Lawyer Salary

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Be careful of what you wish for - corp is extremely soul draining in b4 and international. Been there done that. You would wish you have never chosen this path in the first place.

I think it's different kinds of stress - liti has court stress and filing deadlines stress which is a different nature of pressure from corp, which is just being overloaded with work all the time. But they can both suck really hard.

For those who always think of the B4 corp -> international route as the way to make bank, tbh that's not true anymore for good disputes lawyers past 10 years into the industry, and you're probably never gonna make partner as a corp assoc in an international firm, unlike the b4 disputes assoc who will somewhere

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I think it's different kinds of stress - liti has court stress and filing deadlines stress which is a different nature of pressure from corp, which is just being overloaded with work all the time. But they can both suck really hard.

For those who always think of the B4 corp -> international route as the way to make bank, tbh that's not true anymore for good disputes lawyers past 10 years into the industry, and you're probably never gonna make partner as a corp assoc in an international firm, unlike the b4 disputes assoc who will somewhere

thank you for the comment. as a liti person - filing deadlines create stress but for me it's the *nature* of contentious work that makes it problematic - you can practice for 10 years and still have to keep doing research - even if you specialise. There's just much less accretion of expertise and precedents don't really assist in the same way as they do for corp.

with regard to making 'bank', I think especially as a Singapore-based A&S, yes court work remains our monopoly.

but I was only half-flippant when i said retire in a big 4 or international doing corp work. there's more scalability with corp work - even the best disputes lawyers still have to get on their feet in court. also, if you don't really think it's that cool to appear in court, and don't really want to just sit in the office all day, corp work is probably way more relevant to the 'real' world.

just my 2c from the liti side - would be interested to know what other people think of the various practice areas.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

A lawyer who doesn’t care about attention to detail. Is this what a 2:2 NUS grad in a Chinatown firm is like?

Attention to detail is knowing the difference between s 216 and s 216A of the Companies Act. Not whether opposing counsel chose "&" instead of "and" in their firm's name.

I'd be very upset if my Big4 lawyer billed me for time spent on this "detail"

Originally Posted by Unregistered

thank you for the comment. as a liti person - filing deadlines create stress but for me it's the *nature* of contentious work that makes it problematic - you can practice for 10 years and still have to keep doing research - even if you specialise. There's just much less accretion of expertise and precedents don't really assist in the same way as they do for corp.

with regard to making 'bank', I think especially as a Singapore-based A&S, yes court work remains our monopoly.

but I was only half-flippant when i said retire in a big 4 or international doing corp work. there's more scalability with corp work - even the best disputes lawyers still have to get on their feet in court. also, if you don't really think it's that cool to appear in court, and don't really want to just sit in the office all day, corp work is probably way more relevant to the 'real' world.

just my 2c from the liti side - would be interested to know what other people think of the various practice areas.

So...literally too lazy for liti lah walao.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

So...literally too lazy for liti lah walao.

HAHA i mean why work harder than you need to for the same $ *if* there's an alternative available right? I'm assuming the *nature* of liti work requires more effort but happy to hear from all of you.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

thank you for the comment. as a liti person - filing deadlines create stress but for me it's the *nature* of contentious work that makes it problematic - you can practice for 10 years and still have to keep doing research - even if you specialise. There's just much less accretion of expertise and precedents don't really assist in the same way as they do for corp.

with regard to making 'bank', I think especially as a Singapore-based A&S, yes court work remains our monopoly.

but I was only half-flippant when i said retire in a big 4 or international doing corp work. there's more scalability with corp work - even the best disputes lawyers still have to get on their feet in court. also, if you don't really think it's that cool to appear in court, and don't really want to just sit in the office all day, corp work is probably way more relevant to the 'real' world.

just my 2c from the liti side - would be interested to know what other people think of the various practice areas.

very well put

you don't do half as much research as a corp lawyer

source: ex-B4 liti -> B4 corp lawyer

Originally Posted by Unregistered

HAHA i mean why work harder than you need to for the same $ *if* there's an alternative available right? I'm assuming the *nature* of liti work requires more effort but happy to hear from all of you.

No shame in admitting it tbf. Some people enjoy those aspects of liti work.

otoh Track changes and ctrl-f agreements not for some people either. I know I hate marking up docs

But more research to be done would translate to higher billings and higher fees, no?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

But more research to be done would translate to higher billings and higher fees, no?

Ya and also a pcr action for overcharging. So many padding their time to so called do research get up etc. Its frightening. How is it humanly possible to clock more than 300 billable hours in a mth consistently. I heard some firms allow useless lawyers to enslave paralegals. Make them do everything but then the main bulk of time is being keyed by the sleeping lawyers. To me this is not just a pcr issue but a criminal offence of cheating.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

But more research to be done would translate to higher billings and higher fees, no?

No lar a lot of the times the (rightful) assumption on client's part is that you know the law. So, if you know, then u research for what? and bill me some more?

Unless it's a damn rare or complex point of law or procedure. I mean nobody expect u to memorise ROC, but at least be familiar enough above and beyond your soc-defence-reply. Some people I talk to only know these and attend PTC sia, if I were sophisticated/savvy client confirm won't use them what. Then whole career only MC suit tier debt collector.

So a bit of chicken and egg lah.