if you think your job sucks, read the blog of a temporary attorney in new york city. people outside of the legal profession are not aware of the opportunities available to graduates of law schools outside of the top 15 schools. most law students graduate with very little earning potential. this boggles most people's minds, including the law graduates who were defrauded into attending law school in the first place by the second tier law school published employment statistics. (hint: they *lie*.) [most schools have gotten savvy about lying - but mine... let's just say that the heads of career services were escorted out by security guards my first year in school. no, they weren't very good at covering their tracks. and to quote donald trump: YOU'RE FIRED!]
in any event, most people who graduate from average law schools end up either (1) unemployed, (2) barely subsisting in a small firm, or (3) temping.
the people who can afford to work in a small firm at first do eventually work their way up into more lucrative positions that carry more responsibility. however, since many people graduate with over $100k in student loans, the $40k-a-year-in-manhattan salary isn't feasible. oh, and many small firms don't offer benefits for entry level attorneys.
so this leaves temping, a dead-end but lucrative option. the upside is, it's lucrative. the downside is, the more you do it, the less likely you are to be picked up by a law firm as an associate. this means you are stuck. the game is... temp while looking around for a full time position. and do so within a year. and in the meantime, pay off as many loans as you possibly can. this way, you can conceivably take a low paying small firm job after paying off loans temping.
temping pays well. and the work itself isn't terribly stressful. you can make over $100k a year doing the intellectual equivalent of picking your behind. (i don't make that amount, because i wasn't an admitted attorney when i was hired on this project, but i make enough to live comfortably and save a little money.) however, the stress comes in other forms: at some firms, you can be fired for taking an extended bathroom break or having to go to a funeral. sometimes, they expect 80 hour work weeks with only one half hour lunch break each day, and your actions are monitored closely by roving associates with inflated egos. and the rest? just read the blog link above.
(i just want to say that, even though i am a temporary attorney, i have been placed in a humane environment with decent people. this is probably because i am not working for a law firm; i am working for a large financial services institution that is acting as an independent examiner, as mandated by a judge after an SEC investigation of a large corporation. other than the fact that i have no job stability, i really have no complaints. i can say that i am very lucky. most people i know are stuck temping in legal sweatshops like PAUL WEISS - don't work there! - or are making pennies doing personal injury / insurance defense work.)
1 comment:
o fellow crappy law school classmate... (the school, not you)
you, my dear, are one of the truly lucky ones. you have landed yourself a coveted staff attorney position. we are not worthy. :)
Post a Comment