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Old Apr 26, 2007 | 10:09 AM
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Default Lawyer, Law office in so cal?

Hey guys, I am not seeking legal advice.

Just wondering if any members on this board are lawyers in so cal? or know of any lawyers maybe their your parents, sibling friend, fellow z enthusiast, in so cal. that will be willing to just chat with me about life as a lawyer, law as a career, maybe show me how a typical day is for yourself as an attorney?

Reason being is that after I graduated from undergrad last year, I have taken about 1.5 year off to work, gain experience and save money for law school.

It really is about that time for me to get serious and would like to get some inside knowledge of life as an attorney before I take the plunge.

I've already taken the LSAT and was accepted to law school straight out of undergrad, but decided to hold off to save money, gain experience and to make sure law was the right choice. Im really itching to pursue law, but would just like to experience it first hand, esp. through the eyes of those that own their own practice.

I've spoken to some members on this board who are attorneys, but they all live outside of So cal.

I work as a management consultant full time m-f, but I'm willing to take a day off to maybe tour an office? shadow your work? discuss your experience in law as a career.. I'll pay for lunch, I'll pay for your advice, I'm just asking for some insight from those with experience. I'm pretty open to all areas/practice of law, but looking spec for those who have worked/working in medium/BIGlaw firms, or run their own practice.

thanks for the help!

Last edited by mlam002; Apr 26, 2007 at 10:12 AM.
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Old Apr 26, 2007 | 10:14 AM
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where in SoCal are you? and you mentioned big firm life -- are you prepared to sell you soul to the devil?

(thus spake a big-firm OC lawyer)
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Old Apr 26, 2007 | 10:43 AM
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I am finishing last semester of law school, if that counts. I also recently sold my soul, but think I got a fair price for it. I'd definitely be willing to talk to you if you're interested. And I never turn down a free lunch.

Let me know.

Also, Blaukal, where are you at? I have a feeling (wild guessing from your name) that we've met.
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Old Apr 26, 2007 | 11:13 AM
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Korki, that explains a lot. I'm at one of those 1,000 person firms that pays top end of the salary and wants to be a NY law firm but isn't... 2000 grad from U. of MN. What school, and where'd you end up (so I can place you in the proper place in the prestige heirarchy)?

BTW, what happened to the OP?
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Old Apr 26, 2007 | 11:34 AM
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You're not who I thought you were, I don't think. I was at a reception once, drinking heavily, and vaguely remember talking to someone from a big firm about cars and the Z in particular. This is before I was even looking for one, so I don't remember many specifics, but I think he had a roadster.

In any event, I'm at UCLA (for 2 weeks until graduation, so ready to be done). I'm at one of those New York firms that has the tiny (< 50 people) LA Office. I think we have 700 people firm-wide. I don't want to post the name (in case somebody stumbles on here and sees some of my antics in other threads), but we're up there.

I'm curious about the OP also. A real law student in training would have appointments by now (which isn't a good thing).
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Old Apr 26, 2007 | 12:46 PM
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Originally Posted by blaukal
where in SoCal are you? and you mentioned big firm life -- are you prepared to sell you soul to the devil?

(thus spake a big-firm OC lawyer)
Hey, I'm located in the westwood/ucla area. LOL I've heard about BIG law and selling your soul.... am I prepared? umm.. I'm not sure.. I guess I am aiming for a big law firm, then eventually... starting my own practice? I know it sounds idealistic being that I'm not in law school, but thats just a plan that I have layed out in my head. any who, I'll shoot you a PM! thanks!
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Old Apr 26, 2007 | 12:52 PM
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Originally Posted by Korki Buchek
You're not who I thought you were, I don't think. I was at a reception once, drinking heavily, and vaguely remember talking to someone from a big firm about cars and the Z in particular. This is before I was even looking for one, so I don't remember many specifics, but I think he had a roadster.

In any event, I'm at UCLA (for 2 weeks until graduation, so ready to be done). I'm at one of those New York firms that has the tiny (< 50 people) LA Office. I think we have 700 people firm-wide. I don't want to post the name (in case somebody stumbles on here and sees some of my antics in other threads), but we're up there.

I'm curious about the OP also. A real law student in training would have appointments by now (which isn't a good thing).
Hey I actually graduated from UCLA undergrad last year.. I also work in the UCLA/westwood area... I do have a few questions for you, but I'll save that for PM.. thanks for the help !
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Old Apr 26, 2007 | 04:38 PM
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What law school did you get into? Life as a lawyer is very different depending on what kind of a law firm you get hired by. If you graduate from a very good law school and have very good grades, you will get hired by a large, pretigous national or international firm. I can tell you about that life.

If you end up at a smaller firm or hang out your own shingle your life (and income) will be very different and I don't know much about that.
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Old Apr 26, 2007 | 04:44 PM
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This is an interesting thread...I am also looking into attending law school. Any one in the OC want to help me out?
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Old Apr 26, 2007 | 05:50 PM
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Originally Posted by Panda350z
This is an interesting thread...I am also looking into attending law school. Any one in the OC want to help me out?
I am also looking at law school, and have been. However im only at my first year in college. Transfer in 1 more year, then finish my under grad in 2. Hopefully. Then take LSATs and go to Law School. Thats the plan. Richard EVO ill shoot you a PM.

Oh and to all the people on this thread looking to be a lawyer or are in law school......what did you undergrad in? What kind of LSAT scores did you guys get? Thanks!
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Old Apr 27, 2007 | 10:04 AM
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Originally Posted by kourosH
Oh and to all the people on this thread looking to be a lawyer or are in law school......what did you undergrad in? What kind of LSAT scores did you guys get? Thanks!
Comparative literature -- what you major in really doesn't matter. Unless you're an engineering or hard science major -- they are always in high demand for IP work, and typically get paid a little more than the masses. A lot of people that know they want to be lawyers go the political science route, but it's not like those people get better grades or anything. IMO, unless you're a genius, it all ends up being about your writing and test-taking skills (and endurance).

As to the LSAT -- it's the gatekeeper to getting into a top 20 school. I hit the 99th percentile, and had a bunch of law school opportunities; and big law firms will really only hire from the top 25% of the top 20 law schools, subject to some exceptions. My experience is that it is really, really competitive, even at the top law schools, if you want to get a big firm job and make $145k to start (which is now the going rate for incoming grads). If you just want to save the world, or chase ambulances, you can go to any law school and graduate anywhere in your class.

If you're really serious about selling your soul, check out some blog-sites like abovethelaw .com, infirmation .com and monkeyscribe .com, and see how petty, egocentric and self-absorbed us big firm lawyers are. I still think I made the right choice, but it's not for everyone. For example, less than 1% of big firm lawyers make partner at the firm they started at out of law school. Turnover is huge. Minorities and women are seriously underrepresented. Your life is measured in 6 minute increments. You regularly pull all-nighters, and regularly work weekends.

If you're trying to make partner (and not just hide in the corner and get a huge salary until they kick you out), workweeks at big firms are, on average, about 50-60 hours, with spikes of 80 hours or more.

Last year was busy for me -- I ended up billing (which is the way we measure our lives) 2,500 hours, and "working" (including business development, administrative matters and sitting in the office during working hours reading the internet) over 3,000 hours (60 hours/week with 2 weeks vacay); one month I billed 330 hours (basically 12 hours/day and 7days/week for the month). Not pretty, but it certainly pays well.

I could go on forever, but that's probably enough. Note that I tend to be a little more outspoken about this stuff than some people -- I've talked to lawyers who love what they do; but they're crazy. I'm in it because of the pay. Sell-outs ftw, no?
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Old Apr 27, 2007 | 11:35 AM
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Originally Posted by blaukal
Comparative literature -- what you major in really doesn't matter. Unless you're an engineering or hard science major -- they are always in high demand for IP work, and typically get paid a little more than the masses. A lot of people that know they want to be lawyers go the political science route, but it's not like those people get better grades or anything. IMO, unless you're a genius, it all ends up being about your writing and test-taking skills (and endurance).

As to the LSAT -- it's the gatekeeper to getting into a top 20 school. I hit the 99th percentile, and had a bunch of law school opportunities; and big law firms will really only hire from the top 25% of the top 20 law schools, subject to some exceptions. My experience is that it is really, really competitive, even at the top law schools, if you want to get a big firm job and make $145k to start (which is now the going rate for incoming grads). If you just want to save the world, or chase ambulances, you can go to any law school and graduate anywhere in your class.

If you're really serious about selling your soul, check out some blog-sites like abovethelaw .com, infirmation .com and monkeyscribe .com, and see how petty, egocentric and self-absorbed us big firm lawyers are. I still think I made the right choice, but it's not for everyone. For example, less than 1% of big firm lawyers make partner at the firm they started at out of law school. Turnover is huge. Minorities and women are seriously underrepresented. Your life is measured in 6 minute increments. You regularly pull all-nighters, and regularly work weekends.

If you're trying to make partner (and not just hide in the corner and get a huge salary until they kick you out), workweeks at big firms are, on average, about 50-60 hours, with spikes of 80 hours or more.

Last year was busy for me -- I ended up billing (which is the way we measure our lives) 2,500 hours, and "working" (including business development, administrative matters and sitting in the office during working hours reading the internet) over 3,000 hours (60 hours/week with 2 weeks vacay); one month I billed 330 hours (basically 12 hours/day and 7days/week for the month). Not pretty, but it certainly pays well.

I could go on forever, but that's probably enough. Note that I tend to be a little more outspoken about this stuff than some people -- I've talked to lawyers who love what they do; but they're crazy. I'm in it because of the pay. Sell-outs ftw, no?
Thanks for the summary, if you dont mind me asking: Which law school did you go to, and what classes/prep did you take for LSATs. Thanks!
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Old Apr 27, 2007 | 11:52 AM
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Originally Posted by kourosH
I am also looking at law school, and have been. However im only at my first year in college. Transfer in 1 more year, then finish my under grad in 2. Hopefully. Then take LSATs and go to Law School. Thats the plan. Richard EVO ill shoot you a PM.

Oh and to all the people on this thread looking to be a lawyer or are in law school......what did you undergrad in? What kind of LSAT scores did you guys get? Thanks!

stop hijacking my thread!!!
jk jk.. its nice to see other members on this board going through what I possibly will be going through very soon, good luck to everyone!!
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Old Apr 27, 2007 | 11:55 AM
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Originally Posted by blaukal
Comparative literature -- what you major in really doesn't matter. Unless you're an engineering or hard science major -- they are always in high demand for IP work, and typically get paid a little more than the masses. A lot of people that know they want to be lawyers go the political science route, but it's not like those people get better grades or anything. IMO, unless you're a genius, it all ends up being about your writing and test-taking skills (and endurance).

As to the LSAT -- it's the gatekeeper to getting into a top 20 school. I hit the 99th percentile, and had a bunch of law school opportunities; and big law firms will really only hire from the top 25% of the top 20 law schools, subject to some exceptions. My experience is that it is really, really competitive, even at the top law schools, if you want to get a big firm job and make $145k to start (which is now the going rate for incoming grads). If you just want to save the world, or chase ambulances, you can go to any law school and graduate anywhere in your class.

If you're really serious about selling your soul, check out some blog-sites like abovethelaw .com, infirmation .com and monkeyscribe .com, and see how petty, egocentric and self-absorbed us big firm lawyers are. I still think I made the right choice, but it's not for everyone. For example, less than 1% of big firm lawyers make partner at the firm they started at out of law school. Turnover is huge. Minorities and women are seriously underrepresented. Your life is measured in 6 minute increments. You regularly pull all-nighters, and regularly work weekends.

If you're trying to make partner (and not just hide in the corner and get a huge salary until they kick you out), workweeks at big firms are, on average, about 50-60 hours, with spikes of 80 hours or more.

Last year was busy for me -- I ended up billing (which is the way we measure our lives) 2,500 hours, and "working" (including business development, administrative matters and sitting in the office during working hours reading the internet) over 3,000 hours (60 hours/week with 2 weeks vacay); one month I billed 330 hours (basically 12 hours/day and 7days/week for the month). Not pretty, but it certainly pays well.

I could go on forever, but that's probably enough. Note that I tend to be a little more outspoken about this stuff than some people -- I've talked to lawyers who love what they do; but they're crazy. I'm in it because of the pay. Sell-outs ftw, no?
wow that is some really good insight into life in BIGlaw blaukal.. thanks!, I'll def. be flipping through some of those blogs you mentioned.

I will def. be PM some of you guys in this thread if you dont' mind, but not soon, currently staffed on a client site for work. but thank you again for providing any insight into my request! and congrats on all you soon to be lawyers.. how much I would give to be in your positions.
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Old Apr 27, 2007 | 12:05 PM
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My bet is that they'll all go up to $160,000 by the end of the year. 2,500 billed is crazy; performance based bonus = $$! Also, are you in GP? 330 hr/mo must have been a closing, no?

As far as hiring, top 25% for big firms is about right. UCLA promises 50% can get into big firms which is not accurate. But, also, I know some very charming people that got in being less than 50%. Also, very uncharming people can have trouble getting in with > 25%, even for mid-sized firms that don't pay market rate, don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

If you want to go to a big firm, take teh LSAT seriously. I took a bootleg course where this guy basically begged to get us a room on campus and then proceeded to completely give us impractical information, consistently miss more problems than people in the course, and give anti-motivational talks (e.g. you can't expect to do this well on the actual test), and refused to guarantee any score increase. I was also in Mexico 3 weeks before the exam. Bad idea, seriously. Take one of the big courses, do what they tell you to do, and you'll end up where you're supposed to.

[Edit: Petty, egocentric and self-absorbed is pretty accurate. For me at least. Not studying because I have a retroactive pass-fail option FTW!]

Last edited by Korki Buchek; Apr 27, 2007 at 12:50 PM.
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Old Apr 27, 2007 | 10:53 PM
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Originally Posted by kourosH
Thanks for the summary, if you dont mind me asking: Which law school did you go to, and what classes/prep did you take for LSATs. Thanks!
U of MN -- like USC, but 1/3 the price. I didn't take a prep class -- I just studied a Barron's book on my own -- all you really need to do IMO is take a crapload of practice tests so you know what's coming. Oh, and learn how to do the "analytical" problems fairly quickly. If you want to take a class to force yourself to do this, great. If you are self-motivated to study, don't waste your money, since the books tell you the same thing the speaker will.

But then again, I have always been a good test taker, so perhaps someone ni addition to Korki can weigh in and say how a prep class did or did not help.
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Old Apr 27, 2007 | 10:58 PM
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Originally Posted by Korki Buchek
My bet is that they'll all go up to $160,000 by the end of the year. 2,500 billed is crazy; performance based bonus = $$! Also, are you in GP? 330 hr/mo must have been a closing, no?
California firms won't raise again for a while, since this last one was so big. You may not have noticed, since law students in my experience focus on starting salaries, but this last pay scale bump was pretty significant at the higher levels of the scale -- firms are going to have a hard time absorbing the extra costs and still showing a strong year over year improvement in partner profits. NY has traditionally had a higher scale than other "major" markets like SF, LA and CHI, and so there isn't really any need (in west coast firms' minds) to go to the NY $160 scale.
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Old Apr 28, 2007 | 12:27 AM
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I heard one firm split between offices (New York = 160; LA = 145); still a ton of money, but just seems wrong.

I asked my girlfriend about the test prep because she took the big reputable course. She said it helped tons because they give you a ton of practice, force you to study, and help you look for similarities in the questions. I took a bootleg course in the basement of U Washington, and ended up on test day doing significantly (5 points about) worse than I was doing on the beach, in Mexico, before I started paying attention to the "techniques" offered by the instructor.

The whole thing is a mind game, which, from my experience, basically sets the tone for the four years that follow (admissions process to graduation).
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Old May 7, 2007 | 08:25 AM
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Korki, I have to admit I was wrong, and apologize. This just in:

Originally Posted by law.com
The dominoes are falling in the latest round of associate salary increases.
O'Melveny & Myers and Morrison & Foerster announced that they'll follow Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe's lead and raise pay for California first-year associates to $160,000. Orrick made the move Thursday.
Other big California-origin firms, such as Latham & Watkins and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, stayed on the sidelines Friday, declining to comment on the matter.
"I think, because Orrick and O'Melveny are strong California firms, that their compatriots will fall in line," said legal recruiter Avis Caravello, before **** added its announcement. "It would be very surprising if they didn't."
When big New York firms raised associate salaries to a scale starting at $160,000, they boosted not only New York associates, but their California colleagues as well.
Smaller California firms with high profits like Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges and Keker & Van Nest followed suit, but the largest California-based firms resisted, raising in-state associates to a $145,000 scale earlier this year and matching the $160,000 rate only in major East Coast markets.
O'Melveny talent development partner Brian Brooks said his firm expected others to follow Orrick, so O'Melveny decided to move quickly. "We didn't want to be laggards on that," he said. O'Melveny's raises start May 1, as do ****'s. Orrick's kick in starting June 1.
"It's important to signal to clients that we provide access to the very best talent, and it's important for us to signal to our associates that we're willing to pay for it," Brooks said.
All of O'Melveny's and ****'s U.S. offices are now at the $160,000 New York scale. For ****, that includes offices in Denver, Walnut Creek, Calif., and Sacramento. Orrick's Thursday announcement hiked Sacramento and the Pacific Northwest to a scale starting at $145,000.
Firm leaders said the quick change of heart about the bicoastal salary split had to do with the changing market.
"Associate compensation is a market business," said Keith Wetmore, **** chairman. "We want to make sure we are at market."
The cost for Orrick, O'Melveny and ****, which have large California associate populations, will no doubt be significant. It's a cost that industry observers say might be too much for others to bear.
"I think it's easier for the global California firms, it's kind of a no-brainer really, but it puts more pressure on the midsized California firms," Caravello said. "This is just another ***** in the armor that makes the divide more and more apparent."
Other firms that adopted the split scale earlier this year held back Friday. Boston-based Bingham McCutchen, which has about a third of its nearly 1,000 lawyers in California, was among them.
"All we can say at this point is that we are monitoring the situation, but I don't expect that we will make any immediate moves," said Hank Shafran, Bingham's director of communications.
A Heller Ehrman spokesman said there was no news to report Friday. Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker and Cooley Godward Kronish said no one was available to comment on Friday. Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman declined to comment. Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton; Thelen Reid Brown Raysman & Steiner; and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati did not return phone calls.
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Old May 7, 2007 | 11:00 AM
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Damn, O'Melveny finally went up for West Coast offices too. I figured they couldn't keep it split up for long.

Word on the street is that it's just coming out of the bonuses ... and the recruiting lunches.
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