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Proceed with Caution: A Diary of the First Year at One of America's Largest, Most Prestigious Law Firms

Book by WIlliam R. Keates · 3 quotes · Lawyers In Hell

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Proceed with Caution: A Diary of the First Year at One of America's Largest, Most Prestigious Law Firms Quotes

“...downside of the team approach is that there may be a conflict between the schedules of your senior attorneys and you. If the senior attorneys on the team prefer to stay late and work late, you’ll have to match your schedule to theirs. If they like to work early and leave early, you’ll be expected to do the same – because if work schedule differences arise, they’ll be resolved in favor of the more senior attorneys, not you.”

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Book:Proceed with Caution: A Diary of the First Year at One of America's Largest, Most Prestigious Law Firms
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“As I found, if you complete your work more efficiently, your reward is more billable work, not more leisure time. However, once you’re comfortable with the facts of a case, you simply lack the incentive to resolve the case, since you’ll just have to start the arduous task of learning a new case.”

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Book:Proceed with Caution: A Diary of the First Year at One of America's Largest, Most Prestigious Law Firms
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“Another factor contributing to a new associate’s willingness to work long hours is that it’s the price you pay to get interesting work with significant responsibility. Large firms just won’t entrust you with important matters before you’ve had a lot of quality experiences and exhibited a sufficient level of dedication. Frankly, to large firms the word “dedication” has just one, hidden meaning: “tremendous personal sacrifices.” Cruel as it seems, as a new associate you have to decide at some point what your priorities are: your career, or your personal and family life. If you choose your life outside of work, you’ll find yourself rejecting additional work, and your reluctance to accept it will brand you as “lacking dedication” – and your career will suffer accordingly. Clients also contribute directly to the massive hours new associates have to work, by making demands for legal services that require immediate attention. You may have a client, for instance, who needs you to move for a temporary restraining order (“TRO”) on its behalf. Or a client may ask you to substantially revise a brief shortly before a court deadline. With emergencies like these, you have to work hard, and you’ve got to work right now – and that can have a devastating effect on your personal and family life. You may be called upon at a moment’s notice to cancel evening or weekend social plans you might have made, vacations you’ve long anticipated, and even holiday celebrations. Life at a large firm means learning to accept these incidents as occupational risks.”

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Book:Proceed with Caution: A Diary of the First Year at One of America's Largest, Most Prestigious Law Firms
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