Biglaw, Small Law Firms

Don't Leave Law Just Yet

Be proud of your law degree, and make every effort to keep using it. Stay in law. Give it another chance.

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So you got swept along in the current: went from high school to a good college to an even better law school, doing well at every step. Then it’s finally time for the payoff: that six-figure a year entry-level Biglaw job. Time to eat some pie.

But what kind of pie is this?  Sharing an office. Boring work. Arrogant associates. Paralegals who know you don’t know what you’re doing, but don’t care. Crushing hours. SeamlessWeb. Every night. Partners who think they’re the only ones giving you work.

All of that hits you like a tidal wave and you can barely hang on. After a couple of years of watching your body deteriorate and your relationships fail, you arrive at a stark realization: you friggin’ hate being a lawyer. Most of the work seems pointless. Typing up other people’s edits. Geez, wasn’t I on a journal? Maybe things would be okay if you weren’t leaving at 1 a.m. every night. But you are, and all the other associates are there too, so you know it’s not going to get any better.  Man, screw this.  I hate the law.

Well, maybe you don’t. Weren’t some of the things you read about in law school at least mildly interesting? Wouldn’t you have gone to hear some of the speakers even if they hadn’t been giving away pizza?

Maybe you just hate where you are. What if you weren’t doing boring work? And what if you weren’t doing it past midnight every night?

I’m not here to tell you SmallLaw is blissful. It’s not stable, particularly at first. The practice can yo-yo between stressfully slammed and stressfully silent. And it takes a while to get the money up anywhere near Biglaw, unless like me you’re raking in the massive ATL bucks.

But I am here to tell you it’s different (and if you need to ask how, read any of my other columns). And that if you take that cushy-sounding job in compliance or at a non-profit, you may never be able to get back into law.

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You spent three years of your life in law school and took out God-knows-how-much in loans. There are a lot of folks who can fill that compliance or non-profit job who did not make that commitment. And yeah, I know there are a lot of lawyers. But be proud of your law degree, and make every effort to keep using it.  Stay in law.  Give it another chance.  See if any small firms can use someone.  (Remember only about 15% of attorneys in private practice are in Biglaw.)   Check out government: not just the hard-to-get federal jobs, but state and local too.  Or be bold and open your own practice.  Yes, the money may be half of what a Biglaw first-year makes, if that. But there are a lot of happy lawyers out there, who will never leave middle-class, but who have good clients and love their work. Try that before convincing yourself you hate being a lawyer.

Gary J. Ross opened his own practice, Jackson Ross PLLC, in 2013 after several years in Biglaw and the federal government. Gary handles corporate and compliance matters for investment funds, small businesses, and non-profits, occasionally dabbling in litigation. You can reach Gary by email at Gary.Ross@JacksonRossLaw.com.

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