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Just laid off at Biglaw - advice?
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Anonymous
OP here, thanks for providing us with our first laugh of the day. |
Anonymous
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OP, I feel for you. My DH was in BigLaw and was laid off in November. Luckily, I am still working in BigLaw (and I take every chance I can get to tell me bosses that I am the sole breadwinner in the family because you never know) so, while we are barely dipping into savings, we haven't had to make many sacrifices (e.g. keeping DC in a fantastic daycare downtown).
My DH is probably younger than your husband (mid-level associate) so probably has less experience, but he's had mildly good luck finding temp work. Or at least his resume as been submitted to a few actual jobs, and he's at one this week. I think there is a different market for attorneys with some experience versus the glut of recent grads who have never had jobs. |
Anonymous
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Might be this one
http://abovethelaw.com/?s=mayer+brown |
Anonymous
Agree with the poster in bold. The PP who responded was really unhelpful and unsympathetic. |
Anonymous
| Sorry to hear about your plight, OP. You'll be OK, but you need a plan (or several versions)--and perhaps one of your plans would involved you working too. So first things first, determine what's most important (is moving an option, or are you determined stay put?, etc.). Get your paperwork in order...both of you should update your resumes. Have frank discussions with DH about hopes, dreams, next steps compared with reality, responsbilities, obligations, etc. It'll work out. |
Anonymous
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I work in biglaw and would echo some of the previous posts about asking for some additional health benefits - it really doesn't hurt to ask! Also, was your DH close to one or a few partners? That's where the networking should start, even if they're outside his practice area. In my practice, we work with lawyers from lots of other groups and when some of the good ones were let go during layoffs, the partner I worked for worked hard with her contacts to get them interviews and help them network, so he should think broadly about contacts across the firm and not just in his practice group.
And on the money front, just cut out/back on really anything you can think of. We went to one (PT) income this year (DH is in school) and I have a regular conversation with myself about whether we really need what I'm about to buy. I can usually put it back/not pick it up and am amazed how much less we're spending, even though we now have a child and new/different expenses. Call your credit card company and negotiate a lower interest rate and don't be afraid to stack up a bit of debt on that if you're in a pinch and need to. It's not ideal, but it's a form of a safety net for the short-term if you need it. Cut cable, cut the paper, cut the landline, cut as many of your monthly recurring bills as you can. No donations (and I'm a tither, so that's hard for me to say), not even the ones for school where you feel like you have to. Renegotiate/defer your DH's debt. You can do this! It's exhausting and tough, but really, you can do it. |
Anonymous
| Are you marketable?? I have some friends that were sahm and switched roles when hubbies got laid off. They were in different fields and able to find work. |
Anonymous
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OP, things will be ok. This is tough but I'd focus on coming up with a plan and putting it into action. I was biglaw and DH still is, so we have lots of friends in it and various have been laid off. Hopefully your DH will find something permanent soon but it's hard to say as there have been various rounds of layoffs in recent months and a lot of people are looking. I definitely think just for $ he should sign up with a few legal temp agencies, there are various that specialize in contract attorneys. This isn't something he'll put on his resume (usually they advise against it), it's just for the $. I did it for six months a few years ago. Work was boring as heck but it paid OK and I am made a few good friends out of it.
Second of all, since you rent you're actually in better shape than someone who has a big mortgage or overbought, say. Move out of DC into a suburb and get a nicer, bigger place for less. Since you're not commuting you'll just have DH's commute to deal with and it's worth the trade off here, I'd say personally (given that you truly are worried about $). You don't have to pay $2K/mo in rent. |
Anonymous
| I'd leave the area. I'd look for a smaller town with a lower cost of living. You have nothing tying you here. Seriously. Explore all of your options. Sometimes you have to make a leap of faith and it sounds like now might be the time for you and your family. His severance check will stretch further if your expenses are less. |
Anonymous
Actually, two kids with special medical needs is likely tying them here. They probably have docs, specialists, etc. They might even be eligible for certain programs if insurance runs out that they may have more trouble finding elsewhere. I agree for many people this would be good advice, but with these kids it doesn't sound feasible. |
Anonymous
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Can you temporarily cut back on therapies? Can you get a job? Why can't DCPS provide the services? I have two special needs kids as well and we had to eliminate private therapy for a while and solely rely on the services they get at school. Granted it's not the best, but it's sufficient.
I am sorry this happened to you. But from one mom with special needs kids to another I want to tell you this: Roll up your sleeves and get back into fighting mode. Life comes at you fast, but I am sure that having two special needs kids, you can find a way to turn this frightening terrible event into a positive one. Good luck! |
Anonymous
| OP here. I've stopped any therapies. We will cut out everything but rent, food and utilities. We don't have cable, gym memberships, or anything like that, I've cancelled the Post and the obvious stuff. DH has been on the phone all day talking to people and colleagues have emailed leads. To 13:52 - the positive is that DH will be home before midnight (hopefully only for a short while!)and will get to spend time with the kids. |
Anonymous
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OP, I feel so much empathy and sympathy for you I hardly know what to say. I do at least have one hopefully practical suggestion for you, though: when things got truly desperate for me a few years ago, I really sucked it up and signed up with an office temporary firm to do advanced-level admin work while I kept looking. I didn't make tons of money but the $16 per hour I did make kept me from starving or eviction. I did take my lawyer credentials off my resume to improve my chances; I was afraid otherwise of the "overqualifed" rap. Everyone is praying for you and wishing you well.
Five years from now, I promise you, this entire situation will just be an especially bad spell your family had five years ago. Sometimes thinking about it that way helps me out... |
Anonymous
You DH was working until midnight most nights AND still got laid off? What idiot managing partner made the decision to lay off what sounds like a pretty busy attorney? I sometimes (okay often) wonder about management at biglaw firms. |
Anonymous
it's all about the economics. I may not be the economics of the one individual, but more about a practice group, or how much of the til midnight time could actually be billed through to the client. Law firms have a metric called realization, what percentage of worked time is written off. This may have nothing to do with the individual, but instead based upon client billing agreements, but it can reflect very badly on the individual, particularly in a faceless place like Mayer Brown. Someone with political clout can sometimes step in, sometimes not, or may not want to. |