Burned Out Lawyer

  • “I hope you’ll become partner one day”

    One of my supervisors said this to me. He was one of the named partners of the firm. I’d been wanting to work with him. He called my communication skills a gift. Another partner told me about how he (the named partner) takes no BS but was impressed with my work. Wow! He values me!…

  • Pivoting to Non-law Jobs (2 Ideas You Can Use Today)

    An old law school classmate works at her dream job now. She left her old soul-sucking job at a law firm a few years ago. She was able to leave the law to do work she genuinely enjoys. She doesn’t even mind if she has to stay up until midnight from time to time. Enjoying…

  • How Being a Lawyer Affects Your Confidence Level

    In casual conversation, I caught myself saying something to the effect of “you may be able to…” Being an attorney means CYA (covering your ass) and saying things like “and/or” or “likely” or “appears to” and all these weasel words that give you an out should someone call you out on it (which never happens…but…

  • Working Late Until 2:40 AM

    The firm laptop started its automatic shutdown process because it logs off automatically when it gets too late. I canceled out of the process. What was I doing at this godforsaken hour? There are people out there getting ready to go to the gym at this time! The in-house counsel wanted all these revisions to…

  • Were You Happier Before the Law?

    In 2020, I made over $300,000 from a full-time job and a side business. I was disappointed and upset that it was probably going to be around $250,000 in 2021 after switching jobs. I ended up making around $280,000, so I wasn’t that upset anymore. In 2023, I expect to make around $450,000. I don’t…

  • How much money do you need to leave the law and never work again?

    How much is a lot of money to you? $1 million? Who wants to be a millionaire? As soon as you hit $1 million or whatever, you could more realistically start to consider changing careers, relying on your spouse’s income if any, or living a low-key life in a low-cost-of-living location. Or you could imagine…