Originally Posted by Unregistered

I work for a "shitty chinatown law firm".

Most of my clients are local SMEs who need lawyers to assist with smaller cases. I'm talking about disputes in the range of $10k to $5mil. There is a big market for lawyers who are willing to take up these cases.

These clients can't afford/don't want to pay B4 fees for non complex litigation. In the event the dispute becomes more complex than we can handle halfway through, we have contacts with lawyers in all the B4 firms whom we regularly pass cases on to.

Yes, you can't bill as much for these cases.

Yes, salaries cannot compare to B4 salaries.

But generally speaking, most of us who choose this life choose it becuase of the good hours, nice people, decent money, the ability to choose clients and also i think the ability to dictate your life as you wish - there is a certain value to being able to dress as you wish (and not be judged), to come in late (and not get **** for it), to leave office to run errands when you need to (and not have seccys bitching), to take leave/long leave when you need to (without feeling guilty) and to generally have a life outside of work.

Mind you, most of us accept that the we will never be rich or famous or have many reported cases... but i think most of us also believe that we are giving good value-for-money services to clients to who need it.

Anyways. Life.