Pros
- Small office: Means a lot of opportunity to try your hand at drafting a multitude of legal documents. - Laid back atmosphere: Unless you've done something wrong, you probably won't hear from/see a partner without seeking them out yourself. - Firm is generous with gifts on special occasions: Over the holidays, they'll give you the choice of a bottle of wine or a thermal mug. During quarantine, they offered a choice of gift (I chose a JBL speaker) to boost morale.
Cons
- Extreme lack of communication: As mentioned in the "pros," there is rarely any communication between the associates and the partners--that is, unless you've messed up; then, you will receive the wrath of 1,000 suns. There are no "team meetings," so to speak, and you're pretty much on your own to know what's to be done. As a brand new attorney, I found this to be a huge issue. - Billable hours are near impossible to satisfy: In short, you simply can't win. For example, while some of my friends can bill 14 hours for research at another firm, I could only bill 3 maximum. Three. As lawyers, a huge chunk of our time goes toward research--especially a new lawyer like myself--but that time was always redacted from my billables, making it near impossible to reach my weekly goal (40 hours) without billing for at least 9-10 hours' of work each day. - No female representation: Women associates never seem to last long at this office. There is never more than 1 woman employed at a time. The office culture can feel exclusionary at times toward women and I often felt uncomfortable or out of place. - Salary: I had been working as a law clerk at the firm prior to passing the bar. My salary was neither adjusted nor increased thereafter, and I was swiftly told in no uncertain terms that I should be happy with what I was being paid. I'm sure my male counterparts were making more. - Quality of life is nonexistent: Sitting in an office all day, sometimes without speaking a single word to anyone else, can be extremely draining on your mental health. You're truly on your own. - Benefits/401K: There's no matching for your 401K. Benefits used to be pretty great but for some reason they changed in 2021--you have to pay the same price/more for less/the same coverage you were getting the year prior.
