I wish I had better things to say about this firm. If you decide to work here, you must know and understand the risks that you are taking, because the upside is very low.
(1) Lack of training. The firm has a TMAir program to supposedly train new/newer associates. There's a lot left to be desired with the lack of USEFUL training for new associates. Suffice it to say that new associates are thrown into the fire pit to manage at least 15-17 cases and are expected to sink or swim. It is a perfect way to set up associates for failure, then blame them and shame them.
(2) Forget any time off, even for sickness. There is NO such thing as unlimited time off, which is the firm's supposed policy. I recall several times when I billed the bare minimum of 8 hours per day and had to take time off. One example- I had to help my elderly mother move states and was out for 7 business days to help her and spend time with her. When I returned to the office, I was chastised and harangued for missing 56 hours of billable work for being out and had to somehow make it up. What if you are really sick and cannot sit and stare at a computer all day long? Tough luck. You must literally make up the number of billable hours that you miss for each day you are out trying to recover. And management will constantly be on your tail until you bill for that every last second and more. Aggressive billing is an understatement.
(3) Medical insurance. I have a young family. My wife suffers from a chronic health condition. T&M is unbelievably, terribly cheap when it comes to helping to subsidize our health care. Example- for halfway decent PPO coverage (you only have ONE choice of carriers), you have to pay from $1,100+ to $1,500+ PER PAYCHECK. Yes, you read that correctly. I hear these amounts have significantly increased since I left the firm.
(4) Lack of support. None of the attorneys from my class are still at this firm. All of us found much better jobs due to the above (and even more) reasons. There are many partners who give a good talk when in team meetings. However, outside of meetings, these very partners speak to you in a demeaning manner. There are known partners who are outright bullies, but management does nothing about their ridiculously condescending attitudes and how they treat those who are beneath them. Just think- you are a peasant and will be treated as such.
(5) There are so many other reasons to AVOID, AVOID, AVOID Tyson & Mendes. Save yourself a lot of unnecessary stress, headaches, craziness and b.s. You can put your hard earned degree to much better use by working at any other place.
