Biglaw, Boutique Law Firms, Job Searches, Layoffs, Small Law Firms

Reinventing The Law Business: You Lost Your Job In A Law Firm – What Do You Do Now? (Part 1)

Advice from managing partner Bruce Stachenfeld (who got laid-off himself, once upon a time).

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Bruce Stachenfeld

Bruce Stachenfeld

You lost your job in a law firm – alas. This happens to almost all of us during our careers. It happened to me – happily only one time – and I admit I didn’t like it when it happened and at the time I was unprepared to figure out what to do next. Here is some advice for you that I hope will be helpful, in three parts:

The first article contains a background analysis of how to handle the situation – largely self-analysis of what you should be doing next.

The second article goes over the actual steps to be taken.

And the third article goes over how to interview and network.

So here goes……

First things first – do not rush out and call a headhunter and say “I need a job.” Whatever you do, don’t do that. You want to negotiate from a position of strength, and the last thing you want to be conveying is that you “need” something. Most of the time when a law firm lets you go, you are probably not going to be put out on the street in two days – you probably have some time to consider your next move. So let’s go through what you should do, starting right after the meeting when you have been “fired.” Here is a step-by-step process:

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If your employer is amenable, go over with your employer the reason why you were terminated. Was this due to your performance, or is it a layoff of a bunch of people? For purposes of this article, let’s assume it is your performance, as that is much harder to deal with than a mass layoff. Your employer may not be straight with you for various reasons. Perhaps your employer is worried about being sued and you just might not get a ton of information. But most likely you saw it coming – maybe work dried up – maybe you sensed body language – maybe something else. And if you have a decent employer, they will be honest with you about what went wrong.

Whether your employer will help you or not, this is a time for super-honest analysis of what happened. You may be the type who blames others for everything bad that happens to you. You see yourself as a victim. I suggest you cast that off and start from an assumption that you just blew it and try to figure out why:

  • Is it that you have a bad attitude?
  • Is it that you have a poor work ethic?
  • Is it that you can’t organize well?
  • Is it that you have some trouble doing the legal work efficiently?
  • Is it that you have a weakness (e.g., drafting) that you need to get better at?
  • Is it that you just don’t like what you are doing and can’t bring yourself to push hard?

Or – after honest reflection – is it really outside circumstances that harmed you:

  • The partner you worked for quit.
  • The practice area you are in has shrunk down.
  • A new partner came in and you are on the outs for whatever reason.
  • It was politics and you lost out.

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This may take you a week or so, and some soul-searching with some friends or relatives, but when you are done you will likely arrive at a feeling of peace that you know what happened and why, and this will start to give rise to a plan to use this as a chance to make lemonade out of lemons, i.e., this is a chance to get a much better job than the one you just lost.

In the course of doing this, I urge you to take the time to really deeply analyze what you are good at and what you are not good at:

  • Are you amazing with people or kind of the opposite?
  • Can you draft like the wind or are you just bad at this?
  • Are you super smart and a quick study or more of a plodder?
  • Do you have high IQ or high EQ or both or neither?
  • How strong is your work ethic?
  • Do you love being a lawyer or really hate it or something else?

Ultimately you want to figure out what attributes about you are most positive and strong and saleable and think about a job that will enable you to use these attributes and, at the same time, avoid the weaknesses. And be honest with yourself. Don’t put yourself too high when you don’t deserve it and don’t put yourself too low either. It is often good to talk to others who will be honest with you for this assessment so you aren’t over or under stating yourself.

As a very important aside, you may have learned that being a lawyer in a law firm is simply not for you. Maybe you just don’t like it because the work doesn’t inspire you. If so, it is high time to plot a new career path before it gets harder and harder to do. Or maybe you still might want to go to another law firm for a while (possibly to earn enough money to pay off your school loans); however, if so you may now be at peace with yourself that it is only temporary – you are serving your time until you move on to your “real” career.

In any case, once you have achieved the foregoing, which is largely self-analysis, you can move onto the next step, which is figuring out what you should do next. My next two articles will deal with exactly that.

Bruce Stachenfeld is the managing partner of Duval & Stachenfeld LLP, which is an approximately 70-lawyer law firm based in midtown Manhattan. The firm is known as “The Pure Play in Real Estate Law” because all of its practice areas are focused around real estate. With 50 full-time real estate lawyers, the firm is one of the largest real estate law practices in New York City. You can contact Bruce by email at [email protected].

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