(Big time LAMP) My Baby Is Going To Law School

[Bill from NYC]

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

[tennesseeboy]

hey Congrats! You gotta be a proud dad. I'm sure she'll do very well and make dad even MORE proud. I got a daughter of my own in law school as well. When they graduate they can commit us!

[stuckincincy]

:lol:

[gmac17]

Congrats, that is awesome! (everything except the part about her becoming a lawyer )

 

must be proud.

[Lori]

Gratz, Bill!

 

(Wait -- this doesn't mean she's going to be an Iggles fan, does it?)

[Chef Jim]

Gratz, Bill!

 

(Wait -- this doesn't mean she's going to be an Iggles fan, does it?)

 

Worse.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A lawyer.

[KD in CA]

Temple?!?!? As an A-10 alum, I have nothing but contempt for all things Temple. Cosby sucks.

 

 

j/k of course....congratulations Bill, that's awesome news. You and your wife should be mighty proud.

[thebug]

Congrats.....pat yourself on the back as well; children don't end up in the right direction without proper guidance.....well done and good luck to her.

[John Adams]

Temple lawyers are the best.

 

And let this be a lesson to all you who have so enjoyed Bill and my bitter battle over the years. Our kids made us be friends and laugh at all the ill will.

 

Glad to see this post on the board finally. She'll make dad proud and Temple Law is a great school with a brand new (but well-known around Temple for the last 20 years) dean: Joanne Epps. Your daughter will be fortunate to enter the school with Dean Epps in charge.

[Beerball]

Congratulations Bill, most outstanding for yours & you!

[eball]

Congrats Bill. My only bit of advice to your daughter is that she doesn't need to feel pressured to decide what sort of law she wants to practice during her first year of school. I didn't decide until about my 6th or 7th year in practice!

[Bill from NYC]

Gratz, Bill!

 

(Wait -- this doesn't mean she's going to be an Iggles fan, does it?)

 

Not possible! She was a Bills Fan and Yankee Fan for 4 years in New Hampshire. In fact, she strongly considered UB to the extent that I mailed a deposit. Temple bowled her over with cash, and she wants to be closer to her family.

 

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.

I must say that if the Bills make the superbowl down the road, I would rather watch the game in a bar in WNY than actually be at the game. The same might apply wrt the playoffs, but I gotta think about it some more.

[ofiba]

Next time use the search feature.

 

 

We discussed your daughter going to law school 2 days ago.

[BillsWatch]

Bill what are you going to do if she becomes a Union Laywer?

[Bill from NYC]

Bill what are you going to do if she becomes a Union Laywer?

 

I don't know, thank her?

[Hardy Pyle]

Not too many happy lawyers I know I know in public practice. Over worked and under paid...unless you are a partner, then over worked and paid well, especially at the big firms. The leverage model sucks as well, better to be a partner at an accounting firm....if you don't mind being a bean counter.

 

Oh well, she can always go in house.

[Simon]

Huge props to the gal and just as many to you and your wife.

All y'all deserve to be proud as punch!

[John Adams]

Not too many happy lawyers I know I know in public practice. Over worked and under paid...unless you are a partner, then over worked and paid well, especially at the big firms. The leverage model sucks as well, better to be a partner at an accounting firm....if you don't mind being a bean counter.

 

Oh well, she can always go in house.

 

That's nice.

 

We have a firm committed to lifestyle and there are more of them every day. Who needs the kind of firm with high divorce, drug use, depression, suicides? She'll find a good place to work if that's what she wants.

[Thirdborn]

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

 

 

Bravo! You've obviously been a great Dad. Cheers to you and your Daughter.

[Hardy Pyle]

That's nice.

 

We have a firm committed to lifestyle and there are more of them every day. Who needs the kind of firm with high divorce, drug use, depression, suicides? She'll find a good place to work if that's what she wants.

 

 

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.

[GoodBye]

That's so cool! Congrats to your family.

[SABURZFAN]

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]

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]

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]

Congratulations Bill! Nice work and the best of luck to you and your family!

[Guffalo]

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]

con-grats

 

You and your wife should be very happy . It is one very good feeling when your kids do well .

[tennesseeboy]

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]

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".

[erynthered]

Congrats, Bill!!

[John Adams]

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!).

[Philly McButterpants]

Awesome! Congrats . . .

[KRC]

Congrats, Bill!!!

 

Is she going to live in the city or commute from the 'burbs?

[Gavin in Va Beach]

 

Great news Bill! I can't imagine how proud you must be. I hope my kids do nearly as well!

[Gordio]

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]

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!