In-House Counsel

How Do You Avoid The Stress Of A Biglaw Job?

In-house columnist Mark Herrmann, who was a partner at a Biglaw firm for nearly two decades, explains how to minimize the pressure of Biglaw life.

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I recently blew the dust off the “book talk” that I give about The Curmudgeon’s Guide to Practicing Law (affiliate link) and delivered the talk to a group of international law students here in London.

I predictably get very different reactions when I give the talk to different groups.  Partners think the talk’s a riot.  They laugh out loud when I’m speaking.  I have to wait for the laughter to die down before I can go on to the next sentence.  “You’ve been a fly on the wall of my office for the last 20 years!  How’d you know?”

Associates don’t laugh as much.

And then there are law students.

When my daughter was six years old, and all of her classmates were losing their baby teeth, I held up one of her arms and felt around in her armpit:  “Have any of your classmates lost their baby arms yet?”

She gave me a look that said, “I’m pretty sure that he’s kidding.  But, if he’s not, this is really gonna suck.”

That’s how law students typically respond to my Curmudgeon talk:  “I’m pretty sure that he’s kidding.  But, if he’s not, this is really gonna suck.”

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Anyway, during the question and answer period at the end of my recent talk, one student asked a very Millennial question:  “Do you have any ideas for how you can avoid the stress of working at a Biglaw firm?”

Sure I do.

In fact, in a sense, my entire book is aimed at that question.  When the book first came out, my mother-in-law told me that, “Some people who read this book will love what they read and decide to go to law school.  Others will hate what they read and choose not to go to law school.  And you’ve probably done a service either way.”

I hope so.

My mother-in-law’s language was actually imprecise:  Curmudgeon isn’t really about going to law school.  It’s more about how to succeed in a Biglaw firm.  (I was a partner in one of those puppies for 17 years.)  But you get the drift.

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And that answers the question posed by the law student in my audience:  How do you avoid the stress of working at a Biglaw firm?  Don’t work for a Biglaw firm, of course.

No one says you have to.  And you may hate it.  So don’t do it.

Some people read about the Biglaw environment and love it:  Intense pressure.  A real desire to create error-free perfection.  Hard thinking about tough issues.  Constant deadlines, and long (and unpredictable) hours to meet them.  No praise. 

Sounds great!

Other people read those same words and are nauseated.

Why would anyone choose to do that with their life?

So:  If you don’t like it, don’t do it.  Do trusts and estates work at a small firm.  Go in-house.  Teach.  Many (indeed, the vast majority of) career paths in the law do not involve working at a big firm.  There’s no shame in taking another route.

I suppose my only advice for reducing pressure if you do choose to work at a big firm is this:  Don’t put pressure on yourself unnecessarily.  When a big case settles after you’ve been working on it for three years, there’s going to be a gap in your schedule.  Don’t continue to show up at the office just for the sake of showing up.  This is one of those rare moments when you’ll get to relax.  So do.  When the pressure’s off, wallow in its absence.

And remember that life isn’t really that hard:  You’ll never lose your baby arms.

Mark Herrmann spent 17 years as a partner at a leading international law firm and is now deputy general counsel at a large international company. He is the author of The Curmudgeon’s Guide to Practicing Law and Inside Straight: Advice About Lawyering, In-House And Out, That Only The Internet Could Provide (affiliate links). You can reach him by email at inhouse@abovethelaw.com.

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