Doing Temp Legal Work for Years

[Anonymous]

Is there any coming back from doing temp legal work? My DH's small law firm that he worked at out of law school imploded, and for the years since then he has worked an endless string of temp legal doc review jobs. He tried applying to multiple openings on USAJobs, etc. Is there just no hope that he'll ever have a full-time job? He's in his mid-40s now. He feels so depressed and I don't even know what to tell him.

[Anonymous]

I think there are 2 separate things going on here: one is depression and the other is the temp work.

The depression -- this needs to be addressed, it's affecting all areas of his life. If he feels better about himself it's going to impact all areas of his life.

I'm not in the legal field, and I think other people can offer you better advice, but has he considered doing something besides law?

[Anonymous]

Where/how did he find the temp jobs? Can they help him look for full-time jobs? Is he networking through the temp jobs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where/how did he find the temp jobs? Can they help him look for full-time jobs? Is he networking through the temp jobs?

He's hired by a staffing agency and put on the jobs. He pretty much goes to warehouses filled with computers and clicks away at docs all day. I don't know how he's supposed to network like that...there's usually a midlevel associate overseeing the reviewers. I guess he could do something non-law, but what can a non-lawyer really do with his degree? He's too old to apply to the CIA (he would've been good at that). He's former military but doesn't have veterans preference because he wasn't on duty during the right times to get veterans preference.

[Anonymous]

what kind of work did he do at the small law firm?

[Anonymous]

Applying for positions on USAJOBs requires a lot of specific knowledge about how to complete the applications. Plus, federal jobs are highly competitive. I hope he's looking for other positions besides federal ones?

He should contact his law school's career services office. They will have a person who assists alumni (it doesn't matter how long ago he graduated).

This can be a problem with doc review, unfortunately -- it's hard to transition back to substantive legal work. But it's possible.

I agree with the first poster about addressing depression separately.

[Anonymous]

A friend of mine who does long term temp work is looking into taking a relativity case manager training (or something like that, I forget which program she mentioned) so she can move up to be in charge of document reviews. Also with his experience he could look for staff attorney positions at bigger law firms.

[Anonymous]

He should STOP applying to USA Jobs. The chances of getting an interview for those jobs are very slim, as each resume/application has to be specifically tailored to the job so that when the hiring people decide who to interview, they do a search word optimization.

He should be applying for private sector work.

[Anonymous]

Your husband should apply to Robert Half Legal or another type of recruiter agency to help him find a full time job in the private sector.

[Anonymous]

It is very difficult to come back from temping for years in the legal field. Doing doc review for so long looks really bad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is very difficult to come back from temping for years in the legal field. Doing doc review for so long looks really bad.

What a helpful post!

[Anonymous]

About 7 years ago, I was your DH. We moved here, and I did about 18 months of doc review. By the end, I was so depressed I could barely get out of bed. I was lucky enough to be able to take a couple of years off. I treated the depression, and sat for the VA bar. And was able at the end of two years to be hired into the federal government. I am several years in and love my job. So it ended well

Now, I had some things going for me. I had substantive experience in a really complex area of administrative law that an agency needed. And I had a friend who worked with me on a long term doc review project who had been hired by that agency, and who gave my resume a push. So yes, you can network and doc review. Really just by making friends on the projects, adding them to your FB feed or linked in. You never know where people will end up. I had prior federal empowerment related to the area where I was hired. And we weren't in the middle of a hiring freeze. It may be a bad few years for federal legal hiring. And, I had young children, so I spun doc review and time off as a flexible work schedule and taking time to raise small children. So it didn't look as bad as it might otherwise have.

But Doc review is a putting out fire type situation. You are so busy in crisis mode, you can lose sight of long term career planning. I would encourage your DH to try to pull out of it-- even take a month between projects if possible, and come up with a long term plan. Updated resume. Updated linked in. A different bar? Continuing education, like night classes in tech or to get a CPA? And yes, networking. I have gotten both of my good legal jobs through people I considered to be friends, and not professional contacts.

Good luck. It really sucks.

[Anonymous]

How long did he work for at the law firm? Has he ever thought of hanging a shingle? I'm just wondering how much experience he had. I have friends that graduated in the middle of the depression and couldn't find anything, hung a shingle and are doing quite well. Alternative some failed at it.

Your DH has a couple of things going against him. His age and I'm assuming a lack of savings. So there is a need to always work doc review instead of actually working on getting a job.

I did doc review for a few months out of law school and I know many that have as well. Almost all were able to leave that, but there is one guy who has been stuck doing it for 8 years now and besides applying to staff attorney positions or heading a doc review project, the exit options are limited after such a long time
No one outside the legs industry understands "privileged" information and tagging it. The work is crap, and the atmosphere is poisonous. The people working these projects are either recent grads or people like your DH that have stuck doing that.

Networking is his best option, but that's also gonna be hard.
Do you work? Do you have kids? It's honestly a tough situation for you as well. I bet you've been his cheerleader for a while to no avail. Keep supporting him, but don't coddle him. He needs to keep applying to get out of this rut. Doc review is hellish and depressing. I feel for your DH. It's demoralizing to be so low on the legal food chain.

For people that don't know what doc review is, don't bother responding with cliche answers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:He should STOP applying to USA Jobs. The chances of getting an interview for those jobs are very slim, as each resume/application has to be specifically tailored to the job so that when the hiring people decide who to interview, they do a search word optimization.

He should be applying for private sector work.

Id say the one exception to this are the GS 11 (or are they GS 9?) postings for lawyers at the VA. OPs DH may have a shot at those.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is there any coming back from doing temp legal work? My DH's small law firm that he worked at out of law school imploded, and for the years since then he has worked an endless string of temp legal doc review jobs. He tried applying to multiple openings on USAJobs, etc. Is there just no hope that he'll ever have a full-time job? He's in his mid-40s now. He feels so depressed and I don't even know what to tell him.

What is his undergrad degree in? If it is in the sciences, he could apply for the USPTO. It's a step above shit work, he could sit for the patent bar, and after a few years and work for a (likely) small firm.