[to come]

In my last post, I talked about four common assignments for first-year Biglaw associates. Here, in Part 2, I’m continuing on with that theme with four more typical tasks for junior associates. Again, I’ve limited my overview to just those things that corporate/transactional associates will encounter, since litigation is a whole other world that I […]

The day is finally here. IT has set you up with a brand-new laptop, you’ve decked out your home office, you’ve done a tech check, and you’re ready to get to work. Congrats on starting your job as a first-year Biglaw associate! Once new associate orientation and training is over, it’s go time. So you […]

“Biglaw is a marathon, not a sprint.” I’m sure you’ve heard this common refrain before. Have you heard it related to Biglaw (because many people say it when giving advice to law students and junior associates)? I might have even said it myself in the past (cringe). The message comes from a good place. It’s […]

Starting a new Biglaw job? Even if you were a summer associate at your firm, working as a first-year associate is a whole new game. You’re actually someone’s lawyer now! Regardless of what firms tell you when you’re a summer associate (i.e., that they give summers “real substantive work” – most don’t), real Biglaw work […]

What does Biglaw expect from its first-year associates? This is the million-dollar question and what every incoming associate wants to know. Despite all of the information available online, Biglaw remains somewhat of a mystery for many law students. I think part of this is because a lot of the information that is available is put […]

Italians give the best goodbyes. During a lunch in Rome over the summer, we sat across from a family of Italians sharing a meal and saying goodbye to each other. The oldest son was clearly leaving home to go somewhere – moving to another city or college perhaps – and I couldn’t take my eyes […]

It’s been one year since my husband and I packed up our Upper West Side apartment and left New York City. I used to think that leaving Biglaw was the last chapter of this book, but now I realize that leaving NYC was the true ending. I moved to the city in 2009 after graduating […]

Setting boundaries in Biglaw is such a controversial topic. I have a LOT of thoughts about it because it can be so hard to do. But it can be done – in a way. I’ve recently heard from so many Biglaw associates who are really struggling with setting boundaries, so I wanted to share my […]