Blog

bethb March 26, 2007

As a 1L I have received countless notes from firms in my school mailbox over the past year.  I accumulated more pens than I know what to do with, and more invitations to “Meet and greet” receptions than a 1L could possibly have time for.  I have no idea which firms gave me what, or which firms had their receptions at the best locations.  My favorite, by far, was a huge bar of solid milk chocolate that greeted me one Monday morning, in a plain white wrapper, and the name of a firm written in red block letters- though for the life of me, I cannot remember the name of even that firm. I wonder if I should base my decision of firms I’m interested in purely on what gifts they can come up with.  If I could remember the name of the chocolate firm, I might start there.  Though, chocolate firm, if you’re out there: I promise I’ll remember your name next year if you give me a bar of dark chocolate rather than milk…

Kalokagathia March 26, 2007

haha, that reminded me that there is another factor to the gift giving that I had forgotten (and do not think has any real impact regardless) but I know classmates who got hungry midway through a long day of interviewing and signed up for an open slot or two with the firms giving away the good chocolate. Now, from the law firm’s perspective one might think that this is good - right? I mean, if you had open interview times - why not interview more students and try to sell them on your firm? Who knows, you might find a good match. While this is true, I doubt it happens often - and on the student side - I hate to say it, but it became somewhat of a joke. Clearly we could have run down to the cafeteria and bought a snack - but what’s twenty minutes for free chocolate and the chance at having a funny or akward interview story to tell later on? “so why are you interested in our firm?” “well, my tummy was growling… so…” “haha, you have a sense of humor - we like that at x&x firm” “no. seriously. I don’t even know what city you are located in. I am just damn hungry”

Eralon March 26, 2007

This is sadly true.  I can’t believe how much money is spent on recruiting. One of my friends was the only summer at a firm and they spent $10,000 recruiting him.  Just one person.  And think about the places that double or triple that… plus their hotel and flight costs and OCI and what not… I was thinking that some of that money might be better spent retaining associates.  I have heard rumors that it costs tens of thousands of dollars to replace an associate who has left (maybe hundreds of thousands).  That’s SO much training time out the door… why not do things to keep your associates happier?  Work on your flex time policy or something like that.  I’m not moved by Swag (though I am sure I’ll appreciate the free meals this summer as I have throughout callback season) and I’d be much more likely to join a firm who was interested in keeping me around and had policies that demonstrated that.

Kalokagathia March 27, 2007

my point exactly! we’re not saying that recruiting is a bad thing - it has just gotten out of control and the competition is circular - it is a first-mover problem that is unlikely to go away without a group initiative or third party (nalp) intervention. Even if the recruiting and summer program budget is only a fraction of the available funds in the budgeting process - it adds up. I would rather see the budget shifted to reward those who have put in their time. I went to law school to begin a career. I had hoped (and still do hope) that I will make partner at a firm someday. While the diminishing opportunities to do so at the equity level will harm us all, the gap will widen the greatest for women and minorities as they are already under-represented. Whether I can convince people to be concerned about the gap, or not, I hope that at least we can all agree that raising the bar for advancement in this career is not a positive step for any of us. At least as long as we remain human and handicapped by our inability to add days to the week or hours to our days… or years to our lives.

Manamana March 27, 2007

I heartily agree with the sentiment that recruitment is good, and the insane speed-dating/greek rush/swag show that on-campus interviews have become is not up my ally.  When deciding what firm I was selecting, the more ostentatious the recruiting, the less inclined I was to have a favorable impression.  I ended up at a firm that did nothing fabulous so far as throwing their money around, and I know I chose them because of the things that mattered in the end (including, but not limited to, quality work, a positive firm culture, office size, and national presence).  (At least that was my criteria; I expect that it depends on the individual.)  I felt like I was going to an adult workplace, rather than an office where I felt guilty before I’d even gotten an offer because of the insane amount of money they spent taking me out to a huge lunch in midtown. My only caveat is that the firms giving out small coffee giftcards were awesome, since I really needed the caffeine.

dsucher March 28, 2007

<i>Besides salaries (which are ever increasing - and I am hesitant to poo poo them until I learn what it is like to live in New York while paying off massive loans, etc) - are law firms overspending in some areas?</i> I am currently living in New York while paying off my massive law school student loans. I’m not employed by BigLaw - I never applied. (When I was in law school, unnerved by watching my peers compete for BigLaw positions, my favorite professor comforted me by pointing out that the only thing I had in common with them is that we happened to be in law school at the same time.) My point being, even in New York, you can survive under the weight of those staggering loans without selling your soul for a BigLaw salary. Sure, I’d like to make more money. I could use a second computer, more books, more time at the glassblowing studio. I never expect to own a house, or even a condo. I’m not going to get rich being happy. But I am getting by comfortably, to the extent that I never have to worry about whether I will be able to pay the bills, even if I go out to eat more than I think I should that month.

KHernan881 March 28, 2007

I too was a little caught off guard with all the swag that came my way during interview season.  The one I felt the most guilty about was a bottle of champagne that must have already been mailed when I called to turn down the offer. The champagne arrived the next day and I felt terrible. The strange thing is that firms still seem to have money to waste on summers that have already accepted offers.  The nature of the give-aways changes however, to more advertising in nature.  OCI brought me practical things like USB keys, pens, cookies, etc.  During the summer they gave us shirts, luggage tags, a fleece jacket and the like.  Now that I’ve accepted the return offer they still send things periodically like a laptop bag I just got in the mail unexpectedly last week.  I feel like now I am expected to advertise for the firm, more than consume the gifts.

Kalokagathia March 30, 2007

dsucher - that is wonderful to hear! I always try to remind myself that if anyone can afford to live in NYC it must be a lawyer, right? Plenty of people without such salaries are able to do so - granted I can’t speak to the specifics of their situation of course - but they aren’t all living in cardboard boxes. I think I tend to be over concerned about these things because I have never had massive debt of any sort - and debt of any kind frightens me (along with the fact that my only compass for cost of living are website calculators which can only estimate reality). I am learning that it isn’t the horror I make it out to be, at least I don’t think it is - and I have never been the type of person that needs grand luxury - so I am really glad you are living proof that one can live comfortably without worry because one of my biggest fears is a life consumed by thoughts about money.

Boss April 02, 2007

I feel like I’ve been swamped with articles lately about how new associates are so concerned about quality of life that they’re fleeing Big Law in droves and that it’s only a matter of time before Big Law responds and either lowers billable hour requirements, sponsors telecommuting, etc….not for them to turn around and increase billable hours.  Sheesh.  You can tell men are running the show.  Although I am eagerly awaiting my first OCI now that I know there’s chocolate involved!