The Benefits of Working For A Large Law Firm

As a newly qualified lawyer, you may be debating whether to try for a position in a large law firm or a smaller, family owned practice.  Starting your career in a large organisation has many advantages; here's some helpful information about just a few of the benefits that you might want to bear in mind when making your choice.

High salaries

The largest firms offer the highest remuneration for legal professionals.  Employees often also enjoy generous, enhanced compensation packages which far outstrip what's on offer to those working in smaller firms.

Well qualified peers and colleagues

It follows that larger firms paying the highest salaries can afford to recruit the best lawyers, paralegals, and support staff.  The top players recruit only the very best students from the most prestigious law schools and even their paralegals have bachelor's degrees and specialty experience.  All of this will help you to expand your knowledge base and enhance your CV.

Challenging work

Because the larger firms boast the highest calibre talent and a comprehensive range of resources, they attract much of the more complex and interesting litigation work from high-profile clients.  Much of the work may be for overseas clients, and this can mean an even broader spectrum of work for you.  The more complex the work, the greater the experiential learning opportunities there will be for you.

Extensive resources

Large law firms can secure the requisite office space to host resources such as full-service copy centres, law libraries, staff restaurant facilities, and even in-house health and fitness gyms.  The biggest, most lucrative firms can afford office space in the best locations and are able offer their staff luxurious working environments, which in turn boosts staff morale and productivity.

The large law firms have whole departments devoted to administrational and secretarial support for its lawyers and fee earners.  As well as the aforementioned, these resources may include paralegals, IT support, file clerks, messengers, marketing specialists and librarians.  If you worked for a smaller firm, you may end up carrying out a lot of this work yourself in addition to working on your legal files.

Training and advancement programs

Associates and other legal staff employed by large law firms often enjoy well-defined and structured mentoring programs that are often run in-house.  This provides the opportunity for your continued growth and development.  The very nature of these large firms presents the opportunity for advancement and natural progression from entry level right through to senior partner; something that would not be available to staff in smaller firms.

If you were to decide to move on and perhaps specialise with another firm or even to set up your own independent practice, the kudos of your experience with a well-regarded firm in the legal community brings with it a certain amount of prestige and status.

It's important not to be intimidated by the prospect of working for a mega-firm amid unfounded fears that you may find yourself lost in the crowd.  The advantages and opportunities on offer simply cannot be matched by the smaller firms, and if you are good enough, you'll swiftly rise through the ranks.

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