Ex-Lawyers, Soon-to-be-Ex-Lawyers, and Ex-Lawyer Groupies

Ex Anon - Have you considered whether you could get your jollies so to speak through extra-curricular activities. It sounds like you have no beef against being a lawyer, you just want more of a rush. How about joining community theater for a spell? Maybe it would be sufficient, maybe not. But it might be worth an audition(pun intended).

You might also consider doing more client development activities, again perhaps extra-curricular-ly and not relying on the firm to compensate or authorize the activity. Marketing puts you center stage and selling someone can be a more rewarding rush than fighting with someone. They both seek the same goal: winning. But with selling you build up the customer to win rather than tearing down an adversary.

I thought about doing extracurriculars. I've looked into taking flying lessons, doing theater (as you suggested), joining a choir or band, etc. The problem is those things all take away from the amount of time I get to spend with my wife, which is my favorite extracurricular activity of all. So, it comes down to this: do I want to trade the time I spend with my wife to get a rush, or would I rather trade in an unfullfilling career? Can you guess which one I'd prefer to trade.

Regarding client development, I'm not sure that will give me a rush and even if it did, being only a third year associate, I don't have any contacts to really develop. And I've been to plenty of conferences and things like that to have a good idea that such activities won't really whet my appetite.

Thanks for the comments.

Some thoughts from the gov sector, since you mentioned prosecuting as a possibility.

1. On the state level, there are two types of prosecution civil and criminal. It is much easier to get into civil than criminal.

2. Many Fed offices do pay better than State but many States have significantly better benefits - e.g. free health insurance, etc. State AG and States Attorneys offices pay significantly higher than local DA's offices. Our State AG office is competitive with small to mid-size firms in our area plus we get free benefits and more vacation time. You can check the salaries for your state at the state library - they are a matter of public record. You mentioned $50K - our salaries for experienced attorneys start at $50k with paid benefits and when the economy is good so are the raises. We are also in an area with a low cost of living - salaries might be higher where you are.

3. We do a lot of litigation, which is also why I chose this area because I wanted to get into court right away and you're right, it is a rush. I've argued in or submitted a brief to almost every level of court in our state including the Supreme Court and unlike in many firms, my name is always right on the front of my briefs. We argue against many large firms and I am always amazed that the person who seems to do most of the work doesn't get to have their name on the brief or appear in court. The downside is that we typically carry 100 to 150 cases, which are assigned on a next up rotating basis so you could suddenly have 10 case in heated litigation at the same time. There is almost no back up because everybody has the same case load, e.g. you don't always get to take advantage of those paid holidays and extra vacation days but you can bank the vacation days for downtime. There are periods when I am in court every day (civil litigation) and then not in court for a month but doing depositions, etc.

4. You also have to write your own briefs, pleadings, etc. So when you are dealing with the big firms and they are telling you that they have to get back to their drafting committee, you are your own drafting committee and sometimes you are also your own secretary.

5. Right now, our office, like many gov. offices has a hiring freeze and it is expected to continue for at least a year. I would expect that when the economy improves there will be a lot of openings because positions are not being filled when people retire, etc. It might be wise for you to try to stick it out where you are until the job market improves. It will be harder to find something if you have a huge employment gap. However, if you really think that you will be fired, you might want to get out before that happens because that would come up during the background check. Whatever you do, do not lie about or exaggerate anything on your resume or application. It's amazing how many people don't clear the background check and it's usually the result of something that would not have been a big deal if they had just been candid and explained it on the application or during the interview.

Good Luck

[pretermitted_child]

For those of you considering getting an MBA and switching over to the business side, there is no greater honor than being insulted in a FedEx commercial [spree: it's a windows media file and it makes noise].

[evenodds]

I am very happy to announce Sebastian Dangerfield will be the new moderator of Ex-Lawyers.

For those who read his posts on the FB, you know how perfect Sebastian is for this forum.

Welcome aboard.

E/O

[pretermitted_child]

Originally posted by evenodds
I am very happy to announce Sebastian Dangerfield will be the new moderator of Ex-Lawyers.

For those who read his posts on the FB, you know how perfect Sebastian is for this forum.

Welcome aboard.

E/O

So I post on a board that hasn't had any postings in ages (this thread was inactive for about 6 months), and then suddenly it needs a moderator?!

Sheesh.

pretermitted(mostly harmless)child

[evenodds]

Originally posted by pretermitted_child
So I post on a board that hasn't had any postings in ages (this thread was inactive for about 6 months), and then suddenly it needs a moderator?!

Sheesh.

pretermitted(mostly harmless)child

I hate to disappoint you, but the invitation to Sebastian went out yesterday long before you posted.

The point of adding a moderator is to spur activity on a board, and we have begun adding new moderators this week, beginning with LitiGator on Florida.

I am very happy to be your personal moderator wherever you post.

E/O

[notcasesensitive]

Originally posted by pretermitted_child
So I post on a board that hasn't had any postings in ages (this thread was inactive for about 6 months), and then suddenly it needs a moderator?!

Sheesh.

pretermitted(mostly harmless)child

If ever there was a case for moderatordom, it would be to keep timmies like you in check. Keep up the good work, e/o.

[pretermitted_child]

Originally posted by evenodds

I am very happy to be your personal moderator wherever you post.

E/O

I have a groupie!

[sebastian_dangerfield]

Originally posted by evenodds
I am very happy to announce Sebastian Dangerfield will be the new moderator of Ex-Lawyers.

For those who read his posts on the FB, you know how perfect Sebastian is for this forum.

Welcome aboard.

E/O

The powers that be have graciously put me in charge of bringing some life to this board. I am humbled by the charge and intend to do so immediately.

Frankly, its a goddamn shame there isn't more chatter on these boards. All of the boards basically exist due to posters' dissatisfaction with their legal jobs. And despite what some cynics may say, even in this employer's market, law firm management reads these boards. So at a minimum, just spewing venom at least ensures that somebody who's making an associate's life miserable somewhere may be enlightened, and hopefully offended.

My thinking is that, short of posting something personally offensive, this board provide useful information for those of us who see the utter pointlessness of this toilet of a career we've stumbled into and provide each other with information which helps us leave and vents the present frustration we feel.

In sum, I hope I can make these boards entertain everybody, and hopefully upset a whole lot of people. That is, I believe, the point.

[evenodds]

Originally posted by sebastian_dangerfield
In sum, I hope I can make these boards entertain everybody, and hopefully upset a whole lot of people. That is, I believe, the point.

This is precisely why you are the moderator, SD.

Very nicely done.

Sebby, hopefully there'll be a little more activity over here as the economy picks up and people remember there are options besides law. See my post on the other thread.