<p>The typical exit for a corporate law associate at V20-V30 -ish Biglaw in a major market (NYC, SF, etc) is an in-house corporate law position, usually with a 30-40% paycut from biglaw.</p>
<p>I’ve never heard of Biglaw corporate associates from top firms ending up flat-out unemployed.</p>
<p>When I was working as a summer associate at NYC Biglaw, during those 3month stint, I personally knew around 10 senior associates that left the firm for other jobs. (many times in-house positions)</p>
<p>True, I may not end up getting a Goldman Sachs job after Biglaw, but my most likely exit option seems to be way more promising than many jobs that any typical college grad would end up with at my age group. (or for any lawyer that didn’t do a stint at Biglaw) Hence, I can’t really fully agree with your initial statement that going to a top law school and doing the Biglaw stint isn’t worth it for someone’s career.</p>