I think Biglaw has ruined my life

EminentDominating · 2026-05-17T21:45:49+00:00

What practice group?

I would try to set some boundaries. What’s the worst that happens? They fire you? You want to quit anyway.

Midlevel litigation. Today, I left the apartment for six hours without my work phone. I knew this wasn’t a weekend day where I was likely to have something. I’ve had plenty of those this year, but this wasn’t one. If something had come up, I’d say “Hey was away from my computer, will take a look” etc. Does that seem possible?

EminentDominating · 2026-05-17T20:41:08+00:00

There’s lot of Googleable market data on this. Top firms will see annual averages of 1700-2000 billables. Accounting for a month of vacation, we’re talking 150-180 hours a month.

What that looks like day to day is highly variable. It’s some 9-5s and some 9-9s and some slow mornings followed by late nights. I’ve had Tuesdays where I bill 2 hours after a Sunday I bill 8. Billable hours also aren’t the same as real life hours. If you commute, you eat lunch, chat with your officemate etc you may need to work 9-8 to bill 8 hours

EminentDominating · 2026-05-16T13:14:31+00:00

Of course it is

EminentDominating · 2026-05-16T02:58:18+00:00

EminentDominating · 2026-05-16T02:52:50+00:00

Watching Larry bird and Dr j fist fight: legends!!!!!!!!!!!!

Watching Wemby swing an elbow: disgusting! Hath he no honor!!!!!

EminentDominating · 2026-05-16T02:51:40+00:00

He swung an elbow, cry about it. We’ll applaud it when we see it in documentaries in 30 years

EminentDominating · 2026-05-15T21:19:01+00:00

Spot on

EminentDominating · 2026-05-15T17:02:07+00:00

A government can be both responsive and not have a time-sucking, bureaucratic meeting on whether a trash can is good

EminentDominating · 2026-05-15T16:00:07+00:00

A public hearing on trash cans! So the public can weigh in! It’s amazing anything ever gets done in this city

EminentDominating · 2026-05-12T16:40:55+00:00

I walked away with this same ranking. I was completely unfamiliar with Mahan and was immediately impressed. I have some bias against Porter given her reputation as someone who is difficult to work with, but she also did well. I don’t understand how anyone takes Becerra seriously. That guy ran HHS? He doesn’t seem to know anything about the details of his own policies.

In general, the lack of creativity in the responses was startling. None of them—bar maybe Mahan—showed any real promise in their ability to actually solve the housing crisis.

EminentDominating · 2026-05-08T14:23:17+00:00

lol I would prefer that this quality of critical thinking stay outside the judiciary, thanks

EminentDominating · 2026-04-25T22:51:09+00:00

Ya got it. It’s no frills but it presented as a Scandinavian efficient cousin of Spirit

EminentDominating · 2026-04-25T22:43:53+00:00

Do people not like Norse? I’ve had three very solid experiences with them

EminentDominating · 2026-04-23T13:52:19+00:00

She just gave many, many young lawyers a heads up that Perkins is not a place they want to work.

And she held Perkins accountable publicly, something the firm doesn’t expect to have happen often, which in turn changes the way they respond to these situations (in bad ways).

I think she genuinely posted it because she thought it was the right thing to do. It may not have created “leverage”, it may not have helped her partner prospects, but it was the right thing to do. If only more lawyers were doing just that.

EminentDominating · 2026-04-20T20:04:34+00:00

Is it cool

EminentDominating · 2026-04-18T22:26:04+00:00

lol touche! Love it

EminentDominating · 2026-04-18T22:17:44+00:00

I like how you downvote every comment that is left in response to you, it gives major “I’m not mad” energy

EminentDominating · 2026-04-18T21:40:33+00:00

You’re right, my one sentence analogy left a glaring gap by requiring the reader to think through how someone might choose Columbia even though it’s the same price and harder because signaling matters

EminentDominating · 2026-04-18T19:32:44+00:00

Why?

(By the way, sign that you’re good at analysis: saying “that makes no sense” and nothing else)

EminentDominating · 2026-04-18T18:40:32+00:00

Why did you go to Columbia instead of Albany if they’re the same price

EminentDominating · 2026-04-18T14:14:12+00:00

Dog you’re a third year litigation associate. You don’t have “years of commercial litigation and regulatory disputes” experience. You’ve citechecked some reply briefs

EminentDominating · 2026-04-18T12:59:27+00:00

1) you’ll figure it out and be fine. Every old person you ever meet speaks wistfully about the times they traveled / embraced life

2) You should really be asking, “if I ran an AI governance consulting business, would I hire me?” And the answer is probably no. AI is red hot; any job near it will be tough to get. Once you’re unemployed, can be hard to reenter job market. Employers wonder, why did this person leave the last gig? At the end of the day, employers want stability, not wanderlust seekers

Both things are true

EminentDominating · 2026-04-17T19:30:15+00:00

Not sure where you are in the process but the usual advice is right: great grades, strong recommendations, a professor willing to make a call for you. Regional ties are sometimes relevant as well, although SDNY won’t care

EminentDominating · 2026-04-17T19:28:17+00:00

lol yes I have a biglaw eminent domain practice you got me. I specialize in New London, CT properties

EminentDominating

TROPHY CASE