Worth it for me to go to medical school (currently lawyer)?

[TrebleBassFace]

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I'm currently working at a "big law" firm on Wall Street. I am considering other professions because I am bored with mine/working in an office/long hours doing paperwork.

I also like school and enjoyed school (even law school). Is medical school/medicine worth it? I know part of the reason why I am even considering it is because at least four years of it is an "escape" from reality - the working world. Also am sort of interested in psychiatry (although I realize that's on the low totem pole for most med students).

The only way I'd consider med school though is if I got cheap in state tuition or a scholarship somewhere. I took out a ton of loans for law school, and it has taken awhile to pay them back, so I would never do that again.

What do you guys think? Are my reasons for going not good enough? (Escaping reality - the working world, like school, don't want an office job, interest in psychiatry, etc.) Worth my time/money or not considering my age?

 

[TrebleBassFace]

Posting it here since there's more traffic rather than in the non-trad sub-thread:

I'm in my late 20s and currently working at a "big law" firm on Wall Street. I am considering other professions because I am bored with mine/working in an office/long hours doing paperwork.

I also like school and enjoyed school (even law school). Is medical school/medicine worth it? I know part of the reason why I am even considering it is because at least four years of it is an "escape" from reality - the working world. Also am sort of interested in psychiatry (although I realize that's on the low totem pole for most med students).

I'm married to another lawyer (who works in government/public interest) (so, my spouse does not make good money). I have a good undergrad GPA in something math/finance related from a top 15 undergrad and graduated with honors from a "top 14" ranked law school.

The only way I'd consider med school though is if I got cheap in state tuition or a scholarship somewhere. I took out a ton of loans for law school, and it has taken awhile to pay them back, so I would never do that again.

What do you guys think? Are my reasons for going not good enough? (Escaping reality - the working world, like school, don't want an office job, interest in psychiatry, etc.) Worth my time/money or not considering my age?

 

[NonTrad16]

A $200k vacation? I'd sooner travel the world a few times over.

Have you looked at changing your focus within law? People go to med school after law school, I'm near 28 and applying after trying engineering for awhile... So age and profession don't spoil the idea, but I'd suggest you dig deeper into your motivation, what you have available to you as a lawyer, how your family could be affected (if you want to have kids in the next several years, or get into a school several hours away from where your SO lives, etc).

You could start with some clinical volunteering, or shadowing.

 

[Dares Dareson]

I also like school and enjoyed school (even law school). Is medical school/medicine worth it? I know part of the reason why I am even considering it is because at least four years of it is an "escape" from reality - the working world. Also am sort of interested in psychiatry (although I realize that's on the low totem pole for most med students).

😆

The only way I'd consider med school though is if I got cheap in state tuition or a scholarship somewhere. I took out a ton of loans for law school, and it has taken awhile to pay them back, so I would never do that again.

🤣🤣🤣

 

[TrebleBassFace]

I work a lot though, so I'd have to quit my job to pursue anything, which is why I haven't done anything yet. My job pays well and maybe I should resign myself with being bored/working in an office my entire life.

I wouldn't pay 200k for school again, so I'd only go if I got cheap in state tuition and/or a scholly. (Thank God working has taught me something about finances.)

 

[ComputerGuy365]

As NonTrad said above, you might want to change your specific focus, because as a non trad, you will be in school for a LONG time. It will be at least 11 years from now till you become an attending. To be honest, I am not convinced that you really want to become a physician, you seem like you just don't like your current job. What reasons do you truly have?

 

[TrebleBassFace]

😆




🤣🤣🤣

To be fair, in states like Texas, etc., you can graduate med school with less than $100k in loans total.

Also, to be fair, I hear a lot of med students complain, but they still work a lot less than biglawyers/investment bankers do on average. Maybe not the residents, but the students, yes.

 

[TrebleBassFace]

As NonTrad said above, you might want to change your specific focus, because as a non trad, you will be in school for a LONG time. It will be at least 11 years from now till you become an attending. To be honest, I am not convinced that you really want to become a physician, you seem like you just don't like your current job. What reasons do you truly have?

I also don't like pushing paper and working in an office all day, so medicine seems like one of the few routes where you're not just pushing paper around.

Although to be honest, I'm also considering stuff like graphic design or some other creative field - there is just no money in it.

The time it takes is a huge downside for me though. And the medical field might be complete **** by the time I finish.

 

[ComputerGuy365]

Medicine is hard work. As a resident, you'll likely work 16+ hour shifts sometimes.

 

[TrebleBassFace]

Medicine is hard work. As a resident, you'll likely work 16+ hour shifts sometimes.

Yeah that doesn't sound that bad depending on what they do. (Do they do "real work" for 16 hours straight or is it combined with walking around doing stupid stuff?) Sometimes I do longer than that now....my first year I worked literally every single day (including weekends). Probably averaged 80+ hour weeks in the office/working (not just billed).

(Billed is not the same as "worked" in law. So sometimes you might be in the office for 15 hours but only billed 6 hours. ) First year I billed a ton and worked more on top of that.

I don't know - a lot of med students strike me as whiny to be honest. Investment bankers, etc. work harder than they do.

 

[ComputerGuy365]

Yeah that doesn't sound that bad depending on what they do. (Do they do "real work" for 16 hours straight or is it combined with walking around doing stupid stuff?) Sometimes I do longer than that now....my first year I worked literally every single day (including weekends). Probably averaged 80+ hour weeks in the office/working (not just billed).

(Billed is not the same as "worked" in law. So sometimes you might be in the office for 15 hours but only billed 6 hours. ) First year I billed a ton and worked more on top of that.

I don't know - a lot of med students strike me as whiny to be honest. Investment bankers, etc. work harder than they do.

Medical students have a lot on their plate. They have the USMLE, a dozen shelf exams, and dealing with rude and whiny patients. Their behavior is understandable.

 

[TrebleBassFace]

Medical students have a lot on their plate. They have the USMLE, a dozen shelf exams, and dealing with rude and whiny patients. Their behavior is understandable.

But they work less on average than i-bankers/a lot of biglawyers and rarely pull multiple all nighters in a row (I assume).

Anyway, are you a programmer? You're thinking of changing fields?

 

[Dares Dareson]

5/10

You were doing real good until the investment bankers line.

 

[TrebleBassFace]

5/10

You were doing real good until the investment bankers line.

Not sure what you're getting at. Investment bankers often pull multiple all nighters in a row. Many average 100 hour weeks.

 

[TrebleBassFace]

Back to the purpose of the thread - Not worth it then?

Are all of you non trads who changed from other professions? What made you move?

 

[ComputerGuy365]

But they work less on average than i-bankers/a lot of biglawyers and rarely pull multiple all nighters in a row (I assume).

Anyway, are you a programmer? You're thinking of changing fields?

Am I a programmer? That's the funniest thing I've heard all day. I'm just a high school student with common sense.

 

[TrebleBassFace]

Am I a programmer? That's the funniest thing I've heard all day. I'm just a high school student with common sense.

Your s/n is "computerguy". Why the hell are you in the non-trad forums?

 

[Dares Dareson]

Your s/n is "computerguy". Why the hell are you in the non-trad forums?

It's because he uses a computer to access this forum.

 

[ComputerGuy365]

Your s/n is "computerguy". Why the hell are you in the non-trad forums?

I surf all parts of this site, to learn about what being a doctor is truly like. I love using my computer. That's why.

 

[Dullhead]

5/10

Feeling generous huh?

OP, disregarding everything else, I think the 4-yr escape from reality alone would be worth it. More so given the fact that you can escape for under 100K total. With a scholly, you'll probably escape scot-free too.

 

[NonTrad16]

There are many people who have changed professions here, and you can search the forums for stories. As with premeds, your nontrad journey to medicine is not anything that hasn't been done before. So yes you can do it, if you want. You need more experience than that found on the Internet, though. Go do clinical volunteering (realizing you'll be rising from the bottom of the totem pole again -- As a med student/intern/resident you'll be ordered around by people younger and more skilled than you). Go shadow to see the physician e-paper get pushed.

You'd be better served making a small hole of time now to shadow and volunteer than upturn your life for coursework and studying, realizing later that it's a crapshoot for you. Some physicians will gripe. Some will rave. You and your SO need to be the ones that decide if it's right.

Also, if you're "stuck" in law, why can't you change your focus to something more fulfilling? You have a good degree -- leverage it, and your connections, to do something that doesn't take every hour of your day. You seem to think medicine will be a break -- with your vast experience as a patient?

Good luck.

 

[xffan624]

I'm in my late 20s and currently working at a "big law" firm on Wall Street. I am considering other professions because I am bored with mine/working in an office/long hours doing paperwork.

I also like school and enjoyed school (even law school). Is medical school/medicine worth it? I know part of the reason why I am even considering it is because at least four years of it is an "escape" from reality - the working world. Also am sort of interested in psychiatry (although I realize that's on the low totem pole for most med students).

I'm married to another lawyer (who works in government/public interest). I have a good undergrad GPA in something math/finance related from a top 15 undergrad and graduated with honors from a "top 14" ranked law school.

The only way I'd consider med school though is if I got cheap in state tuition or a scholarship somewhere. I took out a ton of loans for law school, and it has taken awhile to pay them back, so I would never do that again.

What do you guys think? Are my reasons for going not good enough? (Escaping reality - the working world, like school, don't want an office job, interest in psychiatry, etc.) Worth my time/money or not considering my age?

No. Does that answer your question? Your post screams of someone that is likely to be shooting themselves metaphorically after three months of school. Or finish school and then be unhappy with their practice. Your boredom with your job and desire to go back to school is not enough motivation to pursue medical school or keep you motivated when the honeymoon wears off and the suckfest begins.

 

[bc65]

First, you should talk to @Law2Doc. I believe he has real experience with this transition. But I'll tell you what I know. ( I know a little bit about the legal profession, as I considered law school when I was in college, and until recently, I considered it as a post-retirement second career.)

First of all, financially it doesn't make sense. If you're in big law, in your late 20's, you're probably making 200k+. Are you likely to make partner? If so, you'll earn more money than 99% of physicians. ( I'm not using that number metaphorically, I mean it ) . Even if you never make partner, if you can maintain your current salary, you will still be earning as much as most physicians, and as much or more than many psychiatrist ( primary care, 150k to 250k ). If you go to med school, you will spend 40-50k a year on tuition. You are a NY resident. There is no cheap in-state tuition in NY ,and you won't find "cheap" tuition anywhere, unless you're a resident in certain states, but you won't qualify for residency in those states. After you paid tuition, and lost 4 years of salary, you will be a resident for 3 or 4 years, earning 50-60k a year. Then, as a psychiatrist, you'll earn 150k-250k. You're down about 2 million by now, and you'll never make it up.

Do you have the pre-med prerequisites? If not, it will take a few years to finish the courses if you take them at night, and you'll need excellent grades. Then you have to take the MCAT. The odds of your doing well are not good, but if you are successful, and start med school, I think you may find that it's just a grind for 2 years, perhaps comparable to the first year of law school, but with more class time, and more memorizing. The second two years, and your residency, is a bit like being a first year associate, but these days, with the 80 hour work week, perhaps with shorter and more predictable hours.

Finally, you won't be escaping reality. You will just be in a different reality. You may not like science. You may not like med school. You will probably hate much of your 3rd and 4th years. You might hate medicine. Many doctors do. They post questions on forums asking if they should go to law school.

Your age would not be an issue if you really wanted to do it. Also, consider how your wife will feel about all this. Do you plan on having children? Who will take care of them? How will you pay for it?

EDIT: You didn't say that you hated law, just that you were bored. You're way ahead of the game. Most lawyers seem to hate their jobs. Medicine can get boring too. Make partner, and find a practice area that you find interesting, or at least with better hours and still lucrative. Tax? Estate Law?

 

[Leg]

Can you provide a rational argument, grounded in evidence, as to why you're interested in pursuing medicine? Or will you be merely perceived as someone looking for an exit from a failing career? The answers to these questions will undoubtedly determine how far into the game you're allowed to play.

 

[samac]

You're unlikely to get scholarships, they're few and far between.
I wouldn't really qualify any med school as a cheap state school, you're looking at least 30k anywhere

 

[The Real SVB]

When was the last time you took a science class? The top-notch lawyers I've worked with would never be able to handle biochem. Can you?

 

[ski89]

Posting it here since there's more traffic rather than in the non-trad sub-thread:

I'm in my late 20s and currently working at a "big law" firm on Wall Street. I am considering other professions because I am bored with mine/working in an office/long hours doing paperwork.

I also like school and enjoyed school (even law school). Is medical school/medicine worth it? I know part of the reason why I am even considering it is because at least four years of it is an "escape" from reality - the working world. Also am sort of interested in psychiatry (although I realize that's on the low totem pole for most med students).

I'm married to another lawyer (who works in government/public interest) (so, my spouse does not make good money). I have a good undergrad GPA in something math/finance related from a top 15 undergrad and graduated with honors from a "top 14" ranked law school.

The only way I'd consider med school though is if I got cheap in state tuition or a scholarship somewhere. I took out a ton of loans for law school, and it has taken awhile to pay them back, so I would never do that again.

What do you guys think? Are my reasons for going not good enough? (Escaping reality - the working world, like school, don't want an office job, interest in psychiatry, etc.) Worth my time/money or not considering my age?

Is it possible? Absolutely

Is it a good idea? I don't know, it doesn't sound like you have much of an intrinsic interest in medicine. Have you have shadowed a doctor? Why do you "think" you like psych? You need to be much more enthusiastic about switching careers if this is ever going to work. Right now it seems to me like you just like the romantic idea of being a physician and have little genuine interest in the field (but maybe I'm wrong, you tell me).

 

[typoncho]

I'm starting this July, and I'm 28. Also, if loans are a big issue, why not try to save up a bit and bankroll med school (I know that's laughable since you live in NY, but it is entirely possible). I don't share SVB's pessimism for your (and other lawyer's) plight in the sciences, but I will say that there is something to be said for intelligence in one area not translating to intelligence in another. That said, you can gauge your performance in your pre-reqs if you still have to complete them and make a rational decision from there with little financial loss.

 

[Law2Doc]

When was the last time you took a science class? The top-notch lawyers I've worked with would never be able to handle biochem. Can you?

First, it's silly posts like this that are why the OP should have posted on the nontrad board instead of pre-allo. Lots of career changers go into medicine and virtually all of them are "able to handle biochem". That's more of an issue for the 90% of premeds that get weeded out by the prereqs.

Second, going into medicine because you are "bored" by law is possibly amongst the worst reasons to go into medicine.

Third, you won't escape long hours or paperwork in medicine. It's a lot more intense and long houred a career path than you are picturing.

I agree with the prior poster that you are not going to get back to your attorney income any time soon, if ever, on this path when you factor in the time value of money and lost earning, raises, promotions.

Finally, if you are truly interested in medicine you need to get out there and shadow, and see if this is really how you want to spend your time. It's not for everyone. And career changers are expected to look before you leap.

 

[ZX10R]

But they work less on average than i-bankers/a lot of biglawyers and rarely pull multiple all nighters in a row (I assume).

Anyway, are you a programmer? You're thinking of changing fields?

As a doctor you always have malpractice over your head. And most IB don't give a **** if they lose money; if they suck at the job no big deal they get replaced. With doctors if your fired once; you're generally ruined. The attention to detail required of doctors is much greater because they make life or death decisions for lives instead of portfolios. If you want to turn this into a pissing contest their are soldiers who work longer hours then docs or IB for pennies on the dollar. There's always a bigger fish and you making a case for how difficult your job is; is childish.

 

[nontradjd]

Meanwhile, I'm just a lowly T100 grad doing general practice and interested in medicine because I actually want to help people in a tangible and real way rather than just attempt to curb and ease a more abstract and government-created predicament as much as possible.

I'm new here, but I do some lurking, and I want to point out some major difference between the poor, bored Wall Street T25 grad (who bolsters himself by ensuring he says T14, cuz anybody outside the T14 definitely uses T14) and the other lawyers I've seen interested in med.

1. The lawyers on here who are switching or have so are doing it because they genuinely want to help people (and obviously feel medicine is the better way).

2. They are not escaping law. I don't think I've seen a single serious lawyer on here use being sick or bored of the law as their reason. I'm fairly sure if med school wasn't a possibility for most of them, they'd still be a lawyer today and be content.

3. They show humility and altruism. Both things lacking in your reasoning.

Over all, my advice to you is that, if you're that bored, get out of Wall Street and slum it in a specialty with more litigation. There are a lot of people in every state who need legal help that involves more than pushing papers.

If you want, I'll trade you practices. I wouldn't mind a Wall Street salary for a few years.

 

[The Real SVB]

First, it's silly posts like this that are why the OP should have posted on the nontrad board instead of pre-allo. Lots of career changers go into medicine and virtually all of them are "able to handle biochem". That's more of an issue for the 90% of premeds that get weeded out by the prereqs.

Idk man, are you saying that nontrads are just naturally better at school to be able to delve into the prereqs and kill the MCAT on a regular basis? I only used biochem as one example; I mean the entire academic grind that he/she would have to go through on the career change path. Something tells me that the same attrition you see among premeds also applies regardless of your age..it's just that we don't hear of the nontrad failures as much as we do the premed ones because of the population of SDN and the nature of transparency in college (i.e., who knows how many nontrads have tried classes at night and couldn't juggle it?).

 

[Goro]

Not from your motivation
I also like school and enjoyed school (even law school). Is medical school/medicine worth it? I know part of the reason why I am even considering it is because at least four years of it is an "escape" from reality - the working world. Also am sort of interested in psychiatry (although I realize that's on the low totem pole for most med students).

Meaningless to a med school Adcom. Show me some As in Physics, Biochem and Orgo.
I'm married to another lawyer (who works in government/public interest) (so, my spouse does not make good money). I have a good undergrad GPA in something math/finance related from a top 15 undergrad and graduated with honors from a "top 14" ranked law school.

Piss poor reasons, actually.
Are my reasons for going not good enough? (Escaping reality - the working world, like school, don't want an office job, interest in psychiatry, etc.) Worth my time/money or not considering my age?[/QUOTE]

To follow up on my learned colleague's comments, you also need to start doing some clinical volunteering to see if you really want to be around sick and injured people, and their families.
Finally, if you are truly interested in medicine you need to get out there and shadow, and see if this is really how you want to spend your time. It's not for everyone. And career changers are expected to look before you leap.

 

[Law2Doc]

Idk man, are you saying that nontrads are just naturally better at school to be able to delve into the prereqs and kill the MCAT on a regular basis? Something tells me that the same attrition you see among premeds also applies regardless of your age..it's just that we don't hear of the nontrad failures as much as we do the premed ones because of the population of SDN and the nature of transparency in college (i.e., who knows how many nontrads have tried classes at night and couldn't juggle it?).

Nontrads who make career changes are a much more self selected group. You are much less likely to do a postbac on a whim as you are to be "premed" at 18. The nontrads that make it deep enough in postbac to get to biochem do fine. Of the career changers I started with in postbac none had issues. You don't hear of the nontrad washouts because the number is simply much smaller than their premed counterparts, mostly because those that would have issues spent years talking themselves out of the journey.

 

[The Real SVB]

I don't share SVB's pessimism for your (and other lawyer's) plight in the sciences, but I will say that there is something to be said for intelligence in one area not translating to intelligence in another.

I was being tongue-in-cheek. The larger point is that I don't think OP realizes at all the grind he's about to go through again. Lawyers from top schools have this worldview sometimes (actually, most of the time) that because law school was so hard and their job is so rough that they can handle a lot of other fields easily. I can't imagine this being any less so at a top financial law firm.

 

[The Real SVB]

Nontrads who make career changes are a much more self selected group. You are much less likely to do a postbac on a whim as you are to be "premed" at 18. The nontrads that make it deep enough in postbac to get to biochem do fine. Of the career changers I started with in postbac none had issues.

Again, I wasn't speaking specifically to biochem. I meant all the prereqs and MCAT at large. "nontrads that make it deep enough in postboc" obviously means that there are those who really don't. That's all I was saying.

 

[Law2Doc]

Again, I wasn't speaking specifically to biochem. I meant all the prereqs and MCAT at large. "nontrads that make it deep enough in postboc" obviously means that there are those who really don't. That's all I was saying.

That's fair but the number is still less than you'd think because of the degree of self selection.

 

[Law2Doc]

I was being tongue-in-cheek. The larger point is that I don't think OP realizes at all the grind he's about to go through again. Lawyers from top schools have this worldview sometimes (actually, most of the time) that because law school was so hard and their job is so rough that they can handle a lot of other fields easily. I can't imagine this being any less so at a top financial law firm.

Big law was a grind but residency was much harder. I do think there are a lot of transferable skills and someone strong in law probably can excel in medicine. But it's hard work and if your reason for a change is boredom or any reason other than being excited about a career in medicine you'll have issues.

 

[trev5150]

OP: Spend a day on a medicine ward as a volunteer, come back and tell us what you saw and what you smelled, and tell us if you want to spend the next 40 years of your life dealing with sick people, their families, insurance companies, hospital administrators, bearing witness to pain and tragedy on a daily basis and lawyers.

If you're just bored, go be a scuba instructor or something. A friend of my aunt worked in advertising, was bored and went to go work at REI. Don't waste any more time on this unless the pull towards becoming a physician is so strong that you can't see yourself doing anything else, despite the insane amount of effort. This is an all-day-every-day thing for a decade plus. For that period of time, it's going to be pretty much all you do. It ain't $100 steaks and $1000 suits. It's blood and **** and vomit - even in psychiatry (especially in psych WRT vomit and the substance abuse patients). People's lives depend on the decisions you make in one way or another, and you will come into contact with thousands of people over the course of your career. Are you really up for that?

 

[bc65]

Big law was a grind but residency was much harder.

I'm sure you know best, but I recently developed a great deal of respect for how hard some lawyers work.

A year ago I was a witness in a civil case ( intellectual property; long story, don't ask. "My " side won, by the way ). I met with the attorneys during the trial to be prepped. We met at the motel where the team was camped out. They had a suite of rooms, with the furniture removed and long tables put in, filled with computer monitors. There were 4 attorneys and 5 or 6 paralegals working away at 10:30 pm. They showed no sign of going to sleep any time soon. They were very stressed out, and very worried about the opposition. Both lead attorneys were well known in their field. It was a 3 week trial. They stayed at the motel for most of the trial, even though their office was only an hour away, in order to have fewer distractions and to save on travel time. I did a surgery residency in the pre-80 hour week years, and I was never on call for 3 weeks straight. Being a lawyer looked pretty hard and stressful to me, at least for those 3 weeks.

 

[The Real SVB]

I'm sure you know best, but I recently developed a great deal of respect for how hard some lawyers work.

A year ago I was a witness in a civil case ( intellectual property; long story, don't ask. "My " side won, by the way ). I met with the attorneys during the trial to be prepped. We met at the motel where the team was camped out. They had a suite of rooms, with the furniture removed and long tables put in, filled with computer monitors. There were 4 attorneys and 5 or 6 paralegals working away at 10:30 pm. They showed no sign of going to sleep any time soon. They were very stressed out, and very worried about the opposition. Both lead attorneys were well known in their field. It was a 3 week trial. They stayed at the motel for most of the trial, even though their office was only an hour away, in order to have fewer distractions and to save on travel time. I did a surgery residency in the pre-80 hour week years, and I was never on call for 3 weeks straight. Being a lawyer looked pretty hard and stressful to me, at least for those 3 weeks.

In the rare occasions that suits actually make it to trial, yes, this is pretty standard. What you didn't see is the entire shebang that occurred before trial – the discovery, depositions, strategizing, etc. Lawyers have a bad rep for the kind of work that they do and the consequences it has (e.g., helping banks write toxic securities contracts), but they work damn hard.

 

[nontradjd]

In the rare occasions that suits actually make it to trial, yes, this is pretty standard. What you didn't see is the entire shebang that occurred before trial – the discovery, depositions, strategizing, etc. Lawyers have a bad rep for the kind of work that they do and the consequences it has (e.g., helping banks write toxic securities contracts), but they work damn hard.

Discovery is the worst. I'd rather be camped out in a motel for three weeks straight for trial. Trial is fun. Also, BTW, I don't help banks write toxic contracts. However, I do defend criminal suspects sometimes. So you can still hate me.

 

[Cyberdyne 101]

When was the last time you took a science class? The top-notch lawyers I've worked with would never be able to handle biochem. Can you?

😵

 

[bc65]

What you didn't see is the entire shebang that occurred before trial – the discovery, depositions, strategizing,

Yes, I've seen some of that too. It's like always having a term paper due the next day and you haven't started it yet.

I do defend criminal suspects sometimes. So you can still hate me.

I've had a fair amount of experience with attorneys, but fortunately only as a third party.

It's true what they say, " everyone hates attorneys, but they love their attorney". The other guy's attorneys are bad guys. Your attorney is your own personal bodyguard. The meaner, the better.

 

[The Real SVB]

Discovery is the worst. I'd rather be camped out in a motel for three weeks straight for trial. Trial is fun. Also, BTW, I don't help banks write toxic contracts. However, I do defend criminal suspects sometimes. So you can still hate me.

White-collar? I can dig that. Just not FIG/M&A/structured products/tax at Cravath, Simpson Thacher, Wachtell, Davis Polk...

 

[The Real SVB]

I think you need to move in-house already, move into a niche lit group (as was previously mentioned), or take a pay cut and go public interest (but sounds like you're too prestige- and income-oriented to do that). The associate life obviously ain't doing it for you. Man up and find a more fulfilling area of law to practice in.

 

[The Real SVB]

5/10
You were doing real good until the investment bankers line.

i-banks are leeches but their bankers bust their balls every day. Not that they're smart or the work they do is terribly complicated or meaningful (i.e., a lot of it is Excel crunching), but they still work hard.

 

[bc65]

Trial is fun.

That's what I always imagined, but these guys were not having fun at 'my' trial, despite the fact that they ended up winning. That finally turned me off to law as a second career. Not to mention the recent collapse of the profession, employment-wise.

 

[nontradjd]

White-collar? I can dig that. Just not FIG/M&A/structured products/tax at Cravath, Simpson Thacher, Wachtell, Davis Polk...

No...not white collar. That's a lot of paperwork. I try to avoid paperwork, lest I be as bored as the poor T14 Wall Street lawyer. 😛 Just your typical alleged drunk drivers, thieves, johns, etc. Good stuff! And I sure as hades don't touch investment and tax law. Gross.

 

[The Real SVB]

No...not white collar. That's a lot of paperwork. I try to avoid paperwork, lest I be as bored as the poor T14 Wall Street lawyer. 😛 Just your typical alleged drunk drivers, thieves, johns, etc. Good stuff! And I sure as hades don't touch investment and tax law. Gross.

Oh I assumed you were a firm grunt, but they're too high and mighty to touch a TTT grad