Lawyers at Cravath
Lawyers at Cravath make track-change compared to the corporate executives they call their clients. That’s true of all lawyers. The sad thing is, these lawyers work their asses off, do nothing productive other than push paper and bill for it, and then walk around with their noses in the air as if they are God’s Gift. Cravath is probably a great place if you have no entrepreneurial skills or couldn’t stomach an ounce of risk in your life. But damn, it sounds boring.
Comment by - October 29, 2007 at 8:30 pm
I have been on both sides of this issue, making a very good paycheck at a named NYC law firm, leaving that to do other things, and spending the past five years teaching (making one tenth or less of what I would be making had I stayed at the law firm). Had I been younger when I started and without family, I may have stayed. The sacrifice was just too much given all of the other things I wanted to do, including spend time with my family. In retrospect, one thing I disliked about NYC practice was that I spent way too much time figuring out how to make already wealthy people more wealth. I did not want that to be my legacy, even if it meant getting relatively wealthy myself. It was a great learning experience, and some of the people I became friends with are great people. I also met my share of a*&%sho&%^s.
To those of you bashing the profession, you are wrong. Partners at top firms can AVERAGE $2 million per year, and you can get there in 8 years. That’s not bad under any circumstances. The real question is whether that’s what you want to do with your life. Having left, I often second-guess leaving the money behind but the rewards of teaching often outweigh the regret. I said to a partner at my old firm one day (also a friend) that I would never be able to retire in style. He said I didn’t need to retire, I teach.
If selling products is what makes you happy, then that’s what you should do. It would be easy, however, to bash that profession too. Fortunately I have more important things to do at the moment.
Comment by - October 29, 2007 at 9:05 pm
I’m not a lawyer but find this blog entertaining. Some guy, supposedly an investment banker, posted this under a previous post. Is there any truth to it?
“You associates at big firms really think you have it good? You make peanuts. $160K is nothing. I work just as many hours as you but my base and bonus reached slightly over $800K last year. I’m only 28. It’s like Tom Wolfe said in Bonfire of the Vanities about I-banker Sherman McCoy’s blue-chip lawyer dad: He’s merely a functionary of the Masters of the Universe. Enjoy that slaves.”
Comment by I-Banker - October 29, 2007 at 3:19 pm
Comment by - October 29, 2007 at 9:12 pm