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Chief
Respectfully, I suggest that you take a step back and reflect. You have not lost your job, unlike 40 million or so of your fellow Americans who lost their jobs in the last 3 months. You have a graduate degree, unlike the 87% of your fellow Americans who don’t. You are alive, unlike the 119,000 of your fellow Americans who have died from COVID-19, or the more than 5,000 who have been killed by police since 2015. You have the power, based on your education, profession, relationships, and relative wealth, to influence society in a meaningful way. Most Americans only have the power to protest. I suggest, again respectfully, that you count your many blessings, and that you do something today and every other day to help someone who is less fortunate than you are. You will feel better and you will be better.
Chief
Thanks P1. I’ll check it out.
A8, the word you’re looking for is “drivel.” And the word I’m going to use is “histrionics,” see below. No one said anything about starving. OP commented on the lack of motivation he or she was experiencing because of hard work despite a pay cut. News flash: motivation is different than food. All I did was provide a privilege check and a suggestion that helping someone less fortunate would make him or her feel better. If you want to argue with that, let’s do it. But let’s also stick to the facts and avoid histrionics.
If you are making less than unemployment I would reconsider other options outside of the law. Good luck.
Pro
I don’t know how there’s enough work to go around to bill 200 hours unless you’re in insurance defense. I worked my ass off to get to 130 last month.
Estate planning and probate litigation is busy
Take the unemployment.
This may be different in light of COVID-19, but personally, I wouldn’t bank on getting unemployment if fired for cause. Every time someone applies for unemployment, the employer is informed. The employer then has an opportunity to explain to the unemployment agency why the employee was fired. Generally, employers will be upfront if the employee was fired for cause, and this will prevent the employee from collecting unemployment.
Employers have to pay for unemployment insurance, and the premiums go up the more claims there are. As a result, we never lie about the cause of termination, so if we want to protect someone’s unemployment, we will lay them off rather than terminante for cause. No employee that has ever quit our company or was fired for cause has been successful in claiming unemployment.
That said, if your salary has been reduced due to Covid-19, I believe you can now make a claim for the difference through the unemployment office even though you are still employed. I know of one associate in another firm who has done this successfully.
Not making less than unemployment but close to it. Not insurance defense. Commercial litigation and real estate litigation. We have big clients that are still paying their bills. Plenty of work. On track to bill 200+ hrs this month, no mention of pay being returned to normal. Definitely hurts motivation but it’s difficult all around right now. What can we do besides suck it up? Very few firms are hiring.
Rising Star
Doesn't sound like you should have gotten a pay cut at all. Seems like lots of firms feared the worst and jumped the gun.
Same here! And we have even more work than regular with reduced salary due to them laying off other attorneys and staff 😥
I'm not in a similar boat, being in-house, but you may find it helpful to talk to people who were at firms during the 2008 recession. Some firms did pay cuts then. If you wind up making it through this next year or so (I know, a giant if), then hopefully this will be a blip in your overall legal career 10 years from now.
Rising Star
Why such a big pay cut if you are all able to bill 200 hours/month?
Rising Star
TL1 the same situation at our (likely smaller than yours) firm. No pay cuts, no layoffs. I actually spoke with our firm's principal about it and he basically said "You are employees. We made a deal about your salary and I'm sticking to it. If I get the benefit of the upside, I get the downside risk as well." As you can imagine, I really appreciated that. We have very low overhead, so the firm profits off of me beyond a relatively low hours #. Of course, there is only so much of a haircut that the partners at most firms can take.
I feel you, pay reduced to 20% still expected to bulk at least 170 a month insurance defense, biggest dick kick is that I can get my full pay back as long as I meet my hours.. on a monthly basis so basically my pay is held hostage
Come to the plaintiffs’ side - never log hours again (unless you’re asking for sanctions + fees of course, but those are some sweet sweet hours to log)
If youre in insurance defense, get out. The hours will always be high and the case load large because the insurance companies set the rates, what can be billed for, and what vendors to use for serviced like subpoenas, experts or court reporters. Due to the low rates, you have a high billable requirement. Also, due to their process internally, bills are paid 2-3 months after receipt. And yes—due to a lot of insurance defense firms’ attitude that another lawyer would gladly take the job at your low salary, they are perceived as sweat shops. It is not a field for the faint of heart. Your salary (with the cut) was not included in this post so I cannot comment on whether it is lower than unemployment like others have. There is not enough info. I can tell you that instead of concentrating on the loss of pay, concentrate on what field you want to practice, what you want to be paid, how much you want to bill, and research if what you want exists. Sometimes the grass just looks greener on the other side. Network, take cles, and generally work on gaining the experience by billing your 200. Make a list of what a better firm would want from an applicant including trial or depo experience, motions practice (pre trial and post), discovery, appellate..... make that list and work on getting assignments that build that list and your resume. That can be your motivation.
Pro
It is not easy (you have to consistently work and Bill your ass off and there is all kinds of tedious BS to deal with) but it’s possible to make good/predictable money on the defense side if you work with the right team at the right firm. It helps to do the more sophisticated stuff like big products cases or Med mal for hospitals, so then you can usually get a mix of insured and self-insured clients. The longer you do it for, the more you’ll get out of the office and the better you are at capturing time, and 170 a month is pretty much a walk in the park most months. If you’re doing more routine stuff like premises and auto, you can get good trial experience earlier on or parlay it into a job doing bigger stuff. Or, you just take that experience and flip sides handling/settling tons of smaller cases and getting the occasional decent case. All the guys I know who did general liability insurance defense were well trained and when they flipped to the plaintiff side, they absolutely crushed it within a couple years - all of them making at least 250-300k a year (According to them). But you gotta hustle all day every day and dig through Shit to find the money.
nowadays it seems none of the younger associates want to really grind it out for the long term. I get it. It sucks. It’s hard. You feel like how can this possibly be what I get paid for all the effort. I have had my moments (mostly between years 4-7) where I’ve sunk into really deep dark places and questioned whether I took the wrong path in life and wasted my time. I do think there are easier ways to make the same or similar living and that we are in an over saturated profession, but the grass is always greener and as a lawyer you will always be able to find work someplace. I guess it’s my blue collar immigrant blood that keeps me going. My grandfather always used to say “If I don’t like my boss, I pack up my tools and go work someplace else.” He wasn’t educated (lied about his age and went off to fight in ww2 in high school), but the guy had a point. You have a skill. A trade. And it can be used to make money, and even if you are only half decent as a tradesman you can still earn a good living and even become rich if you invest your money wisely.
Also bear in mind these are bad and uncertain times. 08 was like this. I been there. I lost my job and was fresh out of school, didn’t have enough money to buy work clothes so I had to live with my parents and ask mom and dad for the second hundred bucks to buy a suit. I survived. You all will too.
2008 was the year that tested all of our mettle. I realize that things are tough. Remember that the unemployment will run out and the extra 600 a month is only temporary. Keep this in perspective.
Motivation is always a state of mind. I have had times of low motivation and what I learned is the God was just testing me and preparing me for the blessing that was to come. If you focus on your God and your goals, motivation is but fleeting clouds. Continue your path and don't get distracted. Remember this site is for us that are sending you love. You never alone.