the debt load. I felt that way at an investment bank and I didn't have any debt at the time. Part of it was that there was so little time during the work day to even think about pursuing other options. How much does the pay go up each year? Does this roughly correspond to the pay increase, or is there other money this doesn't consider?
http://abovethelaw.com/2016/06/breaking-ny-to-180k-cravath-raises-associate-base-salaries/
No doubt it's big money, but in my opinion, associates are actually underpaid given the stress, hours, and debt incurred. Like you said, the golden handcuffs are real. Keep up the good fight.