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I’m sorry you’ve had this experience. If it helps I didn’t get an offer after my 2L summer. I thought life was over. 7 years later I made partner a year early at another mid law firm and a year after that I lateraled as an equity partner to a V20. Lots of people hit bumps and roadblocks. They don’t define you. Your response defines you.
I’m retired and not connected to the current job market but I would do the following immediately. 1) go exercise - like right now. 2) Take the rest of the week to gather yourself. Go visit your folks. Try not to think about work. Do physical restorative things that make you tired. The endorphins and exercise will help you sleep. 3) Take a look at your spending. You don’t know how long your emergency fund and severance have to last. Reduce unnecessary expenditures to give yourself more runway and less risk of money stress. 4) starting next Monday take a hard look at yourself and what you learned from your last job. You want to enter your next job search with a cleared eyed view of your strengths and weaknesses and what you want out of your next job.
Job changes are always resets, whether you or your employer precipitated the change. Use this reset to set yourself up for later success. Others will have job search suggestions that are geared to the market as it currently stands.
You got this. My no-offer speed bump was a wake up call that made me a much better lawyer in the long term. It also was a gift, in hindsight. If you do this transition right you can and will see this transition as a positive thing in the long arc of your career. I know that sounds insane today, but it’s 100% true. Godspeed in the next chapter.
Teacher is in the buildin’! Very inspiring.
Same boat as you. I had a job lined up though - writing was on the wall for me. It only took a month or two of searching though and this was end of last year. Think the lateral market is a little hotter right now.
I’m still pretty frustrated though… I was going to give notice but they got me first. At least I’ll get severance until I start the new gig, but it feels pretty bad that I don’t really get the chance to do a proper goodbye or whatnot, just kind of slinking out the door and everyone will figure out I got fired. :-/
But that said, I’m going to a midlaw firm that I am SO excited about! More consistent hours, fewer all night emergencies, better management. Not too bad of a pay cut either.
Highly recommend getting yourself a good recruiter - I definitely have mine to thank for having an established relationship with the new firm.
I’m definitely getting frowned upon at my current firm, but not fired at this point. Is it better to take matters into my own hands and find a new job now, or do the bare minimum for as long as I can, then collect a severance?
I feel like if I stay, they may let me go around June and give me whatever severance would be standard (3 months pay?). That’d be like 7 months of comp for doing very little and having very little to prove which actually sounds nice. Then I just have to face whatever the job market may be when that time comes.
Any thoughts on the pros and cons of just waiting it out until they fire me?
Everything happens for a reason, you’ll probably come out much better on the other end. It’s always nice to be the one that leaves before being asked to go but sometimes that little push is the best thing that could have happened. Best of luck to you in your future endeavors!
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Same thing happened to me. I luckily started looking months before and will have over a month before my new gig starts. Figuring out how to exit and who/how to tell is tough. I spent way too much time worrying about saying goodbye and not drawing attention that was time wasted. I wasn’t able to send out a farewell message to my admin and friends in other groups and regret it…if you still have access to firm systems it may be worthwhile doing so.
Everyone I was friends with there has already left over the years except literally one person, and we were close enough that I told her what happened (and trust her to keep my confidence), so thankfully no love lost lol
Reframing exercise: you get three months of being paid not to work which is the dream - lucky you!
But seriously, I’ve been in the same boat and know many many other people who have. Therapy helped me not take it personally. So much of this job is shitty timing and luck. None of us are perfect and that doesn’t mean we’re not amazing, compassionate, smart lawyers. Go somewhere that recognizes you for that
I left a toxic group, and came here when I was almost out of website time. I got a lot of encouragement here, which I really appreciate, and I’ve landed on my feet. Keep going. You will be okay. Progress is not always linear, and this experience will make you stronger.
So sorry to hear what you’re going through. Keep your head up, keep the application materials polished and you’ll be ok.
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Which practice area?
Structured credit, but I was a retool from levfin so finance generally