Just laid off at Biglaw - advice?

[Anonymous]

Hugs. We had an eerily similar situation last year and it eventually turned out OK. DH was cut from his legal job, I SAH and am basically unmarketable, DC has some special needs and actually DH has some high $ medical issues.

Frankly, it was a really depressing and desperate several months and we are still paying off debt that we accrued by living off credit (after we blew through savings).

Everyone has given you good advice already but I just wanted to hit on one thing: try your damndest to be kind to each other. No matter what. Sounds obvious but after a couple of months of desperation -- which is what you feel when you can't buy your special needs child X -- you can say some pretty nasty things to each other.

You will get through this, promise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have worked in biglaw for a law time and love this advice. So what if the firm disagrees? What are they going to do -- let you go?

OP here, thanks for providing us with our first laugh of the day.

Glad you laughed. I was slightly worried after I posted. (Sorry for the typos, too). But on a serious front, it sounds like you have the basics down: cut expenses, look for any temporary work, etc.

But let me echo what 2 posters have said: be as kind to each other as you can. You are both nervous, scared, anxious, terrified, etc. Plus, your DH may feel like he just got a kick in the teeth. As you both negotiate through this, there may be points of tension: Is the other spending too much? Is the other looking hard enough for a job? What should you tell the children? And sometimes when you go through these tension points (particularly, is the other person doing enough) and when you are very frightened, it's easy to lose sight of the fact that the other person is probably terrified too.

OP, you and your family will get through this financially and with a roof over your head. Just remember you have to make sure that you emotionally get through this together as well.

(Signed, Know this the hard way).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

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.

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.

Another factor that often come into play is the "long-term potential" of the attorney. Its one thing to be a worker bee but if you are senior you are not worth much to the firm if they think that you will never be able to general revenue and create your own colony of worker bees. Thankfully, I left BigLaw before the blood letting began, there were a lot of really hard working smart people who got the ax and some questionable ones that stayed. The questionable ones all had the right political connections, both inside the firm and with clients.

[Anonymous]

OP will not be able to pick up and move somewhere else--no one will rent to her family if no one is employed. So if her DH was given a few months' time to find something else, they will need to move while he can still tell a landlord that he is employed.

OP, my DH was laid off from biglaw 8 months ago and still has not found work despite insane networking and resume-ing. The legal job market is terrible right now. I'm really sorry for your situation. I hope it all works out for you. I would dust off your resume, because if you go back to work or temp for awhile, it won't affect the amount he brings in on his unemployment checks, but if he temps, it reduces his unemployment amount. He can stay home with your dc and look for work while you temp. Just an idea.

[Anonymous]

Hey OP, I'm sorry that you all are having to go through this now.

The past 2 years have been terrifying for many biglaw families. My husband went from having a sizable amount of business to having absolutely no clients, which drove him into a deep depression. He now is on Zoloft and has weekly therapy ...and he still has a job. (BTW, this recession has been a boon for psychiatrists and psychologists in this town. )

So, here are some leads:

Axiom Legal: http://www.axiomlegal.com/ is a virtual law firm that does contract work. I understand that is a bit of a process to work for them, so he should start now.

Gov't-obviously, but have been lots of lawyers leaving SEC. DOJ is a GREAT gig.

Counsel jobs-there are several out there, but it would require moving. Indy: Finish Line Corp looking for general counsel.

At the end of the day, it's better to get out of MB--EP is one of the biggest douches ever-- because it really sucks to work there. seriously. And by the way, they prob did all these layoffs so they could bring in their summers. P*icks.

[Anonymous]

Re: fed and SEC in particular as well as DOJ - these jobs are not easy to come by - 1000s of resumes are being submitted from what I've heard, and it takes months and months to hear anything. See http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/legaltimes/PubArticleLT.jsp?id=1202429951013. Ok, that sounds more negative than I meant it to be, what I meant, is, that even if he doesn't hear right away, it doesn't necessarily mean rejection, and, in the meantime, he needs to find interim work - either contract, in-house or otherwise. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Just another idea, there are government jobs that are non-lawyer positions that he might be qualified for depending on his practice area--look for analyst or program manager type jobs, usually they are at least a GS-13.

[Anonymous]

OP here, thanks for all the great advice everyone. Sorry so many others are or were in this boat. Appreciate all of the good wishes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Re: fed and SEC in particular as well as DOJ - these jobs are not easy to come by - 1000s of resumes are being submitted from what I've heard, and it takes months and months to hear anything. See http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/legaltimes/PubArticleLT.jsp?id=1202429951013. Ok, that sounds more negative than I meant it to be, what I meant, is, that even if he doesn't hear right away, it doesn't necessarily mean rejection, and, in the meantime, he needs to find interim work - either contract, in-house or otherwise. Good luck!

Yes, BUT, Biglaw partners now lawyers throughout all the agencies. Would never suggest someone submit a resume--that's useless--go the inside route.

[Anonymous]

**know** oy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Re: fed and SEC in particular as well as DOJ - these jobs are not easy to come by - 1000s of resumes are being submitted from what I've heard, and it takes months and months to hear anything. See http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/legaltimes/PubArticleLT.jsp?id=1202429951013. Ok, that sounds more negative than I meant it to be, what I meant, is, that even if he doesn't hear right away, it doesn't necessarily mean rejection, and, in the meantime, he needs to find interim work - either contract, in-house or otherwise. Good luck!

Yes, BUT, Biglaw partners now lawyers throughout all the agencies. Would never suggest someone submit a resume--that's useless--go the inside route.

Even then it takes forever. Truly. There's nothing like gov't beaurocracy. Which isn't to say it can't be done, just that it takes a while to do.

[Anonymous]

Headhunters:

North Berman & Beebe - [phone]. Frank Bate is a good guy there. Also Garrison and Sisson has a good rep, although I haven't talked to them in years. If your DH is corporate, he should find out how to get access to the corporate counsel website job listings. There is some outfit that advertises on Above The Law - Lateral Link - but I do not know if they are any good or where they tend to place people.

Finally, as others have noted, some people ARE hiring laterals right now. GL to your family, OP.

[Anonymous]

OP, sorry you and your family are having to go through this. I'm sure I'll be called a jerk for saying this (I'm not trying to be mean, just realistic) but there are many parts of Montgomery and Fairfax Counties that have great schools and apartments for less than $2000/month. Yes, your child would have to make new friends, and no, neither area is as desirable to live in as NWDC, but it's better than being homeless. Also, you may want to look at your career options too. It sounds like you have been cutting it too close financially if you can't make it 3 months with severence before running out of money and you probably couldn't afford to be SAH to begin with. I know a lot of highly educated, well-connected people in biglaw and other ares that have been out of work for a lot longer than 3 months. Some have family money, the others have moved and cut back significantly.

I wish you and DH the best of luck. You'll get through this.

[Anonymous]

Just want to add, sorry for your news. I have no law experience, so can't advise on the job placement search, but you may want to get a waitressing job at night- maybe a place like Daily Grill or Clyde's. I would suggest bartending, but I think this is harder to come by (but more profitable).

Brings in a few hundred a week at least and might stretch those savings a few months longer. I always say if DH or I lost our jobs, we could make our mortgage doing this - it wouldn't be pretty, but we could do it for a bit. It may be worth a try - if you do explore it, it takes a few weeks to make $$ at - you get the crappy shifts at first, but that will change.

Anyhow- good luck. You have gotten a lot of good advice from everyone else. Sorry this is happening, but you are obviously resourceful and smart- you are already on DCUM problem-solving - you will get through this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, sorry you and your family are having to go through this. I'm sure I'll be called a jerk for saying this (I'm not trying to be mean, just realistic) but there are many parts of Montgomery and Fairfax Counties that have great schools and apartments for less than $2000/month. Yes, your child would have to make new friends, and no, neither area is as desirable to live in as NWDC, but it's better than being homeless. Also, you may want to look at your career options too. It sounds like you have been cutting it too close financially if you can't make it 3 months with severence before running out of money and you probably couldn't afford to be SAH to begin with. I know a lot of highly educated, well-connected people in biglaw and other ares that have been out of work for a lot longer than 3 months. Some have family money, the others have moved and cut back significantly.

I wish you and DH the best of luck. You'll get through this.

We have 3 months plus severence. As I said, I have 2 medically fragile kids with some sn. My career hiatus was due to managing them and getting a floor in their health rather than a distain for earning money. Of course, hindsight is 20/20, but we were ok until the other day. No large debt, etc. The kids were difficult to diagnose and seeing myriad specialists and trying different courses of therapy drained what once were considerable savings. Can't get that $ back now. My kid has had a really tough life so far and this has been a really good year at school, especially socially, makes it that much harder to pull out. Of course we are looking at different options re: moving. Thanks for the reality check.