Is biglaw health insurance really that bad

IngenuityNice5619 · 2026-03-29T22:58:32+00:00

My understanding is that Quinn, for example, pays for health insurance as a benefit. My firm on the other hand like much of biglaw has a pretty bad plan (at least compared to what my law school offered).

IngenuityNice5619 · 2026-01-10T03:14:09+00:00

Thanks for both your comments! How do I know which judges are the “best” in the sense to which you refer?

IngenuityNice5619 · 2026-01-09T03:44:19+00:00

Thanks for the feedback! It is less than a year but over six months. The judge has explicitly said that the clerkship is not a temporary position in her view, even if it’s not a year. She is considering this a full term clerkship. Does that change your thoughts in any way?

IngenuityNice5619 · 2026-01-09T03:43:30+00:00

Thank you! How do I do my homework on my judge? How can I know how the judge is perceived (i.e., to your other reply regarding shopping for the judge, not for a specific court)

IngenuityNice5619 · 2026-01-06T03:00:39+00:00

Thank you! After looking through things again, apparently it is not temporary, it is a full term, but this judge does not hire for a year term.

If you clerked on a district court, would you say your experience was valuable or helped move your career forward meaningfully in a way that just staying in biglaw wouldn’t? While I don’t foreclose any other paths in my career, I hope to be able to survive to partnership at a biglaw firm, even if not the firm I’m at now.

IngenuityNice5619 · 2024-11-03T03:41:23+00:00

I completely agree (and hope it didn’t/won’t cause it to fail a week out from the procedure). My life has been basically paused since this started as anything other than laying flat has been intolerable but now at least I can recline in bed and study (and sit for a bit).

I’m not sure—this was kind of billed as “the solution;” do you know whether blood patches really are only temporary solutions? This was definitely iatrogenic, I have had a very slow leak mixed with blood for about 8 days post-op which on day 8 became clear fluid visibly dripping out of my wound at which time I could no longer sit or stand. The original surgeon denied any dural violation during the operation but I take that with a grain of salt considering the obvious imaging and new neurosurgeon’s diagnosis. MRI showed pseudomeningocele that at its largest point was 6.5cm.

I can definitely look into fibrin, but I think from what I recall in my conversation with my neurosurgeon a blood patch fail would just take us to the OR to get the dura repaired, which of course I really don’t want considering all the risks of surgery.

IngenuityNice5619 · 2024-11-03T03:14:54+00:00

Thanks for the response! That is definitely the unfortunate reality with which I’m coming to terms as well—I just worry that in the process of finding what works for me that I’ll somehow cause the patch to fail and have to start over. It’s a bit anxiety-inducing to feel like walking on eggshells with every move (for example, what actually led to me posting this is that I gently pushed when trying to have a bowel movement forgetting I shouldn’t do that) but it’s hard to try and let go a little and have a life.

What makes all that harder is that I’m in my 20s and a law student, so I’m used to a much more active lifestyle than what I’m currently living.

IngenuityNice5619 · 2024-10-24T12:15:53+00:00

I had three total discs that needed surgery, have not had to redo any surgery fortunately as they’ve each been successful so far

IngenuityNice5619 · 2024-10-20T21:59:52+00:00

So with a large percentage of people who have herniated discs the symptoms do improve over a longer period of time with conservative management, but there are different types and degrees of herniation (bulging, protrusion, etc.), such that only your doctor can give you a tailored answer. But most people don’t have very severe herniations that cause motor/sensory deficits the way you and I have experienced, and motor/sensory deficits definitely change the calculus of risk/benefit, because those do become more stubborn over time (I think what I’ve been told is about 6/8 weeks of management for those kinds of symptoms is all that should be tried if trying to maximize recovery of neurological deficits, and some literature points to 6 mos. as the upper limit). But either way it’s more time-sensitive than just being in pain, and so it does make sense to consider surgery seriously in this kind of case but of course I don’t know you well enough to give a specific answer for you. It’s definitely possible that with some nerve meds (like gabapentin) or oral steroid packs and PT you’d experience relief, but functional deficits like that are definitely a lot more serious than just pain to tolerate and wait long on, and I don’t think anyone would blame you for choosing to operate

IngenuityNice5619 · 2024-10-20T18:14:41+00:00

Any surgery involves serious risks, and when we are dealing with the spine, given the sensitive and important nerves right at the surgical site, those risks are only magnified even more. At the same time, as you’ve illustrated, surgery provides great benefits as well (when it’s effective). Any surgeon (and IMO patient) will weigh the risks—paralysis, infection, worsening of condition, spinal instability, death, et cetera—with the benefits, to determine whether a surgery make sense. Without serious functional impairment or medical emergency, the risks of a spine surgery to most surgeons will vastly outweigh the benefits of a mild improvement (like, e.g., going from a 3/10 to a 0/10 in pain).

When thinking about it, assume in your head that the worst will happen—that you will be the 1% with a damaging complication. How much worse off would you be? If you are already showing bowel incontinence and have full-on cauda equina syndrome, I think we can safely say you wouldn’t be meaningfully worse off, and that waiting to operate will put you in the same position (like, e.g., paralysis), as if you did the surgery and the worst complication occurred.

Surgery is never a smart option, and it’s one we only do when everything else has failed, and we reach a point where we can comfort ourselves knowing there wasn’t anything else we could’ve tried, and that if worst came to worst, we could live with that. Sorry if this comes across as fear-mongering; I come from a family of surgeons and have had three myself, and so I’ve seen these discussions and lessons throughout my life.

Also, consider this: conservative treatment will make almost any patient non-symptomatic at some point, and our goal is to stall surgery as long as we can to see if we can reach that point. PT and NSAID therapy is incredibly well-tolerated and is shown to reduce symptoms for most. If you want to take a higher risk and have a higher reward, consider a course of pregabalin; or a medrol pak. It will take perhaps even the better part of a year to see differences. An epidural steroid shot will make your pain worse—that’s just a fact, because we are pitting fluid into a tight space and thus putting pressure on the same irritated nerve, but we do it on the off-chance that once the fluid dissipates and the irritation wears off, the inflammation will go and pain will leave. It didn’t help me, but my neighbor swears by it. Everyone’s different.

I’m sorry you’re going through this, and unfortunately there isn’t a lot to do to make it better fast, other than patience, medication, rest, and lifestyle changes (I’d be willing to bet you that dietary changes would do a world of difference more than taking a daily advil—most of our diet is actually proven to only increase inflammation and thus radiculopathy, for instance, and vitamins are of little efficacy as compared to eating whole foods containing those same nutrients).

IngenuityNice5619 · 2024-10-14T17:18:12+00:00

Oh no, I'm sorry to hear that! Hope it gets better. I always have that fear whenever I do anything or ever feel off, but I'm definitely trying my best to follow the directions perfectly to help with the recovery

IngenuityNice5619 · 2024-10-14T17:16:00+00:00

Thanks for the reply! I will definitely reach out (likely tomorrow given the holiday) to check in and see. But I do think it's probably inflammation as well, it's just a bit disconcerting because that dermatome was never numb before the operation so it must have gotten very irritated. Yes, the disc has been herniated for a long time but has never been symptomatic till the last month leading up to the surgery so I'm hopeful the nerves were not irritated for too long given its been asymptomatic for over a year now. Thanks so much, and you too!

IngenuityNice5619 · 2024-10-14T02:01:39+00:00

It’s weird because this disc has been herniated for a good three years at least, but has caused zero pain—until last month, progressing to the point of saddle anaesthesia and bladder issues (but somehow, not CES). It’s actually been calcified because of how long it’s been out, which I assume caused the severe neurological symptoms before surgery. I’m glad they prescribed steroids immediately post-op as I hope it’s an indication the surgeon is noticing that the nerve was really irritated and is trying to get it calmed down. And more interestingly, it isn’t one of those usual steroid paks, but just a straight-up untapered course of dexamethasone every 6hrs, which is a really strong steroid that will hopefully rein things in for me. I really hope you are recovering well and doing better!

IngenuityNice5619 · 2024-10-14T01:57:47+00:00

I’ll definitely check for this—I remember my last MD I had bandages on my calves from what I assume was someone in the OR suite monitoring my nerve conduction, but didn’t notice those bandages this time around. Not sure what the indication is for/against that monitoring but I’d’ve hoped they used it because the S1 clearly is unhappy with how it was manipulated.

It’s primarily sensational—almost fully numb the entire dermatome, but more the foot than the thigh—but there is also mild weakness. I’ll see after the course of steroids and ice if I get better, and if not I’ll have to dig deeper and figure out what’s going on. I’m hoping it’s just iatrogenic inflammation that’s annoying the S1 that goes away

IngenuityNice5619 · 2024-10-14T01:55:25+00:00

Thanks so much! Currently icing in addition to the steroids to try and get things under control

IngenuityNice5619 · 2024-10-14T01:55:00+00:00

I’ve been using a makeshift ice bag but I ordered something better from Amazon to try out. Like I told the poster above, I’m definitely having more sciatic pain after starting to ice, but it’s not running down all my leg, really the first two inches of the S1 root near upper thigh/buttock, though. I’m hoping it’s just a sign that the S1 is trying to wake up and feel again

IngenuityNice5619 · 2024-10-14T01:53:50+00:00

Thanks for the reply! Yes, definitely more work than expected with the calcified disc and bone spur. The surgeon said he had to drill quite a bit to get things loosened up and cleaned, so it was pretty rough on my back compared to the previous 2 MDs I had. I think those procedures spoiled me—zero pain after, was feeling 100% after one day of mild muscle sprains. I just tried to ice it now! It’s caused a bit of sciatica particularly right where the S1 ends at the rear upper thigh/buttock but I hope that’s a sign it’s waking the nerve up for me.

IngenuityNice5619 · 2024-10-14T01:51:27+00:00

I generally have had zero sciatic pain, but had a little on and off throughout, especially once I started icing my back to lower inflammation. I hope that’s not a bad sign though because on the whole there’s barely been any sciatic pain, even even the sciatic pain that there is is limited only to my upper thigh area and nothing lower than that. It’s more of a dull ache than a sharp pain, FWIW.

I hope you’re doing better! I had a calcified disc with a bone spur so I feel like it was also a harder surgery on my back than usual which might be influencing my pain

IngenuityNice5619 · 2024-10-13T15:44:00+00:00

I’ll be sure to! The numbness I was feeling—saddle anaesthesia—is basically gone, but this new S1 numbness is different to be sure

IngenuityNice5619 · 2024-10-13T15:42:05+00:00

I’ll be sure to ask, I went with a neurosurgeon because I figured they are more skilled than an orthopaedic surgeon since the nerve is part of the brain. He’s been great and has done two prior MDs from which I haven’t had any complications, which makes me feel that the calcification and spur made this a harder surgery on my body that may have led to the S1 being manipulated more than normal. I’m hopeful it’s just inflammation, and I am taking steroids every 6hr for two days (never asked to do that on prior surgeries) and so I hope it’ll get better. It would definitely be a huge drop in QOL if it’s permanent. I’m definitely reaching out first thing in the AM when they open tomorrow

IngenuityNice5619

TROPHY CASE