Biglaw, Career Alternatives, Email Scandals, Travel / Vacation, Weirdness

Another Great Departure Memo: Skadden Associate Trades Chicago for... Nepal?

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Young lawyers of Chicago: What the heck is going on with you people? You seem to be losing it. Has the brutal Chicago winter driven you crazy? Do we need to put The People’s Therapist on the next plane to O’Hare?

Let’s look at the evidence. You’re quitting prestigious and lucrative law firm jobs to hike across the country with dogs. You’re getting involved in embarassing litigation with your ex-fiances (after allegedly hooking up with shady Vegas ladies named “Danielle”).

And you’re leaving Chicago — a city with excellent shopping and superb restaurants (I was at Alinea a few weeks ago, and it was amazing) — to go “find yourselves.” In the Himalayas.

Check out this latest departure memo, from an associate who just left Skadden….

This email went out yesterday afternoon from Brian Emeott, a 2008 graduate of Harvard Law and former corporate associate in the Chicago office of Skadden (cached bio here):

Now that my time at Skadden is complete, my wife and I are relocating to Kathmandu, Nepal. You can follow us on this next step at www.thekathmanduo.com and on Twitter @TheKathmanduo. Please be in touch.

Best wishes,
Brian

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If you surf over to @TheKathmanduo, you’ll see this tweet about Brian’s SASMF farewell:

You can check out Brian and Claudine Emeott’s impressive website — which has some great photos, and a delicious-sounding recipe for vegan Indian eggplant with lentils — over here (“The Kathmanduo: Nothing Adventured, Nothing Gained”).

We described a plan like this as “crazy” a few paragraphs ago, but that was in jest. Seriously speaking, we think it’s great when people turn their backs on the big bucks to pursue their passions. Leaving a lucrative legal career to do something different isn’t easy, as The People’s Therapist observed this morning, but it can be done.

We’re not alone in admiring Brian Emeott. One of the tipsters who sent us his farewell message had this reaction:

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A friend at Skadden sent me the below farewell email. Since I’m in big law myself and hate it like everyone else, I found the link really interesting. Apparently, this guy just quit and moved to Kathmandu. No job, nothing. Him and his wife are “finding themselves.” Super ballsy but very, very cool. I wish I had the [cojones] to do something like this.

A second source, this one at Skadden (but not in Chicago), was even more pithy: “Am I jealous? Yes.”

We’ve reached out to Brian via email with a few questions (e.g., you don’t have any law school loans, right?). We’ll let you know if and when we hear back from him.

In the meantime, learn more about the Nepal adventures of Brian and his wife, Claudine Emeott — who appears to be working in Nepal as a Kiva Fellow — by exploring the links below.

UPDATE: Do the Emeotts have a trust fund, as some of you have wondered? Find out here.

The Kathmanduo: Nothing Adventured, Nothing Gained [official website]
The Kathmanduo: Brian and Claudine [Twitter]

Earlier: Want Out of Biglaw? Take a Hike!
Lawsuit of the Day: Jilted Lawyer Bride Sues Sidley Associate for Wedding Expenses

SKADDEN ARPS SLATE MEAGHER & FLOM — DEPARTURE MEMO — BRIAN EMEOTT

From: Brian J. Emeott (CHI)
Sent: Tuesday, March 08, 2011 5:04 PM
Subject: Farewell

Now that my time at Skadden is complete, my wife and I are relocating to Kathmandu, Nepal. You can follow us on this next step at www.thekathmanduo.com and on Twitter @TheKathmanduo. Please be in touch.

Best wishes,
Brian

Brian J. Emeott
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
155 North Wacker Drive | Chicago | Illinois | 60606-1720

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