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Does ey gds lay off?
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I agree with this. See if you can milk a secondment too.
Coach
This is the dream, they’ve sent mostly everyone in the group but me
What’s your goal of next step? Moving firms or moving in-house doesn’t get easier as you get more senior. It will likely be easier to make a move as a fifth year than a seventh year. You’re not wrong that big law salary on parental leave is great, but biglaw life with a newborn is horrible.
My in house search took 18 months; maybe you’ll be more lucky, but it’s not always easy. And, DGC1 hit the nail on the head: skills don’t translate 1-to-1. Most companies won’t hire someone without law firm experience. But at some point, a year of law firm experience becomes less valuable than a year of in-house experience.
A lot of people I know that have done this have been very stressed during pregnancy and with their newborn after returning to work. Expectations are high when you get back and juggling that with a needy newborn or two is very difficult. Not to mention if you’re trying to interview that would be even more difficult to add on top. It seems like it’s not worth it especially if burnout leads you to take a less than desirable job.
Coach
I guess my question is: how difficult? I’ve heard stories of counsels being able to pay for 100% of their kids’ college education with one bonus, whereas I had to take out debt for college that took several years to pay off. With very little comparative effort, we can achieve much more than the average person. So I guess I’m wondering, will a few more years of biglaw make a material difference in my children’s lives?
I’m a fifth year and am planning to stay for my first maternity leave (hopefully in about a year and a half), and am hoping to not really come back from maternity leave. My firm gives six months so I’m hoping to interview towards the end. That said, we are in a LCOL area and my spouse is a high earner so I’m willing to take a big pay cut for a 9-5 and don’t plan to be super picky.
My firm is also fairly chill for big law and I have an excellent reputation (could probably make partner if I wanted to), so just hoping to use that to coast as needed during pregnancy / after I return.
That said, I don’t think I would leave much earlier than when I’m hoping to have a kid, so I’m probably looking at only staying an extra six months or so, and then I’d run into the issue of whether a new place would give me parental leave since I probably wouldn’t be there the full year. If we have fertility issues / I don’t get pregnant quickly, I’ll probably revisit the plan and see if it makes sense to stay.
Just my two cents as I’ve thought about this quite a bit!
100% stay and take advantage of the BigLaw maternity leave and ability to do part time when you return. I had 2 kids under 2 as a 3rd year and a 5th year. Would have had a third kid too but as you can imagine, BigLaw with 2 under 2 was absolutely batshit (especially since I actually stayed at full-time like an idiot haha) so I burnt out and am now trying to leave. My concern for you is that as a 7th year they're going to start an "up or out" squeeze on you but most firms would be cautious of making it look like they're penalizing you for starting a family so you might actually be totally safe! You put in 7 long years of building goodwill at this firm so it's time for you to cash in.
Mentor
Agree with this 💯. The way I've been able to make Big Law work (and I only have 1 kiddo, at least for now) was: (1) moving into a counsel role which brings with it a lot more flexibility and not having to deal with the politics of partnership; (2) WFH flexibility; and (3) having a team that's culturally conditioned to support parents. On that last point, I cannot overstate the importance of working with people who get it and will cover for you during the inevitable moments you can't be "on call." Personally, everyone I work with knows I generally will not be taking calls from 4:30 to 8 PM or working crazy hours on weekends, though I will do what it takes (wake up early, stay up late, etc.) to get the work done. There's obviously the exception that happens once in a blue moon, but I don't think I would have lasted past maternity leave without a team that respects that.
Following! I thought I’d be at my firm forever and make partner, but I’m failing to see the point lately. Thinking about moving to a smaller firm or headed in-house, both which would be a big pay cut, but I don’t have kids at the moment, so maybe that’s the best thing to do right now.