<p>She would eventually be back in NY. Even while she is abroad, she would be there as the “NY” lawyer, passing the NY bar etc.</p>
<p>Parentofpeople,
I am not by any means an expert, but I think that would depend on wether your D is interested long(ish) term in whatever the London office does. Usually smaller offices concentrate on particular things, and probably with international lean on this case.</p>
<p>There is a lot of flow between different offices and different firms. The firm matters more than the city. Is it a UK firm or a London office of a US firm?</p>
<p>zoosermom, it is a London firm that also has a NY office.</p>
<p>Then in terms of future employment, the UK firm will be viewed as any other employer.</p>
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<p>This is an important consideration. I have no experience in law, but a lot of peers who went to Asia for banking a decade or more ago, have trouble getting jobs back in the US even tough they had started their banking careers in NY and they are working for large international banks with worldwide offices.</p>
<p>However, if your D is considering just a short stint to get some international experience, it may be fine.</p>
<p>However, considering the fact that after grad offers are made at the end of 2L summer, wouldn’t she be better served working at a US firm with an office in London? This way, she could start her permanent job in NY</p>
<p>sybbie719, I believe that she wants to work in London for more than just the summer. She plans on going there after 3L if they give her an offer. I just think eventually she wants to come back to NY or at least the states.</p>
<p>The problem is that becomes harder than it sounds…at least in my experience you think you can move in the future but it doesn’t happen…how do you feel about your grandkids being raised in the UK? (smile)</p>
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<p>Better to avoid the debt entirely to begin with rather than have to bear working in “big law” to pay down debts that never should have been incurred. If you are bound to go to law school, may as well go to the school that gives you the best deal as opposed to the highest ranked school. This is contrary to lots of advice out there, but why do I give it? There is no security in law, little opportunity for advancement. The great chances are that most lawyers who continue practicing, even if they started in big law, are going to end up in small firms anyway, if not outright unemployed. So why not avoid Big Law and all of the prestige garbage about going to the topped ranked schools. Get out of law school and learn how to actually practice law. That is not going to happen in Big Law but only in Small Law. In a few years you will know what you are doing and at least have the potential of making a living, maybe even a nice living. Caveat. Even the low ranked schools price themselves as if they are Harvard. None of these schools are worth it UNLESS you get a very significant guaranteed tuition discount for the entire time you are there. If that’s not possible, just try to find a reasonably priced school or maybe go part time and keep your day job. Of course, the best advice of all is to avoid law school altogether. There are good legitimate reasons there are so many “scam blogs” on the net warning about law school and life as a lawyer. Some say that the best way to ruin your life is to go to law school</p>
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<p>Personally, i wouldn’t go the Goldman Sachs route, I would go the Bill Gates route and use my legal intellect to start a company like Microsoft. Since we are talking fantasy anyway, why not aim for the very top?</p>
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<p>That is definitely a concern! I feel like it might be a better professional decision than a personal decision (for me), but I am trying to focus on the career/professional part for her.</p>
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<p>Well, in another thread that would be good advice, but obviously in this one that train has left the station :-)</p>
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<p>This may be applicable for Biglaw litigation associates. Biglaw corporate associates have much wider/ flexible exit options than litigation. Litigation teaches you zero transferrable skills outside of law, and hence, you have zero exit options outside of law.</p>
<p>Doing litigation at Biglaw is kind of similar to being a professional athlete. Once young, you may be on top of the world making very high salary. Then, several years later, you may find yourself unemployed or working as a real estate salesman.</p>
<p>That is why when you choose your first job out of school, always choose the job that gives you transferrable/ marketable skills.</p>
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<p>Getting into high finance from top NYC Biglaw (corporate side) is more than doable. I’ve seen many do it.</p>
<p>If that fails, I am going to network myself into an in-house position at a finance company doing M&A or the like. I believe these are more than attainable if I play my cards right.</p>
<p>On the other hand, I believe I have a better chance of becoming the next billionaire by hitting the jackpot lottery than starting the next Microsoft.</p>
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<p>Thanks for that insight, law student. I’ll be sure to let all my in-house lit friends know that they didn’t have any exit options.</p>
<p>I get it NYU, and who knows, despite the very stiff competition for these types of jobs, there may be something that will set you apart and you will make it.</p>
<p>There is something generally referred to on the Net and here on CC as the Snowflake syndrome. Most kids who go to law school today know how glutted the market, how difficult to get into big law and how difficult to parlay big law into a partnership or a stint with Goldman Sachs (I would think Lawyers would be the least desirable candidates for these jobs). With the optimism and confidence of youth, and the can-do attitude, many assume they are going to be one of the few who are going to make it. But the truth is, the great majority are not going to make it. Even most of the top students from the top schools are not going to make it. Not to say you shouldn’t try of course, but I would not bet the farm on getting there, nor would I assume 250K in non-dischargeable debt to try to get there. Good luck.</p>
<p>By the way, I would think litigation would be far more marketable in a general sense than corporate law. Corporate Lawyers generally need to find jobs with Big Law of course, or inhouse . . whereas lawyers skilled in litigation can go virtually anywhere, even open up their own shop if they want.</p>
<p>The typical exit for a corporate law associate at V20-V30 -ish Biglaw in a major market (NYC, SF, etc) is an in-house corporate law position, usually with a 30-40% paycut from biglaw.</p>
<p>I’ve never heard of Biglaw corporate associates from top firms ending up flat-out unemployed.</p>
<p>When I was working as a summer associate at NYC Biglaw, during those 3month stint, I personally knew around 10 senior associates that left the firm for other jobs. (many times in-house positions)</p>
<p>True, I may not end up getting a Goldman Sachs job after Biglaw, but my most likely exit option seems to be way more promising than many jobs that any typical college grad would end up with at my age group. (or for any lawyer that didn’t do a stint at Biglaw) Hence, I can’t really fully agree with your initial statement that going to a top law school and doing the Biglaw stint isn’t worth it for someone’s career.</p>
<p>Corporate associates at Biglaw have much wider transferrable skills and exit options compared to litigation associates.</p>
<p>Even if a litigation associate ends up in-house after Biglaw with much luck, that person is likely doing just litigation.</p>
<p>Many corporate associates go on to do different things after Biglaw, such as Biz Development at F500, in-house law, finance, sales, etc.</p>
<p>(note: restructuring at Biglaw M&A is a directly transferrable skill-set to high finance)</p>
<p>What if the person has no interest in high finance whatsoever? 
what would be one person’s dream may be cruel and unusual punishment for someone else.</p>
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I could introduce you to some.</p>
<p>I actually generally agree with your assessment. Generally. But in the last few years there have been quite a few instances of genuinely bad luck/bad timing that have wrecked careers and harmed lives. The BigLaw model is in a very different place and particular firms, practice areas or groups can be fragile and unstable. So the moral of the story remains: pay off debt as soon as you can and save for a rainy day.</p>