Never say “level up your skill set”. Never.

I'm skeptical of the truth of this, but if it is true, make partner, practice for a year or two, then hang up your own shingle doing opinions of counsel. You'll have to be deposed a lot, but the lifestyle is much better.

Sorry, but I call BS. No ninth year associate who is told she was going to make partner walks away. You’re not going anywhere. At least not yet. You may be fooling yourself, and you may be fooling DCUM but you’re not fooling this lawyer.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teaching sucks and the salary is shit. I did it for 15 years and the clients… a hole kids and their parents… only get more demanding and your bosses, the admin, just want to please them. Don’t do it. Imagine the shit you get paid 300k for now, having similar stress, albeit better hours, no respect, no perks, no prestige for 50k.

1/4 of the year off is a huge perk. I know you’re “prepping” for future classes but let’s get real.

What profession has 1/4 of the year off?

I might go try that one, instead of teaching which doesnt.

Anonymous wrote:Teaching sucks and the salary is shit. I did it for 15 years and the clients… a hole kids and their parents… only get more demanding and your bosses, the admin, just want to please them. Don’t do it. Imagine the shit you get paid 300k for now, having similar stress, albeit better hours, no respect, no perks, no prestige for 50k.

1/4 of the year off is a huge perk. I know you’re “prepping” for future classes but let’s get real.

Teaching sucks and the salary is shit. I did it for 15 years and the clients… a hole kids and their parents… only get more demanding and your bosses, the admin, just want to please them. Don’t do it. Imagine the shit you get paid 300k for now, having similar stress, albeit better hours, no respect, no perks, no prestige for 50k.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was a teacher and went to law school. Law is less stressful. Teaching was the emotional exhaustion of oral argument every day. (Public speaking)

I was a lawyer and teach now. Teaching is way less stressful.

I worked with a guy who left a law job as ADA for large metropolitan area and he said being a teacher was more stressful. Granted it was his first year. But he was shocked at just how relentless the grind was. And that time really wasn’t your own. Need to go to the bathroom? Tough, you have lunch duty. Need a moment to reset for the next class? Nope you’re expected to stand in your doorway watching for student misbehavior. Need to take a sick day? Plan out how someone else will spend the day…Ugh, it’s easier to come in sick.

And no one will teach you classroom management skills. It really takes 3 years to figure out how you want to run a class and what works with your teaching style. Until then, the students smell weakness and take advantage of it every chance they get.

And if you teach a class that has state testing, forget taking detours about interesting topics based on your students interests or questions.

I'm a special ed teacher. I do it because I'm passionate enough about the parts I love to push through the sucky parts. I don't know that big law would have more or less sucky parts, but I wouldn't have that motivation to push through them, because the kids would be missing.

But you haven't said anything about wanting to work with kids, or being passionate about equity, or love for a content area, that would make me think you'd have that same feeling.

I'll also say that teaching carries with it the fact of not just being tired from doing a lot of work, which is surely the same as a lawyer, but of being tired of certain kinds of interactions with kids. Sometimes, it's hard to come home from dealing with certain things all day and muster up the enthusiasm for the same thing from your own kids. So, while you might be less tired, which might make things like scrubbing your toilets easier, it's hard to find the motivation to help with homework or read a bedtime story.

Finally, I'll say that there are a bajillion careers out there that pay as well as teachers. If that's really all the money you need, you don't just have two choices.

Anonymous wrote:Marijuana use does not exclude federal employment. It doesn’t even need to be reported if it’s more than 7 years in past. Must be something else you are leaving out.

Oh cool. Maybe I'll apply then

Anonymous wrote:You’re crazy if you put in nine years, make partner , and then ditch it to make fifty thousand a year as a teacher. Make partner, do it for at least five years, and save some money.

Exactly! Being a teacher is horrible!

Marijuana use does not exclude federal employment. It doesn’t even need to be reported if it’s more than 7 years in past. Must be something else you are leaving out.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teaching isn’t a walk in the park, especially these days. Have you worked with kids before? Do you have your teaching certificate? All important questions before you quit your job for summers “off”.

Figured I'd do something like Urbanteachers or something

Just FYI, you can get a Masters in Teaching at UDC for nearly the same price. You’ll learn more and start at a higher pay grade. Teacher cert programs like urban teachers and TFA will not prepare you for the classroom, especially if you end up teaching in DC.

You might want to take a look at some of the virtual-type firms for a lateral move, but it's still worth making partner first.

Are you prepared to go back to school to get certified to teach? What’s your plan for student teaching? I don’t know exactly how long it would take you, but I’d imagine you are at least 1.5 years away from being licensed and able to apply to teach.

Do you genuinely enjoy working with kids? (You didn’t mention this in your original post). Do you know what you’d teach?

I left a fed attorney job to teach in public schools. In my case, the pay cut wasn’t as dramatic as I expected, especially considering I was working when my kids were in school and wasn’t traveling. I also enjoy working with kids, and I wanted the teaching schedule.

Going into teaching will be different work, and you may be surprised at the number of hours a first year teacher works. It takes years of very long hours to get to the point where you function effectively working fewer hours a week.

Good luck to you, whatever you decide!

Anonymous wrote:I was a teacher and went to law school. Law is less stressful. Teaching was the emotional exhaustion of oral argument every day. (Public speaking)

I was a lawyer and teach now. Teaching is way less stressful.