The lame-plates-a-thon keeps coming. Lawies — it’s your turn. More

While we’re on the topic of big law … More

Your lovely coworker + trench coat = ? More

But is it enough to captivate those fickle Generation-After-Generation-Yers? Apparently not, because they ain’t having it. More

Time to debate an issue that hasn’t been discussed in about … oh, a full minute. Big Law vs investment banking? More

What do your colleagues over in Big Law do when they’re not feewing so good? Log on, buddy… More

This week we interview professional beach bum Hans Keeling, who said goodbye to a life of corporate drudgery a few years ago, started his own business in Brazil and never looked back.

Q: To make a long story short, you used to be a lawyer at Sullivan & Cromwell, but now you own Nexus Surf, a surf/adventure travel company based in Florianopolis, Brazil. Tell us about how you went from an idea to something concrete.

A: Wow, where to start… Well, I took a job at S&C as a summer associate in 1999 and stayed on full-time until early 2004, so I had a couple years under my belt to get a good feel for the industry. I worked in M&A and securities, which as everyone reading this knows isn’t an easy field to be in. But in a weird and semi-sadomasochistic way, I enjoyed my work and definitely feel like I learned a lot about discipline, multi-tasking and professionalism (which I basically define as managing to successfully waking up at 6am after less than one hour’s sleep, shaving without cutting your own throat and making it to the airport in time for your flight out to the next due diligence or printer’s session on a semi-regular basis). Most important of all though, I learned what I didn’t want out of a career and work/life balance in the long run, and this gave me the resolve to actually make a change in my situation. Re: the change itself, the real difficulty in going from idea to action is overcoming the mental roadblocks that make getting started so difficult. We’ve all heard colleagues (if not ourselves) bitch and moan about the downsides of the job, or day dreaming about a million odd-ball occupations that one “might” be able to do well. More

You to yourself: “I didn’t bust my ass to just quit.”

You to yourself: “But, I can’t.”

You to yourself: “I’ll do this high priced gig until I repay my loans.”

You to yourself: “No matter what, I’ll have to work some job. At least this way I get paid more.”

Meanwhile, that sort of thing just gets blown out of the water when you read articles like this where some ex-Big Law dude is able to make a living out of Legos.

Happy Thursday!!!

Goldman or Cravath? S&C v. Lehman? Someone who has seen both sides of the fence talks candidly about money, prestige and glamour. (The interviewee requested anonymity.)

BBalle: So, what are you doing now?

J.L.: I’m an associate in a law firm, currently reviewing a company’s contracts for laundry services, in addition to some other random agreements… amazing stuff.

BBalle: Let’s cut to the chase. The money has got to be better in banking. So why the move?

J.L.: Two reasons: (1) bankers are incompetent a-holes, and (2) money is only good if you don’t get canned. But if the money is REALLY good, I might be back there regardless of the aforementioned reasons. More