Federal personnel lawyer
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Anonymous
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and I want to leave. Not interested in going back to a law firm, but I will if I have to. What are some other options for me?
Almost 20 years employment law experience, 11 in federal government. Any advice is appreciated. |
Anonymous
| Maybe a labor union, or perhaps in-house in a private sector firm which needs someone to support their HR function. |
Anonymous
The Board of Veterans’ Appeals is always hiring attorneys. |
Anonymous
Lol. Not OP, but I’m an attorney who hasn’t practiced for awhile looking to get back in and this dcum Board of Veteran’s Appeals running joke has shown up so much that I’m on the verge of actually looking into working there… |
Anonymous
| In house at any decent size company. |
Anonymous
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It's tricky, as you know, since the federal employment system only exists in the federal government, so that experience will take some nuance to translate to the private sector. You might have to start out lower than you are technically qualified for to build up experience under the wider employment law arena. Not that you are not qualified, you must might have to prove it to the private sector first. Emphasize your work with employment laws during the pre-federal employment and the hard and soft skills that co-exist, deemphasize the federal system part.
If you want to go in house, I would start with federal contractors, as the understanding of the client world will be helpful in spite of the different regulatory system you will be working under. You might also want to look at roles in trade associations -- there are some related to federal employment or fed-adjacent. You could expand that into non-legal roles, like advocacy. In the mean time, sign up for some Board member training programs and try to get on a non-profit board in an area you like. That can lead to relationships with like minded board members who can network jobs. |
Anonymous
| A lot of DC government HR stuff is patterned after the federal government (and the workers who started a long time ago were essentially federal employees, though most of them are retired now) so your skills might translate. DC residents get preference for jobs, but they often hire people who live outside of the District too. Pay isn't bad--similar to GS--and I think in some cases they will count your federal service towards leave accrual so you don't have to go back to only getting 4 hours per pay period. |