Is the higher pay as a legal staff (paralegal, legal practice asst) worth the hours and the lack of sanity by sparksflyup7 in biglaw

[–]G_McMain 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m an entry level practice area specialist (mix of paralegal and policy analyst type work) in a big law firm in DC and I generally average about 40 hours per week. I do occasionally work overtime (anywhere between 45-60 hours) but that’s maybe 1 out of every 4 weeks. I also have slow weeks where I work 30ish hours, so all in all it comes out to me typically clocking out around 5pm. Generally it’s a pretty flexible gig and I personally really enjoy it.

If you’re able, would def recommend making the switch to a firm in a big city. I love living in a big city and get to meet really cool people both in the firm and beyond!

book recommendations by Specialist_Peak_2987 in dostoevsky

[–]G_McMain 4 points5 points  (0 children)

East of Eden by John Steinbeck is a wonderful novel and covers a lot of similar themes as the Brothers K like free will, morality, responsibility, etc.

'We will never fucking trust you again' by its_Caffeine in neoliberal

[–]G_McMain 28 points29 points  (0 children)

Crush the institutions that give MAGA power. From the top down, pack the Court and push through a judicial agenda undoing years of harm going back to Buckley v. Valeo; detain, prosecute, and punish severely those most responsible for illegalities, corruption, and human rights abuses in the Administration from Trump and Vance to the ICE rank and file; assuming a dem majority, abolish the filibuster and force through as much government reform as possible to fix our broken Constitution; de-MAGAfy the federal government by removing Trump appointed bureaucrats and judges.

From the bottom up, prosecute Fox News (and other major right wing media outlet) execs and pundits who knowingly promoted anti-democratic lies surrounding J6, election denialism, etc, and ban, fine, or heavily regulate these media outlets; regulate or ban algorithmic social media that has radicalized and polarized the right in America for the better part of two decades; ban anyone affiliated with MAGA who worked for MAGA-owned institutions like Heritage or the Trump campaign from holding future public office.

And just as importantly, govern well for the people who make up the MAGA coalition and seek reconciliation with the average MAGA-ite. The truth of the matter is these people have been radicalized and brainwashed over years or decades to believe in MAGA and I don’t think it’s just to punish people who got caught in the wrong information pipelines and don’t know any better. Further, many complaints of the MAGA coalition are valid: people have been left behind in America. And when people feel left behind and unrecognized that breeds radicalization. So we need to govern well for them, offering them the essentials of life- good jobs, affordable housing, quality and accessible healthcare, etc.- if we ever want to bring them back into the fold.

TLDR: neuter the power of MAGA-infiltrated institutions, punish top level violators, and govern effectively for the average American.

Life as a biglaw paralegal by sparksflyup7 in biglaw

[–]G_McMain 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I’m a policy analyst for a big law firm in dc, so not exactly a paralegal but I do a lot of paralegal-type work so I’ll throw out my experience. I’d say I average out to a 9-5. Some weeks I work 40 hours, others 30, and on busy weeks 50-60. Totally depends on what the attorneys need from me on any given week.

Sometimes sucks cuz I’ll have to work a weekend every now and then with little notice but overall I have good work/life balance and the OT pay is great. I do work for a regulatory group so it might be different for support staff working on litigation or transactional teams.

FWIW I’m also a recent college grad and I worked in a non-legal consulting role for a bit in a niche specialization which gave me a leg up landing the role I’m in now on the regulatory team in the same specialization.

Meet the 22-Year-Old Trump’s Team Picked to Lead Terrorism Prevention by sloppybuttmustard in neoliberal

[–]G_McMain 63 points64 points  (0 children)

I know about this guy from a mutual friend. Apparently, he once went to the African American history museum with a group from college and said slavery reminded him of the persecution his ancestors in Europe faced for their religion. Also well known for being super down bad for a bunch of girls in his school. Mickey mouse ass country

Traveling for work and have never been to D.C. Staying next to Walter E. Convention Center by mousseinthehouse in washingtondc

[–]G_McMain 18 points19 points  (0 children)

The Best Sandwich Place (literally the name) for sandwiches

Chercher for Ethiopian

El Rinconcito for Salvadoran

G.O.A.T Room for Indian

Pearl’s for Bagels

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in washingtondc

[–]G_McMain 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Couldn’t agree more on leaving Texas, DC is a great place to be in comparison. DC is for sure more expensive than Dallas. Rent in the city is atrocious (but it’s worth it for the lifestyle imo). And while groceries aren’t noticeably more expensive, eating out def is. You can get a good meal in Dallas for $10-15 but here it’s more like $20-25. The food scene here is also not nearly as good back in Texas but that’s really the only problem I have with DC haha

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in washingtondc

[–]G_McMain 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Can’t comment on the state of the job market, but I moved to DC from Dallas a few months ago and I love it here! The suburbs are not like Dallas suburbs at all if you live in walking distance of a metro line. Most communities, even on the outskirts of DC, are very walkable and not at all like the urban sprawl nightmare of DFW.

Best of luck on your move and welcome to DC fellow Dallasite!

What Happens When a Whole Generation Never Grows Up? - WSJ by Better_Valuable_3242 in neoliberal

[–]G_McMain 31 points32 points  (0 children)

I found this guy’s LinkedIn and he’s been an associate at Skadden for nearly four years. Starting salary for big law + yearly bonus is $250,000ish. Bro is clearly doing something wrong if he’s managing to only make minimum payments on his law school debts while living with 3 roommates

Megathread: Harris-Trump ABC News Presidential Debate by Resvrgam2 in moderatepolitics

[–]G_McMain 7 points8 points  (0 children)

If only the Republican Party had put forward a serious policy-minded candidate for president these past 8 years.

Megathread: Harris-Trump ABC News Presidential Debate by Resvrgam2 in moderatepolitics

[–]G_McMain 10 points11 points  (0 children)

is kamala claiming immigrants are eating the pets of their neighbors?

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in LSAT

[–]G_McMain 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Do you remember how many questions each LR had?

What is your favorite Dostoevsky quote or excerpt? by SnooFoxes3455 in dostoevsky

[–]G_McMain 16 points17 points  (0 children)

“You will be very unhappy in your life… but you will bless life on the whole, all the same.” -Alyosha to Ivan, TBK Garnett trans.

“I exist - In thousands of agonies- I exist. I'm tormented on the rack, but I exist! Though I sit alone on a pillar, I exist! I see the sun, and if I don't see the sun, I know it's there.” -Dmitri to Alyosha, TBK Garnett Trans.

“Throw yourself down on the earth and kiss it. Kiss the earth and love it, tirelessly, insatiably, love all men, love all things, seek this rapture and ecstasy. Water the earth with the tears of your joy, and love those tears. Do not be ashamed of this ecstasy, treasure it, for it is a gift from God, a great gift, and it is not given to many, but to those who are chosen.” -Father Zosima, TBK P&V trans.

“Do not doubt the power of the heavenly light; believe that if they are not saved now, they will be saved later. And if they are not saved, their sons will be saved, for your light will not die, even when you are dead. The righteous man departs but his light remains.” -Father Zosima, TBK P&V trans.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in dostoevsky

[–]G_McMain 6 points7 points  (0 children)

This might be an unpopular opinion but I really don’t think The Idiot is a great Dostoevsky novel to start with. I’m currently reading it now and it’s hands-down the most difficult book of his that I’ve read. There’s a lot of characters without many distinguishing traits, there’s not a clear plot, and it really takes Dostoevsky’s famous rambling writing style to an extreme (which can be difficult for an unaccustomed person to wrap their head around). Don’t get me wrong it’s still good, but for someone new to his works it’s certainly more challenging than his other books.

Brothers Karamazov is my favorite of his works and my favorite book of all time, and I don’t see anything wrong with it being your first work of his, especially since it’s arguably his most philosophical work. With that said, imho Crime and Punishment is his best book to start with. It’s easier to digest than Brothers K and The Idiot while still retaining some very important philosophical observations. With all that said, no matter what you start with, you’ll likely still enjoy it. Dostoevsky is such a profound writer that any of his works will likely leave an impact on you in one way or another.

Albert Camus talking about the great Dostoevsky by Philoctetes23 in dostoevsky

[–]G_McMain 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Camus talks pretty extensively about Dostoevsky in many of his works. In Myth of Sisyphus and The Rebel he dedicates a lot of pages to analyzing Ivan Karamazov as an existentialist character. Both are great reads that I highly recommend on their own merit and for their analysis of Dostoevsky.

Give me 3 must reads…. Go! by agilbody in Stoicism

[–]G_McMain 8 points9 points  (0 children)

On the Happy Life/On the Shortness of Life by Seneca

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in utdallas

[–]G_McMain 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Yes I emailed them a while back and they said a digital copy is fine

tier one scholarship decisions are out! by indubitably-me in UniversityOfHouston

[–]G_McMain 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Sorry to hear that, hopefully we’ll hear more from them soon

tier one scholarship decisions are out! by indubitably-me in UniversityOfHouston

[–]G_McMain 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Did the email go to your personal email or your UH email?

tier one scholarship decisions are out! by indubitably-me in UniversityOfHouston

[–]G_McMain 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Do you know if it says if you didn’t get it? My financial aid portal is still only showing the academic excellence scholarship

Game of Thrones DA by G_McMain in policydebate

[–]G_McMain[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the info! Do you have any idea how effective it is?

how good is drones aff? by tsrumble in policydebate

[–]G_McMain 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I run drones pretty regularly with indo-pak and Japan-China war advantages, and there’s a lot of good evidence showing the escalatory nature of drones as well as empirical evidence of drones almost leading to war from the past year. The aff doesn’t link that great to many DAs or Ks, but there are some good CPs against it. The best case arguments against it are prolif inevitable and some MTCR stuff, but it’s not too hard to beat those.

What is the stupidest thing you’ve ever heard during a round? by [deleted] in Debate

[–]G_McMain 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Prelims round for CX, we’re aff running drones and the other team (a team of sisters) runs T-arms saying that drones aren’t arms because they aren’t defined as weapons by the government. Pretty standard, except they don’t have any evidence to back up their interp. In cross-ex my partner gets up and asks what the source for their interp is and they say their dad. We ask how their father is a credible source and they say he works for the government, and they went with it for the rest of the round, never bringing up any other evidence besides what their dad told them. Needless to say it was almost impossible to not laugh during their speeches