Biglaw, Perks / Fringe Benefits

Sidley Austin's Insanely Early Start Dates(And Open Thread on Law Firm Start Dates)

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From this morning’s ATL mailbag:

It may not be that juicy of a story, but almost all of the soon-to-be first-year associates at Sidley Austin LA are pissed about the start dates they gave us. Our available start dates are August 11 or September 8. The first start date is just 10 days after the California bar. Are we being whiny bitches, or is this messed up?

We lean towards “messed up.” But we’re biased in favor of late start dates — we showed up for our first day of law firm work in December, after extensive post-clerkship travels. (We couldn’t do a post-bar trip because our clerkship started a week after the bar exam.)
So, readers, whaddya think? Do the Sidley associates have just cause for complaint? Or are these starting dates par for the course in Biglaw? What’s your law firm’s policy?
Update (11:45 AM): Based on the comments thus far, it seems the weight of authority favors “whiny bitches.” But let’s do this more systematically: take our poll.

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