Lifestyle differences between markets Forum

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RaceJudicata

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Re: Lifestyle differences between markets

Post by RaceJudicata » Tue Feb 14, 2017 11:37 am

candidlatke wrote:Can anyone speak to the take-home pay differences between NYC/LA/Dallas/Houston?

Also, I heard Dallas is more similar to New York than other markets in terms of hours/lifestyle, can anyone confirm?
I mean Dallas and Houston are obviously going to have better take home pay because there is no state income tax. NYC and California both have high state taxes, NYC has city tax as well.

Google search for "Take Home Pay Calculator" and plug in the numbers. Should be pretty accurate.

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Re: Lifestyle differences between markets

Post by Anonymous User » Tue Feb 14, 2017 11:51 am

190K in TX: take home pay was $11,168 in January, after taxes and before 401(k).

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Re: Lifestyle differences between markets

Post by Anonymous User » Tue Feb 14, 2017 1:47 pm

Can anyone speak about biglaw in Atlanta?

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Re: Lifestyle differences between markets

Post by Anonymous User » Tue Feb 14, 2017 1:53 pm

When you talk about Texas isn't there some difference, especially with facetime, between bigTex firms and others biglaw with tx offices

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waldorf

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Re: Lifestyle differences between markets

Post by waldorf » Tue Feb 14, 2017 2:29 pm

I'd love to hear about STL vs. larger cities (Chicago, NYC, etc.)

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5ky

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Re: Lifestyle differences between markets

Post by 5ky » Wed Feb 15, 2017 11:09 pm

Anonymous User wrote:Houston, second-year corporate/M&A. No facetime requirement after 5 pm. I am on track for 2000 hours so far this year, and my days are 9:00 to 5:30 (except during closings etc), might log back in for another hour or two in the evening and no more than 4-5 hours each weekend. I pay $1100 a month in rent for a serviceable apartment 20 min drive away. No income or city tax -- I can easily save ~$7600 a month including 401(k). Life is good!

Like someone pointed out above, variance between hours/facetime requirement is more a factor of partners than markets. But COL/ability to save (which is a huge part of lifestyle IMO) is 100% due to market.
"M&A"

Also, there is no chance you can bill 2k in biglaw being at work 9-530, an occasional hour or two in the evening, and no more than 4-5 hours a weekend. More like 1600-1700.

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Re: Lifestyle differences between markets

Post by favabeansoup » Thu Feb 16, 2017 12:18 am

5ky wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:Houston, second-year corporate/M&A. No facetime requirement after 5 pm. I am on track for 2000 hours so far this year, and my days are 9:00 to 5:30 (except during closings etc), might log back in for another hour or two in the evening and no more than 4-5 hours each weekend. I pay $1100 a month in rent for a serviceable apartment 20 min drive away. No income or city tax -- I can easily save ~$7600 a month including 401(k). Life is good!

Like someone pointed out above, variance between hours/facetime requirement is more a factor of partners than markets. But COL/ability to save (which is a huge part of lifestyle IMO) is 100% due to market.
"M&A"

Also, there is no chance you can bill 2k in biglaw being at work 9-530, an occasional hour or two in the evening, and no more than 4-5 hours a weekend. More like 1600-1700.
That really doesn't seem unreasonable to me if someone is relatively efficient...

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Re: Lifestyle differences between markets

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Feb 16, 2017 12:26 am

Anonymous User wrote:Can anyone speak about biglaw in Atlanta?
I worked in Atlanta big law for 3 years before moving to a different market. Atlanta lifestyle is very firm dependent. Some pretty heavy billers and high expectations. Pay is generally solid and young associates can afford to buy or rent a nice space near their office. Very tight knit community with most home grown from local or southeast schools.

Any particular specific questions?

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Re: Lifestyle differences between markets

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Feb 16, 2017 12:36 am

Interested in DC, especially the transaction side

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5ky

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Re: Lifestyle differences between markets

Post by 5ky » Thu Feb 16, 2017 12:36 am

favabeansoup wrote:
5ky wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:Houston, second-year corporate/M&A. No facetime requirement after 5 pm. I am on track for 2000 hours so far this year, and my days are 9:00 to 5:30 (except during closings etc), might log back in for another hour or two in the evening and no more than 4-5 hours each weekend. I pay $1100 a month in rent for a serviceable apartment 20 min drive away. No income or city tax -- I can easily save ~$7600 a month including 401(k). Life is good!

Like someone pointed out above, variance between hours/facetime requirement is more a factor of partners than markets. But COL/ability to save (which is a huge part of lifestyle IMO) is 100% due to market.
"M&A"

Also, there is no chance you can bill 2k in biglaw being at work 9-530, an occasional hour or two in the evening, and no more than 4-5 hours a weekend. More like 1600-1700.
That really doesn't seem unreasonable to me if someone is relatively efficient...
nobody is going to be that efficient, but more importantly, in biglaw, and esp corp/m&a, you don't have a continuous stream of 9-530 billables. you'll have stretches where you don't have much to do and are just sitting around, and then stretches where you have a lot to do.

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Re: Lifestyle differences between markets

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Feb 16, 2017 1:21 am

Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:Can anyone speak about biglaw in Atlanta?
I worked in Atlanta big law for 3 years before moving to a different market. Atlanta lifestyle is very firm dependent. Some pretty heavy billers and high expectations. Pay is generally solid and young associates can afford to buy or rent a nice space near their office. Very tight knit community with most home grown from local or southeast schools.

Any particular specific questions?
Mind touching on what firms are high billers/ high expectations? I have a pretty good idea, but am curious. Also, are partner prospects in ATl any better than NY, DC, Chi, etc.?

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Re: Lifestyle differences between markets

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Feb 16, 2017 1:46 am

Can anyone speak about Portland\Seattle? Thanks!

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Re: Lifestyle differences between markets

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Feb 16, 2017 11:56 am

NYC v. Philly please?

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Re: Lifestyle differences between markets

Post by MrT » Thu Feb 16, 2017 12:23 pm

5ky wrote:
favabeansoup wrote:
5ky wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:Houston, second-year corporate/M&A. No facetime requirement after 5 pm. I am on track for 2000 hours so far this year, and my days are 9:00 to 5:30 (except during closings etc), might log back in for another hour or two in the evening and no more than 4-5 hours each weekend. I pay $1100 a month in rent for a serviceable apartment 20 min drive away. No income or city tax -- I can easily save ~$7600 a month including 401(k). Life is good!

Like someone pointed out above, variance between hours/facetime requirement is more a factor of partners than markets. But COL/ability to save (which is a huge part of lifestyle IMO) is 100% due to market.
"M&A"

Also, there is no chance you can bill 2k in biglaw being at work 9-530, an occasional hour or two in the evening, and no more than 4-5 hours a weekend. More like 1600-1700.
That really doesn't seem unreasonable to me if someone is relatively efficient...
nobody is going to be that efficient, but more importantly, in biglaw, and esp corp/m&a, you don't have a continuous stream of 9-530 billables. you'll have stretches where you don't have much to do and are just sitting around, and then stretches where you have a lot to do.
Assuming 50 hours a week (which is essentially what they said), they can take 4 weeks off and only be ~83% efficient. That seems completely reasonable, especially with extra hours coming it at closings.

50 * 48 * 0.833 = 2000

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5ky

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Re: Lifestyle differences between markets

Post by 5ky » Thu Feb 16, 2017 12:42 pm

but more importantly, in biglaw, and esp corp/m&a, you don't have a continuous stream of 9-530 billables. you'll have stretches where you don't have much to do and are just sitting around, and then stretches where you have a lot to do.

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Re: Lifestyle differences between markets

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Feb 16, 2017 2:12 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:Can anyone speak about biglaw in Atlanta?
I worked in Atlanta big law for 3 years before moving to a different market. Atlanta lifestyle is very firm dependent. Some pretty heavy billers and high expectations. Pay is generally solid and young associates can afford to buy or rent a nice space near their office. Very tight knit community with most home grown from local or southeast schools.

Any particular specific questions?
Mind touching on what firms are high billers/ high expectations? I have a pretty good idea, but am curious. Also, are partner prospects in ATl any better than NY, DC, Chi, etc.?
So much is firm and practice group and individual associate-specific. But, rumors and general impressions are as follows:

K&S, Jones Day and Troutman are allnotorious - JD moreso for being a churn and burn factory without partnership prospects. K&S really grooms those who stick around. Troutman can be soul sucking for those in the wrong group. A+B is noted for taking care of its juniors, really watching to avoid burnout. Greenberg, BakerHostetler and Polsinelli are all just getting their footing in town. Heard pros and cons on all regarding quality of life and quality of hours. As for Dentons, no one outside their four walls seems to have a clue what is happening there. I never saw their associates. Kilpatrick and Sutherland seem to have their shit together. Other firms either have a small practice group presence or are more mid-law in their national impact.

Partnership prospects should be the least of most juniors' worries. You're far far far away and will likely make at least one move. Finding a solid practice group has far more impact on your partnership chops than does the firm.

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Re: Lifestyle differences between markets

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Feb 16, 2017 8:58 pm

Can anyone speak to lifestyle differences between biglaw in Chicago and "biglaw" in Mpls? Specifically lit

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Re: Lifestyle differences between markets

Post by Anonymous User » Sun Feb 19, 2017 10:33 pm

5ky wrote:
favabeansoup wrote:
5ky wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:Houston, second-year corporate/M&A. No facetime requirement after 5 pm. I am on track for 2000 hours so far this year, and my days are 9:00 to 5:30 (except during closings etc), might log back in for another hour or two in the evening and no more than 4-5 hours each weekend. I pay $1100 a month in rent for a serviceable apartment 20 min drive away. No income or city tax -- I can easily save ~$7600 a month including 401(k). Life is good!

Like someone pointed out above, variance between hours/facetime requirement is more a factor of partners than markets. But COL/ability to save (which is a huge part of lifestyle IMO) is 100% due to market.
"M&A"

Also, there is no chance you can bill 2k in biglaw being at work 9-530, an occasional hour or two in the evening, and no more than 4-5 hours a weekend. More like 1600-1700.
That really doesn't seem unreasonable to me if someone is relatively efficient...
nobody is going to be that efficient, but more importantly, in biglaw, and esp corp/m&a, you don't have a continuous stream of 9-530 billables. you'll have stretches where you don't have much to do and are just sitting around, and then stretches where you have a lot to do.
I'm a 2nd year BigLaw M&A associate and aside from the first three months, I've never had a time where I've had nothing to do, so also never a time where I've had to just sit around waiting for work (but there have been times where I have things to do but am not efficient in billing anyway).

So, I do think you can be efficient in billing as an M&A associate as long as you're able to stay focused, even on things without an immediate timeline, just to offer a different perspective from what people here typically say about M&A.

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Re: Lifestyle differences between markets

Post by Anonymous User » Sun Feb 19, 2017 11:22 pm

Anonymous User wrote:Can anyone speak about biglaw in Atlanta?
I summered at A&B a couple years back, and from what I could tell by observation and discussing with the associates, it is pretty demanding. Probably on par with stereotypical expectations in NYC. I used to notice when looking at One Atlantic Center late at night, the lights of the corporate floors were always lit up.

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Re: Lifestyle differences between markets

Post by Fireworks2016 » Sun Feb 19, 2017 11:52 pm

Anonymous User wrote:Can anyone speak to lifestyle differences between biglaw in Chicago and "biglaw" in Mpls? Specifically lit
I am also interested in this.

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Tiago Splitter

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Re: Lifestyle differences between markets

Post by Tiago Splitter » Mon Feb 20, 2017 9:36 pm

Anonymous User wrote:Houston, second-year corporate/M&A. No facetime requirement after 5 pm. I am on track for 2000 hours so far this year, and my days are 9:00 to 5:30 (except during closings etc), might log back in for another hour or two in the evening and no more than 4-5 hours each weekend. I pay $1100 a month in rent for a serviceable apartment 20 min drive away. No income or city tax -- I can easily save ~$7600 a month including 401(k). Life is good!

Like someone pointed out above, variance between hours/facetime requirement is more a factor of partners than markets. But COL/ability to save (which is a huge part of lifestyle IMO) is 100% due to market.
How many hours did you bill as a first year?

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Re: Lifestyle differences between markets

Post by Anonymous User » Fri Feb 24, 2017 12:05 am

Fireworks2016 wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:Can anyone speak to lifestyle differences between biglaw in Chicago and "biglaw" in Mpls? Specifically lit
I am also interested in this.
Bump

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Re: Lifestyle differences between markets

Post by Anonymous User » Fri Dec 08, 2017 7:34 pm

Can anyone speak to NY v DC

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Re: Lifestyle differences between markets

Post by Anonymous User » Fri Dec 08, 2017 8:01 pm

I'm curious to here more about the hours in Dallas

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Re: Lifestyle differences between markets

Post by Anonymous User » Fri Dec 08, 2017 8:46 pm

can anyone here speak to Charlotte?

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