Big Firm, Big Deal

I went to a negotiation competition a few weeks ago at Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP, one of the big downtown law firms. The evening had quite an impact on me, but it wasn't the competition itself that had the big effect. It was the atmosphere of the firm itself.

Upon arrival, I took the elevator to the 30th floor, where the firm's offices are located. I stepped off the elevator into a lobby adorned with beautiful hardwood and expensive art. The message was clear: the firm has money (and by extension, you should too if you're a client of theirs). In addition to being a nice place to do business, the atmosphere is designed to impress.

As we were guided to the room where our negotiations were to take place, I got a glimpse into big-firm life. I saw an older lawyer gazing at pictures of his family as he recorded something into his dictaphone. I saw bleary-eyed articling students smile and tell me half-heartedly that articling was "good, but really busy".

And suddenly it struck me, that the very thing that was supposed to impress me about this firm - the money - was actually having the opposite effect on me. I projected to the future and imagined myself gazing at my family in the evenings in person, not just at their framed pictures on my desk. I haven't yet decided what type of law I want to practice, or what kind of firm I would like to work in. But today I moved one step closer to figuring it out.