them. As long as partners want to maximize profitability, those rates aren't changing. Partners could slash rates and employ lawyers from lesser schools for less money, but then corporations -- who have to answer to stockholders, etc, etc -- would be unwilling to trust these firms with important matters.
With regard to fees, which do you think is a stronger argument: I am charging you thousands of dollars but we've got a Harvard grad working on it, or we're charging you thousands of dollars and we've got a 'Dozo grad working on it?
Corporate leaders, like law firms, are often risk averse. An officer wont lose his job if he hires the Harvard grad and things go badly. He'll say that he hired the best. However, if he hires the low cost leader he may have a hard time answering to shareholders and superiors if shit hits the fan.
Date: May 17th, 2008 5:20 PM Author: excitant cruise ship
you would think so, but this probably wouldn't work in practice. this is because there's probably a huge difference in iq between a t14 grad and just about anybody at a T2. the few who can hang in the big leagues are already there, and are not stupid enough to work for 1/2 price.
Date: May 17th, 2008 5:25 PM Author: federal church building people who are hurt
lol, you are so wrong its funny so let me enlighten you.
The clients of biglaw are primarily publicly traded companies. The executives of these firms have a fiduciary duty to act in the best interest of the corporation. They insist on having only T14 grads and Vault100 firms do their legal work because anything else opens them up to a charge of breach of fiduciary duty. Money is no option for them since it is the corporations money, they dont care much about the size of the legal bill, but they do care about covering their own ass over any charge they they didnt fulfill their fiduciary duty of care. In fact, the larger their legal bill the more it looks like they did their HW. This is why biglaw firms can get away with charging so much more than all other firms. Shareholders are largely clueless about how they are being ripped off.
Date: May 17th, 2008 5:37 PM Author: excitant cruise ship
i see why you got shit grades in LS.
"The executives of these firms have a fiduciary duty to act in the best interest of the corporation"
this is laughable gibberish. i don't think you understand that the fiduciary standard is met simply by hiring COMPETENT lawyers. there's no need to hire SUPERSTARS. there are other reasons for doing that.
"They insist on having only T14 grads and Vault100 firms do their legal work because anything else opens them up to a charge of breach of fiduciary duty."
LOL! that's right. the T14 lawyers have the secret knowledge not given to the guys who attended places like ucla, usc and vandy. please fucking kill yourself.
"Money is no option (you mean object, right?) for them since it is the corporations money"
this is wrong. corporations are notoriously cheap, and managers are routinely rewarded for saving cash.
"Shareholders are largely clueless about how they are being ripped off"
lol! major shareholders know exactly what's going on with their investments, and would NOT pay big firms big money, unless there were substantial benefits in doing so. you really need to rid yourself of the idea that an investor has the mind of a 10 year old.
Date: May 17th, 2008 5:45 PM Author: federal church building people who are hurt
I did some doc review so I know how the bigfirms are ripping off their clients. I know about the associates who come down to have conference calls about our doc review with the clients accountant for 2 hours where they talk about NOTHING. I know about the paralegals who make 20 copies of things when the client only needs 3 but then they bill the client for all 20. They then go about losing 17 of the 20 copies and make them again!
I know about the doc reviewers who go missing for half the day and everyone knows about it but nobody care because the firm still bills for their hours.
Biglaw is ridiculously wasteful and the clients dont care because it is all about ass covering. Legal expenses are different from all other expenses because lawyers cover the ass of the executives.
They hire superstars because thats the surest way they can be sure no one will challenge their definition of "competence."
They bitch about the 160k starting salaries but no Fortune 500 has left Skadden for WEMED yet and they wont even though WEMED is actually full of biglaw refugees. Why? Because the size of the bill is part of how they meausure competence.
Date: May 17th, 2008 6:05 PM Author: excitant cruise ship
"I did some doc review so I know how the big firms are ripping off their clients. I know about the associates who come down to have conference calls about our doc review with the clients accountant for 2 hours where they talk about NOTHING. I know about the paralegals who make 20 copies of things when the client only needs 3 but then they bill the client for all 20. They then go about losing 17 of the 20 copies and make them again!
I know about the doc reviewers who go missing for half the day and everyone knows about it but nobody care because the firm still bills for their hours."
of course there will be minor scams here and there. but you can't get by with that on a grand scale. remember that corporations have inside attorneys who know when the billing bullshit passes a certain acceptance. we're not talking about some dumb 20 yr old girl dealing with an auto mechanic for the 1st time.
"Biglaw is ridiculously wasteful and the clients don't care because it is all about ass covering. Legal expenses are different from all other expenses because lawyers cover the ass of the executives."
they definitely care about waste. in most cases, it's just not significant enough to call bullshit. we're talking about corporation making hundreds of millions of dollars (if not billions) every year. who the fuck is going to cry about overcharges of a few grand here and there?
also, keep in mind that more and more legal work is being outsourced to sand nigs who work for about 1/3 of what a US lawyer charges.
"They hire superstars because thats the surest way they can be sure no one will challenge their definition of 'competence.'
no. they hire them because they are extreme nerds who willing work 14 hr days and are very conscientious. but, as i mention above, corps are starting to wonder about the need for such high-priced talent, when sand nigs can perform almost as well for a lot less money.
"They bitch about the 160k starting salaries but no Fortune 500 has left Skadden for WEMED yet and they wont even though WEMED is actually full of biglaw refugees. Why? Because the size of the bill is part of how they measure competence."
some places are slow to change. but change is def. happening. 10 yrs ago, you would've laughed at the idea of big companies using a law firm in india or panama. haven't you ever heard the saying that the only constant is change?
you have to wonder why anybody would use these places if the only way to meet a fiduciary duty was to hire firms that exclusively employ t14 grads.
Date: May 17th, 2008 6:13 PM Author: Trip Gas Station National Security Agency
This will never take off imo.
With a falling US dollar (it should have 70% lopped off from its peak imo) and the cultural barriers, sending legal work to india is a bad move, especially since you could hire a T2 firm for less, and have more or less the same quality work.
Date: May 17th, 2008 6:17 PM Author: excitant cruise ship
it's been going on for years. and i mistakenly said the sand nigs work for 1/3 of us lawyers. it's more like 1/10.
"Aug. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Bruce Masterson, chief operating officer of Socrates Media LLC, asked his outside counsel to customize a residential lease for all 50 U.S. states in 2003. The firm's estimate: about $400,000. He rejected that price tag and hired QuisLex, in Hyderabad, India, which did it for $45,000.
`It was good quality,' said Masterson, whose Chicago-based company publishes legal forms on the Internet. `We've been working together ever since.'
Date: May 17th, 2008 5:19 PM Author: federal church building people who are hurt
unfortunately the statistics for solos are very sad. Most solos fail and end up going back to working for someone else. And most of the ones that dont fail still make shit money.
Date: May 17th, 2008 5:23 PM Author: excitant cruise ship
wrong. look around your area. the same lawyers there 10 yrs ago are still there today. and they make quite a bit of money, repeatedly ripping off idiots who get themselves in all sorts of family/criminal problems.
Date: May 17th, 2008 5:24 PM Author: Trip Gas Station National Security Agency
It's possible. But you have to have entrepreneurial moxie. People who can pull a solo would be a successful entrepreneur anywhere, and likely more prosperous.
Date: May 17th, 2008 5:28 PM Author: federal church building people who are hurt
no doubt the old timers are doing well, but what you dont readily see is all the young guns who went solo and closed shop 6 months later. There are tons of people like this.
Date: May 17th, 2008 5:30 PM Author: excitant cruise ship
you're exaggerating the failure rate of solo professionals. 90% of the guys who started up 5 yrs ago are still in business today. we're not talking about restaurants or other high-risk ventures.
Date: May 17th, 2008 5:23 PM Author: Wonderful Base
That sucks man, you have my serious condolences. I'd seriously think about law enforcement or some type of fed gig if possible, you get loan forgiveness(of certain consolidated loans) after 10 years, and pay isn't terrible.
Date: May 17th, 2008 5:39 PM Author: Wonderful Base
Is there any way you can get someone to help you consolidate by rolling it into a 15-30 year fixed? If you have a rich uncle or the rents have mostly paid off their mortgage, a 30-yr fixed is 6.08% with refinancing options later on if it dips. That would lower your interest rate by rolling one into the other and also by spreading it out over 30 years it becomes less soul-crushing.
EDIT: I believe a 30 yr-fixed at around 6% is 900 a month, which would be gay to have to pay for 30 years, but I think it's not the worst shape to be in. By year 20 into your career, plus factoring in time value of money, 900 a month will be shit anyway.
Date: May 17th, 2008 6:08 PM Author: Wonderful Base
Yeah, but the 900 stays constant, whereas your income(hopefully) does not. It would be a huge chunk of your income for the first few years, but once you get around year 6-7 you should be in good shape and even if you barely get raises above the level of inflation, you should be fine by then. If it's feasible, I think that that might be the best solution.
Date: May 17th, 2008 5:28 PM Author: excitant cruise ship
lol @ the assumption that a typical law grad can become a cop. do you have any idea what steet patrol involves? after a couple weeks, he'd want to shot himself in the mouth.
there's a reason the folks at wonderlic warn police agencies NOT to hire somebody who falls outside the normal iq range for this job (104-114).
Date: May 17th, 2008 5:37 PM Author: Wonderful Base
No one said a typical law grad can become a cop. No shit you still have to go to police academy or some sort of police training, your JD isn't going to let you waltz in and get a cushy desk job. No shit it's hard, which is why it has great benefits and attrition is still high.
With that said, it's still a great career where the OP can retire in 20 years(like pharmD or Optometry/DDS), and at least is one where a JD from BLS wouldn't hurt.
Date: May 17th, 2008 6:28 PM Author: excitant cruise ship
it's a shit job, mainly for the dumbs. did you watch the reality show called "the academy"? jesus christ. 95% of the recruits were retarded. even worse, 95% of the people he'd meet on the job would be even dumber (ghetto nigs/spics, trailer park whites, etc).
it makes sense only if you can land a cush job (like beach patrol) in a nice city. good luck with that.
Date: May 17th, 2008 7:01 PM Author: Wonderful Base
Most people you meet are retarded. Yeah, it'd suck ass to have to go to some trailer park because some white trash hit his live-in wife/cousin/niece one too many times. Then again, I might get some major lulz out of it, I don't know. Depending on your personal disposition, it's not a terrible hand to be dealt.
Sure it's an excellent job for dumbs, you can start at around 19, work for 20 years, retire with pension/health care at 39 and do whatever the fuck you want, but as long as you don't apply to SE DC, or shit holes like that, it's not a terrible gig.
You'll learn more in your time of suffering that you would if you got everything you wanted. Consider your challenges a blessing in disguise. You'll struggle early on, but things will get better if you're patient and keep things in perspective.
Date: May 17th, 2008 6:07 PM Author: shaky drab school dysfunction
So what have you done for yourself to get a better job? You have the grades, I imagine you did some summer work, you're probably a social retard/sloth if you can't land a job with everything you have.
Date: May 17th, 2008 5:59 PM Author: fear-inspiring casino
Dude, I'm no expert, but something about the consensus advice offered on this board doesn't add up.
Every other thread is about how you shouldn't even consider going to law school unless you get into Yale or Harvard or something. That can't be right, can it?
I know people who went to crappy schools in my state who do pretty well for themselves. And yet this board makes it sound like you will end up unemployed or cleaning toilets if you don't go to Harvard.
Date: May 17th, 2008 6:04 PM Author: Trip Gas Station National Security Agency
lot of it is exaggeration, no doubt.
problem is that USNWR and Princeton Review paint a distorted picture, which results in people going into a typical T2 like Cardozo or Brooklyn and assuming that they will make the average starting salary stated on the website of 100k, so it's okay to pay 60k/yr in tuition and living expenses because the average grad makes 100k, enabling you to pay it off in 5 years.
Then at 3L, they realize that the 100k jobs don't exist, it's either 160k or 45k.
Date: May 17th, 2008 6:07 PM Author: federal church building people who are hurt
titcr, the only people who are really screwed are the ones who paid full price or close to it. They will never get out of debt if they dont get biglaw. Everyone else will make do after a point. I have very little debt so while I am unhappy with where I am I do not have to worry about debt. Debt is the real problem.
Date: May 17th, 2008 6:16 PM Author: Wonderful Base
No one is starving, but no one is exactly bragging about 60k a year after 3 years of grad school either. It's a bit of hyperbole on this board, but much of what is talked about is credited.
If you want a job that is a lock for 40 hours a week and 6 figures, become a dentist or a pharmacist. I'd personally rimjob some chick before I'd count pills or examine teeth all day, but good jobs nonetheless if you can stomach them.
Date: May 17th, 2008 6:57 PM Author: Wonderful Base
That's true, and Wal-Mart/Costco are getting into Optometry too. Vets might have to align with Petsmart/Banfield too. Pretty soon with socialized medicine we might as well all been electricians.
Date: May 17th, 2008 6:13 PM Author: Wonderful Base
It's prolly closer to the 10k portion if you go to a respected regional school. Having a law degree over not having one will always be a boon towards promotion, and in the long run it'll prolly pay off. (although who cares about reaching equilibrium at age 55). If you can parlay your job into something synergistic, maybe being a mortgage broker, obviously you'll make more than the 10k.
I still regret not going to UF for 4k tuition a year + low ass CoL.
absolutely. you need to pick an occupation by what you actually are interested in, not what is lucrative. otherwise you will be a wealthy but depressed individual, unless you are TTT, you will be a poor and depressed individual. then, you will become a mexican.
Date: May 17th, 2008 6:11 PM Author: beady-eyed property
What doesn't add up is the supply and demand for lawyers.
Cleaning toilets is actually a better deal than TTT law if you want to live in a big city. In NY toilet cleaners are part of a powerful union and they all make in the mid to high teens per hour. Not a great wage but realize that they didn't have to pay for LS or UG. Hell, many are illegals.
I think if you want to be a divorce lawyer out in the middle of nowhere, you might be OK for a while, but that's kind of hiding in a corner from the supply/demand imbalance and hoping it doesn't come and find you.
Date: May 17th, 2008 6:37 PM Author: Trip Gas Station National Security Agency
MBA is worse than law because MBA doesn't actually allow you entry to a field that you would not have had otherwise. More prestige-driven too. Most of value comes from factors external to the academics.
Date: May 17th, 2008 6:54 PM Author: Mind-boggling water buffalo
i wouldn't want a union because they'd corrupt the whole process. if there was one, i never would have gotten biglaw because i didn't know anyone. fuck unions, they can suck my asshole.
Date: May 17th, 2008 6:34 PM Author: Mind-boggling water buffalo
you're an idiot, but maybe you can sue your TTT for fraud if they misrepresented their salary information. if there was no fraud, then this is really your own fault. you chose to take on this debt to attend your TTT.
Date: May 17th, 2008 6:50 PM Author: Pungent lay halford
it's you dude. my retarded step-cousin was median at a t2 like that and landed market LA. he has friends who did the same thing in NY and Chi. granted they are fairly personable, and hustled a lot (good externships and shit) but median grades.
Date: May 17th, 2008 6:54 PM Author: Pungent lay halford
is loyola really a t2? don't get me wrong. i think the entire third tier needs to be wiped off the planet. literally. that said, a smart hustler at a tier-2 can land a market job with median grades. period. and dont' get me wrong, i recognize that half the shitbags on law review at those schools can't get a job.
Date: May 17th, 2008 6:58 PM Author: Pungent lay halford
hrm. well, it's a shithole. regardless i guarantee there are one or two kids there with median grades and market jobs. i won't guarantee they aren't nontrads though.
seriously, grades are critical for normal OCI, but there are kids who get around it. i know of THREE personally. the odds demand that there are obviously plenty more if that's the case.
again, i also acknowledge that the average law student doesn't have the "skills" to pull it off.
Date: May 17th, 2008 7:04 PM Author: Pungent lay halford
read my post below you stupid fuck. i'm not arguing there are more than three kids in your school who can even tie their shoes. this isn't a numbers argument. my point is that if you weren't a fucking tard you'd prob be at a better school, but even if not, if you weren't a fucking tard like most of your classmates you could still make something of yourself despite your school.
Date: May 17th, 2008 7:08 PM Author: beady-eyed property
By "skills" you mean being really hot, sucking dick, and taking it up the ass. Really.
These aren't average-looking straight white males you're talking about here. For a normal white dood to get biglaw out of Loyola LA, you better be well within the top 10% AND have a great personality.
I wonder if there is such a thing as a great personality. Really, who do you know IRL who has "a great personality?" Have you ever given someone something because of their "great personality?"
As long as you're not a total asshole I don't think your personality matters.
Date: May 17th, 2008 7:03 PM Author: Pungent lay halford
LISTEN YOU FUCKING RETARD. YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT THE FUCK I'M SAYING.
THERE ARE PROBABLY ONLY THREE KIDS IN YOUR ENTIRE PIECE OF SHIT LAW SCHOOL WHO ARE SMART/PERSONABLE ENOUGH TO HUSTLE THAT WELL. MY POINT, HOWEVER, IS THAT YOU CAN'T BLAME YOUR SCHOOL. 95% THE APPLICANTS, LIKE YOU, ARE FUCKING RETARDS. WTF DO YOU EXPECT THEM TO DO WITH YOU?
YOU DON'T GET WHY WE THINK SCHOOLS LIKE YOURS SHOULD BE SHUT DOWN. MOST OF THE KIDS, INCLUDING THE HIGH GRADERS, ARE FUNCTIONALLY RETARDED. THAT SAID, A SMART KID WITH THAT EDUCATION COULD MAKE SOMETHING OF HIMSELF. YOU DON'T QUALIFY. HTFH
Maybe a URM. You're Mexican IIRC? I know of some undeserving latino URMs (top 30%) who got good gigs, but that's neither here nor there for most people.
Date: May 17th, 2008 8:46 PM Author: Pungent lay halford
several months ago i did a thread on this subject - losers from TTTs who blame their TTTs for their plight. we all think ttt's should be shut down, but to be clear, dumb fucks like you are half the problem. do your research first. let's be honest, you've never been *that* smart or you wouldn't have ended up there. what made you think you were qualified to pursue a career in law?
Overall, 1L was awesome. Everyone was excited about being a bigtime lawyer. In a way, we sort of felt guilty that we had been given such great opportunity while so many "average people" struggled.
As far as how things progressed, there were two groups.
One group was like me. Slowly, starting with winter 2L and continuing until late 3L, we realized how bad we've been fucked and became bitter about the whole experience. Our conversations went from "we're so excited" to "this school is a fucking joke."
Then the other group. They were in the professors' office every day doing problems with them, to get hints on how to answer the exam. At first I thought they were total douchebags. They had that personality. You know, that "trip your fellow man" weasily personality? I felt they were doomed for life because they weren't team players. Almost all of them transferred. The ones who didn't got decent jobs at OCI. They're still weasily assholes. You can't stand to talk to them for more than a minute. Their personality never really changed. Shitty and miserly at the start. Shitty and miserly at the end.
Date: June 1st, 2008 11:16 AM Author: copper tanning salon mood
The people in the second group understood the fact that you were all competing with one another. It sounds like they were being gunners, but did not do anything below-the-belt such as cheating on exams or disseminating false information.
There's that old joke about two campers being awakened by a marauding bear. One camper puts on his shoes and the other one says, "Why are you putting on your shoes? You can't outrun the bear!" To which the first camper says, "I don't have to outrun the bear!"
The competitive guys were on the ball, and you were not. I'm sure they don't care that everyone else thought they were shitty and miserly—they're laughing all the way to the bank.
Lesson: Life's tough, and sometimes only the shitty and miserly survive. Take this lesson and run with it.
This is the problem with hiring TTT grads in biglaw. You're hiring desperate cut-throat people who others will not enjoy interacting with. I'd much rather have a median student out of Penn than a top 2% out of Brooklyn.
Date: May 31st, 2008 1:40 AM Author: bright wild wrinkle
Listen, if you were stuck with the options you have *right now* you would be in a truly shitty situation. But you're not.
What you can do is work the legal jobs you can get now, build your experience, and in a couple years (or much less, actually) transfer to some other firm that will pay you better.
If you stick with it, you could end up just as well off as any other JD out there.
It won't necessarily be easy, but you're not as fucked as you may think.
I just hope your loans don't have too high an interest rate.
drives a Rolls Royce, lives in a $20 mil. house, has a second $3.5 mil. house in Phoenix. you might be able to do well too (but remember, you'll never be THE Heavy Hitter).
Date: June 1st, 2008 8:54 AM Author: Irradiated nowag
I don't know if OP is a flame or not but I am a practicing atty here in NYC who unfortunately isn't making out all that much $$ wise (in my practice area, if you get to $80K you are doing pretty well). The debt really is the problem, and unfortunately that die has already been cast so now you should focus your efforts on living within your means and finding a 2nd part time job. Most lawyers have them, even as they climb the salary ladder (my 2nd PT job is doing RE closings which net anywhere from $150 to $450/month as an IC). Don't feel bad about your $18/hr job either, my first attorney job back in 2002 paid a pathetic $37K/yr and given that NYC was devastated by 9/11, it was the best job offer I got. :(
Hang in there and welcome to the legal profession, I guess.
Didn't a ton of good employees just get laid off at Bear Stearns and Lehman??? What's up with assuming no job = bad performance??? Did Bear Stearns almost file for chapter 13 because an individual employee fucked up?
Date: June 1st, 2008 7:57 PM Author: Irradiated nowag
Bottom 1/3rd at BLS however the market stunk and I was lucky to get the job offer right after I sat for the bar exam at the end of July (I started working the last week of August). Was there for 3 years and the starting salary was 37K. Of course now I am making more $$ and hopefully depending on the lateral job interviews I am going on, I will be in the 75-90K range..we shall see.