Leaving biglaw after clerkship? Forum

[Anonymous User]

I’m currently a first-year at a V10. I graduated from YS with good grades (I’d guess comfortably top 20%). And I’ll be starting my appellate clerkship (2/9/DC) followed by district in a major metropolitan area later this year.

Truthfully, I chose my current firm with little thought. I had no idea what I wanted to do, and a national firm seemed to offer the most flexibility, both in terms of practice group offerings and geography. Just to give an indication of how poorly I approached firm selection as a law student—I turned down an offer for a litigation boutique that folks generally consider to be extremely competitive because I wasn’t keen on where the office was located (not city/state, but like the specific part of town where the office sits).

Now, I want to shape my career with purpose and intention. After a couple months at my firm, I realized I don’t want to practice at a traditional biglaw firm, for a variety of reasons. I’d love to end up somewhere that offers more fulfilling work (cliche, I know) or allows me to focus on appellate practice. I just can’t shake the feeling that I have an opportunity here to pursue something that aligns more with what I want out of a job. But a major wrinkle is I’m first-gen and expected to take care of my parents, so compensation is quite important.

Just wondering if anyone’s ever experienced this or spent time contemplating something similar. Looking for insights from those with more experience and wisdom.

Oh, and I’m looking at CA market (either SoCal or the Bay, but SoCal preferred).