Law students commonly ask us career questions. One of the most frequent types of questions we get is whether a law student should take one particular job over another job offer. One of our reader’s wrote in with this great question about whether Big Law is worth it:
Is it Financially Worth Going Straight Into a Mid-Sized Law Firm From a T14 Instead of Big Law?
The answer to this question about big law is often debated on Reddit. The answer is:
It depends on your debt load and how comfortable you are with owing money.
Also, if we want to break it down in more detail, law students should think about the pay difference between the BigLaw firm and the mid-size law firm.
For example, if Big Law is offering you $205k starting salary and the midsize is offering you $160k, after-tax take-home pay isn’t going to be that much different. However, if you are comparing $205k to $85k, that is a different story.
Interestingly, most law students don’t ask about anything that should be a real consideration like what type of lifestyle you want to live, where you want to ultimately end up, whether the mid-size firm will give you further employment opportunities.
The reality of a legal career is most people don’t stay in Big Law for a long period of time. Let’s say you stay five years. If we assume after-tax pay difference is roughly $20k first year, $30k second year, $50k third, $60k fourth, $70k fifth, you’re looking at almost a quarter million dollars without accounting for investing.
So, now you can reframe you question as:
Am I willing to give up a quarter million dollars over the next five years to have a better quality of life?
Thats probably a question that only you can answer. However, be sure to think about what kinds of opportunities you may miss out on as a Big Law associate. There will be weddings you can’t attend, people you never meet, and family gatherings you can’t make because of your work life. Additionally, you may incur more expenses related to stress. Big law may cause you health problems, extra therapy sessions, or even create a drug addiction.
All these factors need to be considered when you are determining whether that extra $250k is going to be worth it. Of course, Big Law has many benefits as well. You will have great networking opportunities and job placement when you decide to leave. However, you may find those same benefits from mid-sized law as well.
Ultimately, it will depend on each individual as to whether Big Law is worth it compared to Mid-sized Law. The cost difference for the first few years is going to be about $250k. It is up to you to decide whether the struggles of Big Law are worth that much.