- law dawg
- 54 Comments
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Compensation consists of more than just your take-home pay and today we want to hear what you consider to be the gold standard for benefits that complement your salary. What are the bare minimums in terms of benefits? What is your non-negotiable? Did you negotiate any additional benefits? If you went solo, how do you deal with getting some of the benefits you might get at a firm? Is there an industry standard or is everyone doing their own thing? What do you think should be offered? What happens if your benefits change during employment–did you renegotiate salary or any other aspect of compensation?
Non-negotiable for me, is that my employer not only tolerates but encourages and insists that I go to medical appointments during the work day as needed. Keeps me healthy and able to work.
This seems so terrible but bar none laterals are always very concerned about being able to go to Drs appointments. What prior firm is telling them “no”? What happened to treating lawyers like adults and professionals. This is not a 9 to 5 job, and if I can’t trust you to use your judgment, then how can I trust you to do legal work.
I had a good way of dealing with medical appointments when I was an associate: I just left the office and went to them. “I have an appointment out of the office; I will be back in about two hours.” If someone doesn’t like that, then you need to head for the door asap.
Sure you did
What is your employer 401k match? 4, 5, 6%
Funny how no one has responded. Just let me say re ID – no match, weak salary, short staffed, push everything onto the attorneys. Go intercourse yourselves.
Big law is 6
As a disgruntled government worker, I think all companies/businesses/entities that employ attorneys should pay for the maintenance of that licensure (bar fees, CLEs, etc).
Yeah, but as long as you were hired before 2014 (?) aren’t you on that sweet NVPER gravy train? And you don’t have to deal with crazy clients, billing, etc.
Life is fully of trade offs.
Wait. What government agency isn’t paying for their attorney’s bar fees and CLEs? I know all of the major southern cities and Clark County do.
The Feds don’t pay for bar fees.
Neither does the state
The salary may be low but LACSN is the gold standard for benefits. Full employer-paid top tier health insurance for the employee and all dependents, 403(b) match, weeks of PTO you’re actively encouraged to use, 37.5 hour flexible schedule, student loan payment assistance, plus you’re eligible for public service loan forgiveness. Everyone is nice and friendly and your clients genuinely appreciate your help. It’s not for everyone but for the right person no other employer comes close.
I agree with what you said except for the Legal Aid Clients, they are the worst entitled snot nosed bratty clients ever. They have no skin in the game so they do not care about resolving or settling. I will not accept another pro bono case as long as I practice due to the woeful vetting process by Legal Aid.
It’s a bizarre truth that (outside in-house/gov’t type gigs) the less the client pays, the worse they are.
Sadly that was my experience with pro bono as well and why I won’t do pro bono cases anymore.
I’ve also never encountered an attorney who accepted a pro bono case from LACSN who said “boy did I receive the guidance and training I needed from that free CLE or their staff that made me want to accept another case.” While an oddly specific quote, you get the idea…
Anytime you have a problem with a client, reach out to LACSN, and they will help. One bad client experience is not a reason to deprive the community of your legal expertise. Giving back improves access to justice and the public view of lawyers.
Has anyone on here actually had their loans forgiven through one of these public service programs? I have never actually seen it work. Seems like there is always some condition that prevents it.
There were about 5 colleagues at my office that met the conditions to have their loans forgiven under the public loan forgiveness program. Government work for 10+ years and they made at least the minimum payment for 120 months. The rest of us paid off our loans aggressively, and paid them off years before the 10 year requirement.
I know someone who works in in public interest making a very decent salary who was able to have over 80K in loans discharged.
Mine will come up during the new administration and I’m afraid whoever the new DeVos is will find a way to make it impossible.
Right, because actually paying back what YOU borrowed is so unfair. It’s much more fair to make the taxpayer pay back YOUR debt. Fuck you.
Detrimental reliance is a thing, my good man. It’s been more than 17 years since the Public Student Loan Forgiveness program started. People have made decisions based on it.
No. This program has been around for a long time. People took on debt in reliance that it would be forgiven under the program. Accountability and responsibility work both ways.
This is the kind of comment that explains so much.
Thank you for saying what we schmucks who paid back our loans are thinking. Government should never have gotten involved in this nonsense in the first place. Loaning money should be the business of banks, not government. And government forgiveness of student loans should be limited to only those rare situations where the borrower was actually and demonstrably defrauded. Anything else is political shenanigans – politicians buying votes with taxpayer money. It’s evil, if you think about it.
You’re not wrong, for the most part and speaking as another “loans fully repaid guy” I just do not have a problem with a program that rewards those that commit to public interest work.
Large private firms occasionally offer student loan repayment as a fringe. I don’t agree with this premise for those that go straight govt work (Pds and DAs and AUSAs included), but I am not intimately familiar with the program so maybe that is a moot point.
There is so much aggressive sanctimony from people like 12:15/9:32. You must be as virtuous as me! FAIR!
Except that this program existed BEFORE the loans were taken on. There is a reasonable expectation, on the part of the borrowers, that the loans will be forgiven if they take a government or non profit job. Criticize the program all you want, what I don’t get is the vitriol to the people using the program.
You’re not special 12:15/9:32, nor are you some kind of extraordinary beacon of personal responsibility. I repaid my loans as well and so did a lot of other people who don’t weaponize that fact against people just following the terms of the program they signed up for.
PSLF is just salary in a different form.
It’s offered as part of your compensation package. And it encourages people to forego higher paying jobs so we can have good qualified people working for public interest.
“…so we can have good qualified people working for public interest.” Or, as they are called in the parlance of the Trump Era, LOSERS AND HATERS!
Its a racket, plain and simple. I borrowed $50K. I’ve paid back $110K and still owe $90K. Nobody is waiving shit.
Jesus, how long were you making minimum payments for? Kinda seems like a “you” problem.
Casual dress at the office. Don’t require me to wear a shirt and tie every day, especially when not meeting with clients.
Let me keep working remotely. I’ll come into the office a couple of days a week and whenever necessary.
Yes, this. I always come to the office shirtless if not meeting with clients.
When you work for yourself, you wear whatever you want.
Never a tie, unless in court and if there are no client meetings, jeans and a hoodie the winter shorts and a button up in the summer.
Love these discussions and the reminder that my decision to hang my shingle up 23 years ago this month was the right one for me and my family.
I waited a little longer than that, but fully agree.
It’s a drafting day; I am wearing yoga pants and a sweatshirt right now. I’m quite happy
This, one of the best ideas I have had is to block out Tuesdays. I meet with no one, its a get things done day. So it doesn’t matter what I wear. I highly recommend it.
That would be tough to do as a litigator since so many departments have L & M calendars on Tuesday.
Ok, well, I have an idea. Have a seat and hear me out… you could pick a day other than Tuesday.
I’m 2:33 and I upvoted your comment. Mine was dumb.
I am still working on the “compensation” take home pay part.
During the pandemic my office went to four 10s. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to go back. Three day weekends has definitely improved my quality of life. I sometimes think about moving for more money, but when I think about the extra day I lose I just can’t bring myself to pull the trigger.
Is it 8-6 with a one hour break? Because that’s 4 9’s. 4 10’s with a one hour break would be something like 6AM – 5 PM, one hour lunch break.
6-5 seems like it would be a nice break tbh. Who works that little and can still get everything done?
My job doesn’t pay for health insurance, is that normal?
Not even a little bit. . . . . . You can do better.
Wait, to be clear it just doesn’t offer it? Or is it part of the benefits and it just takes a certain amount out of each pay check.
We have to carry our own insurance if we want coverage. There is no option to be covered as part of the firm.
I haven’t worked at too many places but this seems… not normal.
Common with smaller law firms today because it is too expensive. This is Obamacare 101. Go buy your own in the marketplace. That is another benefit taken away by Obamacare. When I left a job years ago, it used to cost $150 a month to carry insurance now it is more like $800 a month. Even the government health plans are not so great these days. You have to have health insurance. A heart attack is $100K to $300K in hospital bills.
I admittedly didn’t vet this much before joining the firm so shame on me, but I was really stunned how much of a withdrawal my health insurance was going to be. It basically made the raise I believed I was getting null and void. I had been mainly in government before, so I had not had the experience of what incredible differences there could be in firm participation on the health insurance payments.