I have been in biglaw for five years now and have seen how quickly the single/childless associates quit after the winter bonuses come out. Many of these people have quit with nothing lined up, thinking that their six-figure bank accounts provide them with enough security to make this jump.

Life is extremely expensive, and if you plan on having a wife and children you cannot reasonably support a middle-class family these days for less than 100k a year after taxes. Most of these associates who quit biglaw after two years have no long-term vision for their careers or families, and don't realize how difficult it will be for them to get back to the income level they were at in biglaw.

I know that many of us dream of the day we can quit biglaw, but based on my experience a lot of the quitters end up trying to get back into biglaw because the alternatives out there don't pay nearly as well. I have had friends who quit biglaw on a whim, and six months later they are begging for jobs that pay $50k a year.

Please think twice before quitting biglaw so early in your career without a lucrative gig lined up (and by lucrative I mean a salary, not a start-up that "could" earn you millions). I promise you that, whatever nest egg you have in your bank account, it is not likely to last that long, especially if you have a family or are planning to start one.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2272437&forum_id=2#23322053)

I look at my job as a paycheck, not as a hobby or a place to make friends. I know our generation wants to have a fulfilling job where every day at work is 70 virgins and video games, but the odds are against you that you will ever find such a gig. I have hobbies and friends, but only on the weekends.

I have seen many, many biglaw associates quit their jobs because they didn't like the work and thought they could find something more interesting elsewhere. The vast majority of these people were sorely disappointed and ending up taking jobs that were just as uninteresting and stressful as biglaw but paid much less.

But good luck finding that cool job that provides you with built-in hobbies and friends. I'm sure you will break the mold for all of us.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2272437&forum_id=2#23322103)

i think you meant to say "when u are a striver fag"

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2272437&forum_id=2#26367220)

I have had many friends who took in-house jobs with small companies. Very few of them lasted very long. In-house lawyers are not adding to the bottom line and are very likely to be cut quickly if the business starts to flag.

I would only take an in-house gig with an established company that has a proven need for a large in-house legal team.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2272437&forum_id=2#23322125)

however, i'm not sure why their legal dept. is so small because it's a 1500+ person company.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2272437&forum_id=2#23322152)

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2272437&forum_id=2#23322148)

If you want to take your $200k and go live in some sub-Saharan death-trap, I'm sure you can find many villages where you could live like a king. At least until you catch some CDC-flagged infectious disease from mosquitoes the size of your childhood puppy.

It's a romantic notion to quit your job, default on your student loans and take your measly savings to some backwater country where bread costs a nickel and a blowjob costs a dollar. But for those of us who live on earth and who have families and friends who care about us and want to see us again in this lifetime, this is not a realistic option.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2272437&forum_id=2#23322198)

So if you never learn to live within your means then you are fucked. I left BIGLAW with over 300k and even years later I still have all that shit. I jacked off for years just living off investments. I'd rather live abroad as an expat then put up with this American rape shit

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2272437&forum_id=2#23325171)

Let me expand on what I said above. I think 500k or more would be an okay net worth if you're single or married with no kids, and have a decent exit option lined up. At that point you can absorb the inevitable payout as long as you are prepared to live within your means. I'm okay with someone going from 185k in biglaw to a teaching job making 50k, as long as they appreciate the financial ramifications and are willing to cut spending by a similar proportion.

If you are married with kids, I would recommend a much higher net worth floor of at least 750k-1m, with an exit option making at least 80-100k. You can only cut back so much where kids are concerned, and you need a much bigger emergency cash pile as well.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2272437&forum_id=2#27152249)

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2272437&forum_id=2#27152289)