re: BR and Louisiana legal market question

Don't listen to these jealous fools. You went to LSU for undergrad, your fiancée is from Baton Rouge, you are graduating from Columbia, you want to return to LA. You have a great story to sell. But emphasize your LA connections

I guess BR "big law" is Kean Miller, Jones Walker, the BR offices of Baker Donelson, Phelps Dunbar, and Adams & Reese and, and maybe Breazeale Sachse and Taylor Porter.

80-90 K sounds like the starting number I'd heard the past few years for those firms. New Orleans is surprisingly low considering the higher cost of living and larger offices. I might be wrong on this, but I think it's damn similar to BR. Maybe 5-10K higher (90-95, maybe 100). I believe Proskauer pays the highest, but they are a NYC firm (and I believe the only one in NOLA) and probably hire 1-2 new people a year since their office is tiny. Similar stature firms are hiring at 140 in Houston/Dallas, and as you know, 160K is the number for NYC. Not sure about DC or the CA markets.

No idea on the workloads. I assume someone like Hudson here will have a better idea, but my friend works at a top 10 firm in NYC and generally pulls 75 hours a week. My best friend's sister is at a similar firm and works either 60 hours or 80 hours a week.

I can't imagine the NOLA firms can be competitive paying 90K and expecting the same commitment but who knows? I have way fewer BR contacts, but they seem to work 50-55 hours/week. They are generally under 30.

I'm obviously not surprised Columbia career services is giving you nothing about the Louisiana job market. Most people heading to Louisiana after Columbia are usually the "save the world" types who want to work for a legal aid office for 45K.

Fiancee is a physician, which I know is governed by the state for purposes of licensing. I'm not sure if that type of thing has reciprocity or not, but she's fairly dead set on staying in Louisiana. I've spoken with some attorneys at the larger firms in BR about workload, practice areas and things like that. Obviously I wasn't going to ask any compensation related questions. That type of thing is best left for the O-T.

One bit of advice: don't miss your life working 60-70 hrs/week. No matter the pay, you can't buy the time back.

Quit law school and do something useful. BR already has one lawyer for every 1.8 citizens.

If I were you I'd drop out and learn to weld or be a plumber.

Nobody in Louisiana will give a shite that you went to Columbia. It might even work against you.

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Thanks for all the information. You guys have been more helpful than career services thus far. I'm well aware T14 alone won't blow the socks off really anyone, but I've got other things that I think will help my cause. I did the whole Army 11B thing for four years and I've got a couple of combat pumps. I'm hoping that between my military service and Columbia degree I'll be able to compensate for wherever I end up in my class.

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Here is the bottom line. Your first few years at those big firms are not going to require your Columbia degree, they are going to require a lot of research and document review, something you can learn anywhere.

You legal mind will not start seriously coming into play until you are a 3rd or 4th year associate (AT BEST) If there is a question in the firm's mind about whether you are going to stick out the long hours in Louisiana for that time period, then they will probably be reluctant to hire you.

I worked at one of those firms my 2L summer. I worked an average of probably 75-80 hours a week, AS A SUMMER. I basically said frick that, and went to a small firm, and am loving my life and living comfortably.

I know the culture up there is screaming at you to go "big law" but for you and your young wife's sake reconsider. Think about going to a smaller firm where you can start stretching your legal muscles a little bit earlier (and having a life) and then really start making bank once you get a hold of your own clients.

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160 is uniform across the board in big law firms in big legal markets.

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It's the standard in NY/LA/SF assorted large firms at other major markets.

However, from the downturn onward, there is WAY more variation in big law pay. I have a hard time seeing any firm in the South, outside of Atlanta, Charlotte or Miami, paying 160, or even 145.

I think you're completely right. Honestly, the only cities I see with those salaries south of DC are in Texas, maybe Atl.

And the OT never disappoints with the advice of telling someone to drop out of Columbia to become a plumber

Due to the glut of applicants many larger firms simply will not interview lower than top 25% unless there is a connection/recommendation from within the firm.

You will have a slight advantage with respect to class rank coming from Columbia because of the prestige and military service is always prided, but connections count for more than prestige. If you are bottom half of your class or near there without a special undergraduate or other graduate degree, you are probably not getting a job at a large firm without knowing someone at least with respect to the New Orleans market.

Big firms are bringing in so few new lawyers now and there is just too much competition these days to hire someone with mediocre grades even from a more competitive school. Best advice is to bust arse and get your grades as high as possible your first 2 years. Also see if your fiancee's family has any connections either with partners at big firms or even better with big clients at big firms.