A question for people working in Biglaw...

[Visual Dictionary]

Texas is where to be.  Same salary of $160 plus one of the lowest cost of living in the nation plus no state income tax.

What about property taxes?  I assume that depends on the county, but I'm curious to hear about whether it's reasonable.  What are some cheap COL places in Texas?  Austin?  Dallas?

And so you're left with what -- Federal income taxes, Medicare, and a few other things?

I have zero ties to Texas.  How can I convince recruiters that I'm interested in living there?  Is a 1L firm job a possibility?

[Special Agent Dana Scully]

Texas is where to be.  Same salary of $160 plus one of the lowest cost of living in the nation plus no state income tax.

tag.

What type of people love it?  Good writers who are fond of detail?

Also, I would love to hear some discussion of BigLaw salaries in Chicago.

Don't most Chi firms pay market (ie 160k) in Chi?  And, they have a lower COL than NY and homes are more afordable.

Yeah, Chicago or DC seem like they pay the same as NYC but are much cheaper. What about Philly firms? Philly's COL seems pretty cheap.

Philly Biglaw does not pay 160K... I think it is a 135-145K range.  I have looked at the Philly firms on the NALP site and that's what it appears. COL in Philly is amazingly low though, compared to NY and even to Boston and DC.

This is true...but I wouldn't really think about moving to Philly.

[Maddie]

Well I'm going to school in Philly which is why I have researched the market a bit. 

I actually kind of like it.  The nice part is like a condensed version of New York, but less pretentious.  (I'm from NY originally... love it, but it can be a bit pretentious.)

[Special Agent Dana Scully]

Well I'm going to school in Philly which is why I have researched the market a bit. 

I actually kind of like it.  The nice part is like a condensed version of New York, but less pretentious.  (I'm from NY originally... love it, but it can be a bit pretentious.)

I'm from NY too...and yea, it could be pretentious, but I love NYC. Plus, there are just more firms here and more practice areas to get into (especially for me, since I have lofty dreams of doing some type of Entertainment law ---though not straight out of ls)

[mike4488]

Texas is where to be.  Same salary of $160 plus one of the lowest cost of living in the nation plus no state income tax.

What about property taxes?  I assume that depends on the county, but I'm curious to hear about whether it's reasonable.  What are some cheap COL places in Texas?  Austin?  Dallas?

And so you're left with what -- Federal income taxes, Medicare, and a few other things?

I have zero ties to Texas.  How can I convince recruiters that I'm interested in living there?  Is a 1L firm job a possibility?

Property taxes in Texas are actually quite high I think.  Never owned a home so I don't really know but I was looking the other day  and it seemed that in the Houston area $500,000 homes paid around 12 or 13K in property taxes.  Sounds high to me but again I have no idea what other places pay.

Houston, Dallas, and Austin are all quite cheap and I believe the big law markets are easier to crack than a lot places.  Simply a lot of people who aren't from Texas don't want to move there.

A 1L firm job in Texas is definitely possible.  The major firms Vinson & Elkins and Baker Botts all hire quite a few 1L's each year.  Now granted you need to be coming from a top school to land one of those spots.  

There are also various ways to convince them that you want to be.  For example, if you are interested in Energy work is doesn't get much better than Vinson & Elkins in Houston or for that matter almost any law firm in Houston.  Also, if you are interested in technology for example Austin is a great place for that and one of the top places outside of Northern California.

Austin would be my vote for the coolest city to live in Texas.  There is so much to do and it is just an awesome city.  Anyways, hope that was informative.

[mike4488]

Oh and I was talking to a buddy the other day and his take home pay last year as first year associate making 160K was right under 130K.  Seems pretty good compared to other places.

[Maddie]

Well I'm going to school in Philly which is why I have researched the market a bit. 

I actually kind of like it.  The nice part is like a condensed version of New York, but less pretentious.  (I'm from NY originally... love it, but it can be a bit pretentious.)

I'm from NY too...and yea, it could be pretentious, but I love NYC. Plus, there are just more firms here and more practice areas to get into (especially for me, since I have lofty dreams of doing some type of Entertainment law ---though not straight out of ls)

I love NYC, point by point I prefer it to Philly by far for the long term.    My *hope* is that it was the just-out-of-college scene that was the problem.  I found it dominated by first year analysts who think they own the world.  Having dated one of those, I had my fill of that scene. 

But there is definitely a greater diversity in terms of practice areas.  And better Asian food. 

[wustl3l]

tag.

What type of people love it?  Good writers who are fond of detail?

Also, I would love to hear some discussion of BigLaw salaries in Chicago.

Personally I, at this point, really enjoy the practice of the law. I love digging into the minutiae to found something obscure and just frankly love reading and research the law. And I don't mind spending a lot of my days and nights devoting my energies towards doing those things. Obviously, the money is a nice by product.

But I have several classmates who after last summer (we just graduated) are already second guessing doing this for a living because those chose law school because they didn't know what to do with their life and heard the law made good money. One friend has already said that she is out after a year of practice (she obviously didn't tell the firm), another friend a year ahead of us is already talking about quitting and going into the peace corps, and another friend is studying for the bar and afterwords will immediately start applying for MLS programs because she can't imagine actually practicing.

It's not like on TV and for a lot of people (like my aforementioned friends) it's just not for them. I probably think of my friends and acquaintances, that less than 20% actually love the law and can't imagine doing anything else. Not to say that others won't stick it out but I do think a good chunk of the remaining 80% won't be attorneys 10 years from now. 

[h2xblive]

tag

[kipford]

tag.

What type of people love it?  Good writers who are fond of detail?

Also, I would love to hear some discussion of BigLaw salaries in Chicago.

Personally I, at this point, really enjoy the practice of the law. I love digging into the minutiae to found something obscure and just frankly love reading and research the law. And I don't mind spending a lot of my days and nights devoting my energies towards doing those things. Obviously, the money is a nice by product.

I'm only a rising 2L so take this with a grain of salt!

I agree-I think that people who love the law are, in fact, those that get excited by the minutiae.  I externed for a Federal Judge this summer and got to deal with some small distinctions in the law that had large consequences for the case.  I found it exciting/facinating to take an issue, start to learn about the basics, and then see the nuances by reading through numerous cases.

I think one has to be able to "get" it also-to be able to read cases and see what is the same and what is different, and put the pieces together when dealing with lot of case law.  If you enjoy this, you will (from my limited experience) enjoy the law.

One other thing-I think you have to both enjoy looking for coherence (for how things fit together) and also be able to deal with dissonance (where there are contradictory strains).  Often the law is in accordance but sometimes it isn't.  I have one friend that hated law school because of the ambiguity that sometimes exists.  I enjoy the struggle to find how it all fits, but don't get frustrated when it doesn't fit that neatly.  In fact, that is sometimes when the law is at its most interesting.

Again, this is based on very limited experience and firm work may be VERY different...