To add more context, here’s the law firm play book -
- attract naive college kids with a 1 lakh package - sounds a lot but when you start living on your own in big cities, you realise it’s not a that much.
- dazzle them with fancy offices, idea of prestige of working at a big brand, working with big companies etc but make them to do clerical work so their exit opportunities are hampered
- create a sense of fear and create a competitive environment where everyone is competing for limited spots and now colleagues won’t hesitate to backstab each other
- tell them how there is serious competition in the market where everyone is undercutting each other fees so they have to work harder (read: work till 4am in the morning and say bye bye to weekends)
- make them work late nights for such long periods, they are now in sleep deprivation mode where their cognitive ability to take rational balanced decisions slowly fades away and they are okay indulging in petty office activities
- make them so tired and exhausted, all lawyers want at the end of the week is a quick relief - where they end up getting hooked to ordering fancy food during late nights(thinking heys it’s on client tab so why not), drinking expensive wine and now they can’t leave the profession cos a normal job won’t financially sustain their self destructive habits
So at the end of the day, (in the initial years) you have mostly due diligence experience with limited exposure to drafting/ negotiation of the main documents and your exit opportunities are seriously hampered. You think to yourself - you can’t go anywhere outside the limited circle, and you’re getting paid decent, so you tell yourself better to stick to the hellhole for a bit longer and not think about the future now.
Disclaimer: This is a slightly pessimistic view on law firms. Obviously not every team is like this. Some teams have better culture, and usually in smaller teams partners care more about their associates and have a healthy humane interaction with their juniors. But basis the way most big law firms are structured and function (massive team sizes), most partners/ seniors don’t have an incentive to be humane considering the insane work load, long hours and competition within law firms.
To add more context, here’s the law firm play book -
- attract naive college kids with a 1 lakh package - sounds a lot but when you start living on your own in big cities, you realise it’s not a that much.
- dazzle them with fancy offices, idea of prestige of working at a big brand, working with big companies etc but make them to do clerical work so their exit opportunities are hampered
- create a sense of fear and create a competitive environment where everyone is competing for limited spots and now colleagues won’t hesitate to backstab each other
- tell them how there is serious competition in the market where everyone is undercutting each other fees so they have to work harder (read: work till 4am in the morning and say bye bye to weekends)
- make them work late nights for such long periods, they are now in sleep deprivation mode where their cognitive ability to take rational balanced decisions slowly fades away and they are okay indulging in petty office activities
- make them so tired and exhausted, all lawyers want at the end of the week is a quick relief - where they end up getting hooked to ordering fancy food during late nights(thinking heys it’s on client tab so why not), drinking expensive wine and now they can’t leave the profession cos a normal job won’t financially sustain their self destructive habits
So at the end of the day, (in the initial years) you have mostly due diligence experience with limited exposure to drafting/ negotiation of the main documents and your exit opportunities are seriously hampered. You think to yourself - you can’t go anywhere outside the limited circle, and you’re getting paid decent, so you tell yourself better to stick to the hellhole for a bit longer and not think about the future now.
Disclaimer: This is a slightly pessimistic view on law firms. Obviously not every team is like this. Some teams have better culture, and usually in smaller teams partners care more about their associates and have a healthy humane interaction with their juniors. But basis the way most big law firms are structured and function (massive team sizes), most partners/ seniors don’t have an incentive to be humane considering the insane work load, long hours and competition within law firms.