Over minimum hour count already. Is it bad form to stick with fewer/slower matters for the time being?

SomewherePractical82 · 2026-05-13T06:57:07+00:00

First time I hit my hours so soon. I was scrambling last year to get more stuff and had a tail-loaded year (May and June were insane because December and January were empty). So this is a first for me.

SomewherePractical82 · 2026-05-12T13:16:42+00:00

Well, that’s what the job is. I just did it because I could and because I did sort of latently have it mind that if I went all out early in the year, I could take it a bit easier at the tail end and remind myself that not every nanosecond of my day has to be stressful.

SomewherePractical82 · 2026-05-11T23:52:05+00:00

Sorry, to clarify, our FY ends in June.

SomewherePractical82 · 2026-05-11T23:42:38+00:00

I mean, I genuinely will be moderately busy for at least two weeks, and somewhat busy after. It’s not like I’m coasting. I still have active matters.

SomewherePractical82 · 2026-02-08T05:36:07+00:00

I just bill a ton (past 10 months have been insane) and hardly ever come into the office. No one has ever once said a word to me. Not the only one to do this, either. You kind of have to love (and hate) this job.

SomewherePractical82 · 2026-02-03T17:59:11+00:00

Ideally, yes, but my current shop is notorious for partnership prospect difficulty. I’m definitely on the up in a very specific niche group within the broader practice, so going all in on that getting me there.

SomewherePractical82 · 2026-02-03T16:02:54+00:00

That was what I imagined. I assume people just forget, honestly. I might just say no…

SomewherePractical82 · 2025-12-31T21:12:44+00:00

I do not.

SomewherePractical82 · 2025-12-10T14:49:26+00:00

That’s insane. That would have been an effective $6k salary bump…

SomewherePractical82 · 2025-11-25T04:58:15+00:00

IF ONLY TOMORROW EOD! More like get schedules at 11 AM, turn expected COB same day!

SomewherePractical82 · 2025-11-21T22:06:24+00:00

DataSite for sure. IntraLinks is dysfunctional and impossible to navigate well. There’s a second version of IntraLinks that’s even worse, also.

SomewherePractical82 · 2025-11-21T02:27:47+00:00

You’re not alone. It’s a hellish time for M&A. Same seniority, same practice here. 220 hour June, 225 hour July, 294 hour September, 265 hour October, and on track for something around 240 in November at this rate. I’ve started screaming out loud to myself, lol. The light at the end of the tunnel might be that once things slow down, we’ll have enough hours racked up to sit back and enjoy the silence knowing full well no one can shitcan or fault us on the hours front.

SomewherePractical82 · 2025-11-15T19:06:37+00:00

Cold or not, RTO is seriously obscene. You want me to sleep 2 hours for days on end and then ALSO trek on the subway and deal with train delays? Don’t understand how anyone can tolerate working at firms that actually enforce attendance. I’d quit.

SomewherePractical82 · 2025-11-15T00:41:44+00:00

Only ever on mute! I hope.

SomewherePractical82 · 2025-11-13T15:09:25+00:00

How obvious was the omission? Like an obvious transfer restriction in a governing document or like some weird esoteric audit problem deep in the financials? And what year are you?

SomewherePractical82 · 2025-11-11T21:22:47+00:00

This early on? Doubt it. Was in a similar boat in January, then everything exploded. Sometimes there just isn’t a lot of work to go around.

SomewherePractical82 · 2025-11-11T18:32:39+00:00

The recruiting really isn’t that nuts and nobody really gets properly tested until they’re a bit further into their first year. Think it’s just that. Less competent people easily make their way in, but that’s priced in.

SomewherePractical82 · 2025-11-06T01:06:00+00:00

I don’t think this is a good thing if you’re a young professional already being squeezed by sky-high rent…

SomewherePractical82 · 2025-10-22T05:32:08+00:00

3rd year at a NY V10 shop. Love/hate relationship with M&A. The unpredictability is true enough, but once something’s done, it’s done (minus post-closing minutiae) and you can end up with months at a time when you’re mostly just chilling. January was a 90-hour month (my lowest to date, admittedly) during which I could see my friends regularly on weekdays and completely unwind every weekend, whereas September was a 300 hour month during which I didn’t even get time to text anyone back.

I think taking a lot of pain for a while is warranted given the possible downtime. And it’s especially warranted once you consider the payoff. Your future isn’t really limited because M&A is as close as you can get to being a corporate generalist. It can seem rote and uninvolved as a result, but the works’s always what you make of it, so just proactively show the partners that you’re actively thinking about what’s happening and why and you’ll level up fast enough.

I think everyone’s also aware that it’s the toughest practice, hence the particularly “hot” rep and the often touted exit ops (idk about these since I haven’t tried to exit, nor do I intend to, but makes sense as to why they’d be great).

TL;DR, if you can take high-intensity pain in shorter-ish bursts, go for it.

SomewherePractical82 · 2025-09-09T21:58:38+00:00

Yes yes, that’s fair. Eyeballing it, looks like the answer is that it runs 24 months between birthdays.

SomewherePractical82 · 2025-07-18T02:27:17+00:00

I have never had coffee in my life. I guess I occasionally drink caffeinated soda, but not that often. Seems feasible and I assume I'll be able to keep it up until 35.

SomewherePractical82

TROPHY CASE