SABURZFAN Posted April 14, 2008 Posted April 14, 2008 Sorry to be a bore, but I am just indescribably thrilled. My daughter has been accepted to, and will attend Temple Law School with a full tuition scholarship. Yeah, call me a boring, proud father. I came up hard. Tough neighborhood, dysfunctional house. My wife was indescribably poor. We broke our asses to send her to Dartmouth. It looks like it might pay off. She is already studying and is going to be prepared. My main goal for my 3 daughters was that they had an easier life than Millie and me, and not have to be exposed to the ugliness that I had to see; things I have compartmentalized and will not talk about. I used to think about this sometimes after really crazy situations at work. I think that it's looking good so far, and I thank God for this. Her sisters are right in her footsteps. As for this board.....I sent out some PMs to people I thought might have some useful info. The information/help I received was flat out, off the charts staggering, even humbling. Posters right here on TBD did the following: 1) Offered to meet her and be a liason to Admissions at a particular school at which he is an alum. 2) Explained fine print wrt scholarships (more complicated than it sounds). 3) A poster sent me a complete breakdown of every neighborhood in Philly, and followed it up with 2 more long, informative letters. It must have taken hours. Seriously. 4) Sent me a precinct by precinct crime map of Philly. 5) A Temple alum offered in depth, inside info about the school, numerous times. 6) Told me what's up with graduates from particular schools that they know personally. The list could continue. I was new at this particular process and got help here that I will never forget. You people know who you are, and I thank you eternally for caring enough to be of so much assistance. Sometimes I think that we take this board for granted, but when the chips are down, there are people here who actually care about eachother. Yeah, we are testy sometimes and we bicker. It's all good. Again, sorry to be a bore. After I click on "Post New Message," I am going to hoist up a beer and toast to success of my baby, and to the great people who went out of their way for me although they just didn't have to, nor had any real reason to. You too SDS. Good job! BfNYC congrat to you and your daughter Bill.
John Adams Posted April 15, 2008 Posted April 15, 2008 Yes, Lifestyle firms. Not much $$$ money to be had if you are a working grunt. Not sure how the Partners do though. I've seen a few firms as well where you are contract and the number of billable hours is entirely up to you and of course directly correlated to your take home pay. Keep the cynicism going--it's a bad trait most lawyers share. Our 1st year "grunt" associates start at a short notch below the top number in the current Philly/NY market with fully paid medical and get 1/2 of their billable rate (225/hr) for every billable (not "billed") over 1800. 100% 401K match up to 4% and profit sharing (never been less than 10K/year). Car allowance of 500/month after 2 years. Cell phone (with data) and laptop fully paid for of course. Also non-discretionary bonus (usually between 5-20K/year). There are places where you can make a lot of money and not be a slave. Most lawyers aren't willing to look for them or don't believe they exist.
Nanker Posted April 15, 2008 Posted April 15, 2008 Congratulations to you and your daughter Bill. My wife went back to school and got her MBA from Temple last year. Though all her coursework was at their satellite campus the graduation ceremony was on campus. Sounds like you and the Mrs. have her off to a very good start.
Pete Posted April 15, 2008 Posted April 15, 2008 Congratulations Bill! Nice work and the best of luck to you and your family!
Guffalo Posted April 15, 2008 Posted April 15, 2008 Excellent work by you wife and you on raising a solid kid. She deserves a pat on the back, but as parents, you know the struggles that you had to endure to put her in the position she is in. Congrats all around!
mead107 Posted April 15, 2008 Posted April 15, 2008 con-grats You and your wife should be very happy . It is one very good feeling when your kids do well .
tennesseeboy Posted April 15, 2008 Posted April 15, 2008 Keep the cynicism going--it's a bad trait most lawyers share. Our 1st year "grunt" associates start at a short notch below the top number in the current Philly/NY market with fully paid medical and get 1/2 of their billable rate (225/hr) for every billable (not "billed") over 1800. 100% 401K match up to 4% and profit sharing (never been less than 10K/year). Car allowance of 500/month after 2 years. Cell phone (with data) and laptop fully paid for of course. Also non-discretionary bonus (usually between 5-20K/year). There are places where you can make a lot of money and not be a slave. Most lawyers aren't willing to look for them or don't believe they exist. And in addition to that there are a great number of "non-traditional" career options. I grew up with a guy who went to law school and now does "Meet the Press" (Tim Russert). I am counsel to a university and med school and teach law at a law school in Virginia. Others in my law school class are Counsel to a national retail clothing company, a baseball umpire, an international arbitrator and a CEO of a major financial firm. It is possible to be miserable in law, but its very possible to be miserable in pretty much any career field. I think it was Lincoln (a lawyer) who said "I reckon a man is about as happy as he decides to be." I think there are measures other than money. I had a conversation with my daughter (presently in law school) about the kids with Mercedes and Lexuses (Lexi?) in the parking lot and said to her "Honey, don't ever confuse who you are with what you own."
KD in CA Posted April 15, 2008 Posted April 15, 2008 And in addition to that there are a great number of "non-traditional" career options. I grew up with a guy who went to law school and now does "Meet the Press" (Tim Russert). I am counsel to a university and med school and teach law at a law school in Virginia. Others in my law school class are Counsel to a national retail clothing company, a baseball umpire, an international arbitrator and a CEO of a major financial firm. It is possible to be miserable in law, but its very possible to be miserable in pretty much any career field. I think it was Lincoln (a lawyer) who said "I reckon a man is about as happy as he decides to be." I think there are measures other than money. I had a conversation with my daughter (presently in law school) about the kids with Mercedes and Lexuses (Lexi?) in the parking lot and said to her "Honey, don't ever confuse who you are with what you own." Very true. The senior partner in our company's lead VC is a lawyer. Still teaches a law school class on the side. I know other lawyers that became tax experts, corporate law, trial law, authors, politicians, corporate business development execs, CEOs, etc. Opportunities for lawyers are endless. Law school is a fantastic career move, assuming you aren't one of the current generations' coddled pussies who think hard work is "unfair".
John Adams Posted April 15, 2008 Posted April 15, 2008 Those benefits are unreal. I basically have to bill over 2000 and get no significant benefits (except a blackberry, so that I can be tracked down at all times of day and night). Besides that, though, I actually like working for a a big law firm (seriously). I'm only continuing this sub-topic within Bill's bragging to show him (and others) that not all lawyers/firms are crap employers. Having worked at 3 firms (one wasa one of the big guys), I know many are. But I don't want to distract from the overall great news about his daughter. Our firm should be a lesson to lawyers (or anyone): care about your employees and they'll care back. We have 45 attorneys. In the last 5 years, 1 (!) left us and she wanted to try an in-house position. She has already been in touch with us to get her position back. We've let some people go who just weren't cutting it (bad hires by us) but we have no turnover. Some of that is the benefits, but it also stems from the culture that those benefits reflect. We do a lot to make our firm feel like a big family. Maybe the best thing we do is cull the bad people, ie, we get the right people on the bus to start with. And that includes the people we don't invite to be shareholders. We value them and continue to give them good pay and benefits. At most places, those people hit the road or are fired. At our firm, they tend to stay. And that's just the professionals. We treat everyone like that. Sure, secretaries don't make as much as attorneys but they get paid a lot (my sec'y makes 65+) with the same 401K match, Personal Choice paid for her and children-- big break for family plan, and transit pass (public transportation). So our staff really doesn't leave us much either. And we have an unwritten rule--similar to Ben and Jerry's--that our lowest paid employee (tend to be our file room team)--can't make less than a certain percentage of our highest people. So the single mom in our file room is a homeowner even though we could hire someone for no benefits at probably 2/3 of her pay on the open market. And guess what, our file room people are awesome! The final piece of the puzzle is the one that strikes most lawyers as flat out bizarre. All of our shareholders split the profits equally. At the end of each year, the profit gets split evenly among us all. So after 5 years as a shareholders, I get as much profit as the guy who started the firm, and also as much say in voting. He gets a higher salary because his billing rate is higher. That sort of equality encourages us to make the firm better and discourages backstabbing over money issues, which tend to tear firms asunder. Enough. Too much even. Go start your own firm like this and hire Bill's daughter in 4 years (in NYc preferably so she is close to home!).
KRC Posted April 16, 2008 Posted April 16, 2008 Congrats, Bill!!! Is she going to live in the city or commute from the 'burbs?
Gavin in Va Beach Posted April 16, 2008 Posted April 16, 2008 Great news Bill! I can't imagine how proud you must be. I hope my kids do nearly as well!
Gordio Posted April 16, 2008 Posted April 16, 2008 Keep the cynicism going--it's a bad trait most lawyers share. Our 1st year "grunt" associates start at a short notch below the top number in the current Philly/NY market with fully paid medical and get 1/2 of their billable rate (225/hr) for every billable (not "billed") over 1800. 100% 401K match up to 4% and profit sharing (never been less than 10K/year). Car allowance of 500/month after 2 years. Cell phone (with data) and laptop fully paid for of course. Also non-discretionary bonus (usually between 5-20K/year). There are places where you can make a lot of money and not be a slave. Most lawyers aren't willing to look for them or don't believe they exist. Congratulations Bill, you must be very proud. With that being said, my older sister was a lawyer for 6yrs. Could not stand it. Her firm represented insurance agencies trying to get off paying out claims. She finally had enough & quit. Ended up becoming a FBI agent. Loves it. She actually discouraged me from going to law school. I went on to get my MBA instead. Can not say I really regret it. Work at a bank, make a fairly decent wage(for buffalo) & rarely work past 4:30 & no weekends. Banker hours are not bad.
cåblelady Posted April 20, 2008 Posted April 20, 2008 She feels bad, and mentioned last night that she wants to go to a Bills game. Despite the fact that I have been to RWS for a game for 14 consecutive years, Millie and the kids have never been to RWS. I could never afford it, but it will happen. Don't forget to bring my Baby Girl, Ang! I'm so happy for you all, Bill!
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