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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
Ah you are right about that re. selling cars.  But even so it does illustrate the fact that lots of people work long hours for a LOT less money.

Re moving to another city. Let's say you took the VA bar.  You can't just up and find a job in Richmond.  They don't want you.  There are very few jobs there, and it's an insular market where they hire their own when possible.  Similarly, it isn't easy to find a non legal job, because you've been trained as an attorney. 
You aren't just going to float in and manage a non-profit, be cause guess what there are people who are trained and qualified for those jobs.

As I said, I've been in the legal placement industry a long time, and I know what I'm talking about. None of the suggestions people have made are going to work right now, but in 3 years OP will have some options.  Bottom line is she doesn't get have a skill set that is in demand anywhere.  The only suggestion I have is to become a permanent clerk or staff attorney for a court, since she clerked.  But that is a pretty dead end job. [/quote]

I'm certain you do know what you're taking about, at least re: private sector, but you're assuming she wants to stay in the private legal market. She doesn't have to: I have law school classmates who are now nurses and SAHMs and Westlaw phone support researchers and contract attorneys. They all went to a top 10 school and started in firms: they decided they'd rather not stay, in any capacity. Personally I took a 40% pay cut to go to government: my blue collar parents were appalled because, like you, they know people who work that hard for much less. I have never regretted my decision though.

You're not giving bad advice, but youre giving advice for a person who woukd rather preserve her legal career than see her kids. OP may or may not be that person. [/quote]

No, I actually no a lot about JD alternative jobs based on my prior professional experiences. Unfortunately, the options you are presenting are not financially viable for OP at this time, and also I bet most of your classmates practiced longer than a year before making the switch and/or have a spouse who has a large income. Becoming a nurse, for example, would require accruing additional debt for nursing school, plus she would not have an income during the time she was in training.  I know a lawyer who did this but it was after her kids were in school full time and then she had them in aftercare and was often working nights once she got her degree, because that is how you pay your dues in that career.  Becoming a SAHM is not generally a viable option for someone with massive student loan debt (students these days are easily graduating law school with $200k in loans).  Westlaw pays very little, advancement is limited, and she will still need to put her kids in daycare.  Plus talk to anyone who has been a Westlaw research attorney for more than 5 years and see how happy they are.  (Not to mention that this is a job that is ripe for offshoring to India and the Philippines, and as a result there are far fewer jobs than there used to be.)  Public interest jobs are very, very competitive.  People think you can just waltz into Legal Aid or a non-profit or a public defender's office, but you can't. Those employers hire people who have demonstrated an interest and commitment to those careers, and there are legions of attorneys two years out of law school who have been paying their dues piecing together fellowships, internships, and volunteer gigs to try to break into the market, and you can be sure any such openings will go to those people.  The government is probably her best option, but there are very few opportunities right now due to widespread hiring freezes, and competition is fierce.  It could easily take her two years to land a government gig.

I'm genuinely not trying to be a naysayer.  Unfortunately, OP planned badly.  It is not ideal to have young children when you are starting out in BigLaw, and it was a bad idea to have spent a year clerking, which basically is a great marker of prestige but it basically put her behind a year in terms of developing a marketable resume.  What's done is done, but some of the things PPs are suggesting are only going to compound those bad decisions.  Yes, she can release the pressure now and get immediate relief, but she also needs to seriously consider the long-term consequences.  Her failure to do so previously is what landed OP in this pickle.  [/quote]

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