Dick Whitman
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- May 1, 2009
- Messages
- 45,703
As some of you might know from time spent here, I got out of the business a few years ago to go law school. I managed to get into a well-regarded school, perform well, and from there land a position at a prestigious international firm located in a big city. The law equivalent to a "major metro," except the pay is far better.
Anyway, it's been an interesting few years. We've managed to buy a nice house in a nice town and at least start to build up a retirement nest egg. I come to this little dive to escape when things are slow - and even when they aren't - but the truth is that it can be a hellish job. You get detailed reviews from every single person you've worked for twice a year. These aren't fun. The model is "up and out," meaning that if they don't consider you partner material, you're eventually shown the door. So you are constantly acutely aware of your tenuous status. You are apt, where I worked, to have nothing to do for a few days, then get an out-of-the-blue 9 p.m. email demanding something delivered by 7 a.m. You navigate layers and layers and layers of bureacracy. Last summer, I worked consecutive 90-hour weeks and a 325-hour month. I canceled at least three major weekend plans on Friday afternoons. It's grueling and the work itself is mostly tedious. (My big firm actually has the reputation as one of the humane ones, and I can see that.) Oh, and I spent probably two and a half hours a day commuting: Car --> Train --> Walk.
Well, last week I put in my two weeks' notice, and I'm going to work at a small law firm about a five minute's drive from my house. I will probably make 1/2 to 2/3 what I make now. Hopefully we will be able to keep the house. I think we should be OK. We're going to have to budget tighter, but we'll still be doing better than 99 percent of the human population.
Basically, I decided that I could try to squeeze every red cent from my law degree or I could see my kids grow up, but it was going to be hard to do both. So I'm dropping out of the pursuit of prestige and money at all costs to try to simply enjoy myself practicing law somewhere most of my striver co-workers could not fathom, and having a life. Maybe start work on that long-planned novel. It's law, so it will still be challenging and, at times, time-consuming. But it's not "biglaw," and I have largely come to reject the "lean in" premise that You Can Have It All.
This isn't to recount the Fabulous Life of **** Whitman. It's not very fabulous. But there is a lot of chatter on here about both careers and family, and a lot of mud-slinging about what people choose to do with their time and lives. So this was my recent decision. I thought I'd share it. We'll see how it works out. But I know that people on here constantly grapple with career, financial, and work-life balance questions. Here's another data point.
Anyway, it's been an interesting few years. We've managed to buy a nice house in a nice town and at least start to build up a retirement nest egg. I come to this little dive to escape when things are slow - and even when they aren't - but the truth is that it can be a hellish job. You get detailed reviews from every single person you've worked for twice a year. These aren't fun. The model is "up and out," meaning that if they don't consider you partner material, you're eventually shown the door. So you are constantly acutely aware of your tenuous status. You are apt, where I worked, to have nothing to do for a few days, then get an out-of-the-blue 9 p.m. email demanding something delivered by 7 a.m. You navigate layers and layers and layers of bureacracy. Last summer, I worked consecutive 90-hour weeks and a 325-hour month. I canceled at least three major weekend plans on Friday afternoons. It's grueling and the work itself is mostly tedious. (My big firm actually has the reputation as one of the humane ones, and I can see that.) Oh, and I spent probably two and a half hours a day commuting: Car --> Train --> Walk.
Well, last week I put in my two weeks' notice, and I'm going to work at a small law firm about a five minute's drive from my house. I will probably make 1/2 to 2/3 what I make now. Hopefully we will be able to keep the house. I think we should be OK. We're going to have to budget tighter, but we'll still be doing better than 99 percent of the human population.
Basically, I decided that I could try to squeeze every red cent from my law degree or I could see my kids grow up, but it was going to be hard to do both. So I'm dropping out of the pursuit of prestige and money at all costs to try to simply enjoy myself practicing law somewhere most of my striver co-workers could not fathom, and having a life. Maybe start work on that long-planned novel. It's law, so it will still be challenging and, at times, time-consuming. But it's not "biglaw," and I have largely come to reject the "lean in" premise that You Can Have It All.
This isn't to recount the Fabulous Life of **** Whitman. It's not very fabulous. But there is a lot of chatter on here about both careers and family, and a lot of mud-slinging about what people choose to do with their time and lives. So this was my recent decision. I thought I'd share it. We'll see how it works out. But I know that people on here constantly grapple with career, financial, and work-life balance questions. Here's another data point.
