Just to clarify, this isn't meant to throw shade at my friend, brag, or dismiss anyone's exhaustion. I hope this doesn't come across the wrong way, but if it does, I'm happy to take the post down.
One of my very good friends has been working at Kirkland as an associate for a couple years now. He said the first year was pretty rough, but now he's doing fine. He bills quite a lot of hours, yet it doesn't seem like work consumes his life. He always shows up for tennis, he meets up with us friends frequently, etc. When I asked him, he said it's not as bad as many people make it out to be: there are periods when the hours get crazy, but overall, he's found it quite enjoyable.
Reddit makes BigLaw sound absolutely miserable, so I'm wondering whether he's an exception or whether a decent portion of people actually find BigLaw manageable or even fulfilling. Obviously, I only see a small part of my friend's life, but esp. now that a family member is considering BigLaw I'm genuinely curious: What's your experience in BigLaw like? Manageable or a straight path to burnout?