This
website
has
discussed
at
length
how
some
of
the
largest
law
firms
across
the
country
have
raised
salaries
recently
as
the
top
shops
compete
against
each
other
for
talent.
First-year
associates
at
top
law
firms
now
make
eye-popping
salaries
that
make
them
some
of
the
highest-paid
young
professionals
in
the
country.
However,
most
people
do
not
work
in
Biglaw
and
are
not
paid
anywhere
near
as
much
as
individuals
who
work
at
Biglaw
shops.
After
leaving
Biglaw,
I
spent
the
majority
of
career
working
at
smaller
law
firms
before
beginning
my
own
practice
over
three
years
ago.
Sometimes,
a
number
of
benefits
make
working
lower-paid
firm
jobs
more
attractive
than
those
at
a
Biglaw
shop
with
higher
salaries.
Hands-On
Legal
Experience
Usually,
the
smaller
the
law
firm
an
associate
works
at,
the
more
hands-on
experience
the
associate
will
get
in
the
practice
of
law.
Associates
in
Biglaw
rarely
get
to
go
to
court,
take
depositions,
or
complete
many
of
the
hands-on
tasks
of
practicing
law.
This
is
because
the
stakes
are
higher
for
many
cases
handled
by
Biglaw
shops,
and
clients
want
the
top
brass
handling
those
matters.
Smaller
law
firms
often
handle
smaller
cases
in
which
clients
are
less
concerned
with
which
lawyer
is
handling
a
matter,
especially
if
the
more
junior
lawyer
charges
a
lower
hourly
rate.
At
the
interview
for
my
first
job
after
Biglaw,
the
managing
partner
said
he
couldn’t
pay
me
even
half
the
salary
I
earned
in
Biglaw,
but
he
promised
I’d
be
in
court
my
first
week
at
the
job
and
taking
depositions
my
first
month.
He
was
correct,
and
I
was
actually
in
court
three
or
four
times
a
week
at
that
job,
and
I
also
got
to
argue
appeals,
conduct
class-action
fairness
hearings,
and
complete
other
hands-on
tasks
I
would
have
never
completed
as
an
associate
in
Biglaw.
This
experience
was
critical
to
me
when
I
was
deciding
whether
I
had
the
background
to
start
my
own
shop,
and
people
may
trade
a
higher
salary
for
the
ability
to
gain
this
valuable
experience.
Work-Life
Balance
Attorneys
at
smaller
law
firms
generally
have
a
better
work-life
balance
than
attorneys
who
work
at
larger
firms.
The
more
a
firm
pays
an
attorney,
the
more
a
firm
expects
that
an
attorney
will
be
indebted
to
the
firm
to
give
up
nights,
weekends,
and
other
personal
time
in
order
to
complete
work
tasks.
However,
the
opposite
is
true
at
smaller
firms.
Since
the
shop
is
not
paying
associates
as
much,
a
typical
tradeoff
is
that
work-life
balance
is
respected.
One
time
when
I
was
working
at
a
smaller
firm,
my
boss
needed
to
send
me
something
over
the
weekend
since
an
emergent
matter
needed
to
be
handled
first
thing
on
Monday
morning.
The
boss
was
so
profusely
sorry
that
he
interrupted
me
over
the
weekend,
and
I
think
that
was
the
only
time
in
two
years
I
ever
needed
to
log
on
after
business
hours
in
order
to
complete
tasks.
At
that
firm,
everyone
also
took
a
full
two
weeks
of
vacation
at
least
every
year
and
around
the
holidays
both
years
I
worked
at
that
firm,
I
took
most
of
the
second
half
of
December
completely
off,
which
was
an
amazing
experience.
Of
course,
there
are
exceptions
to
most
rules,
but
by
and
large,
smaller
firms
respect
work-life
balance
more
than
shops
that
expect
associates
to
toil
at
all
times
of
the
day
or
night
because
they
are
getting
paid
high
salaries.
Less
Crap
From
Bosses
This
is
not
always
the
case,
and
many
lower-paid
jobs
have
managers
that
make
associate
lives
miserable.
However,
in
my
personal
experience,
the
less
money
I
made
at
a
job,
the
less
crap
I
generally
needed
to
deal
with
from
a
boss.
This
was
likely
because
there
was
so
much
turnover
at
some
of
the
shops
at
which
I
worked
that
had
lower
salaries
that
managers
knew
they
had
to
treat
associates
better
or
else
associates
would
vote
with
their
feet
and
go
elsewhere,
causing
interruptions
at
the
firm.
Moreover,
in
my
experience,
associates
could
talk
back
to
managers
much
more
at
lower-paid
jobs
than
at
higher-paid
ones.
I
had
a
few
managers
at
the
lower-paid
job
that
routinely
made
my
life
miserable,
even
though
they
were
often
wrong
about
legal
matters
and
strategies.
After
a
few
months
at
that
firm,
I
became
pretty
bold
with
talking
back
to
bosses
and
letting
them
know
when
I
disagreed,
and
dishing
whatever
disrespect
they
were
giving
to
me.
One
time,
a
partner
even
yelled
at
me
to
get
out
of
his
office
after
I
got
into
a
disagreement
with
him
(in
which
I
ended
up
being
right!)
and
there
were
no
consequences
for
my
comments.
If
I
was
making
more
money,
I
probably
would
have
cared
more
about
that
job,
and
the
partners
would
have
believed
they
could
have
easily
replaced
me,
such
that
this
approach
would
not
be
tolerated.
All
told,
money
makes
things
easier,
and
lawyers
should
generally
gravitate
toward
jobs
that
pay
them
more
money.
However,
attorneys
should
be
aware
of
certain
benefits
that
are
experienced
by
associates
who
work
lower-paid
firm
jobs.
Jordan
Rothman
is
a
partner
of
The
Rothman
Law
Firm,
a
full-service
New
York
and
New
Jersey
law
firm.
He
is
also
the
founder
of
Student
Debt
Diaries,
a
website
discussing
how
he
paid
off
his
student
loans.
You
can
reach
Jordan
through
email
at
jordan@rothman.law.