Interesting thoughts. Nnamdi, I think your motivations for going into Big Law are the same as many others'. Reading your post actually made me more aware of how those motivations aren't necessarily furthered by a career in Big Law. Insofar as money and prestige/validation would result in happiness, I think it's doubtful we need Big Law for those things. Of course, there's big money in Big Law, but is that amount of money necessary? What we term "low-income" coming out of CLS is, in the grand scheme of things, a livable salary that would more than support a person with normal spending habits. Similarly, if the motivation behind Big Law is proving one's legal education was worthwhile, I don't think Big Law is very helpful either. I think most non-lawyers hear the word "lawyer" and are impressed. They typically aren't in the business of distinguishing between the lawyer making $60K and the Big Law attorney making $190K. The people who are most likely to know the difference in prestige (and care) are other lawyers. Even so, I doubt that other people thinking my practice is prestigious will make my practice worthwhile to me.

Anyway, those are just my reflections on some of the reasons why I'd think I'd want to go into Big Law and why it probably doesn't serve my underlying motivations. I'm interested to hear what others think.

-- ArjanHeir - 07 Feb 2021