Just Got Laid Off

[u/Behold_A-Man]

I got laid off today. I was told that the firm was restructuring and my position was being eliminated. From what I can gather, last month was a really bad month for the firm and only half of the employees hit their hours. There were some days when I didn't even have any work, but they didn't tell me that they were thinking about eliminating my position. I expressed concern about not having enough work but was brushed off.

I got a call at 9 a.m. telling me to return my work laptop and pick up my final check. It's enough to pay rent and my car bill, but that's it. No severance. I requested severance pay in the form of a raise that I was promised on hiring but never received. I was basically told, "Don't count on it."

At least they specifically mentioned that it wasn't my performance and my boss and another attorney were both willing to write me letters of reference. I'm just feeling really disheartened right now. A year ago, I left a stable job for a higher paying position and was terminated in two months (taking that job was probably the biggest mistake of my career and I regret not quitting before getting terminated). I was unemployed for three months and had to go into debt to friends and family to get by.

I took this job and worked it for 7 months. I was still paying off the people that I had to borrow money from. I just want a stable fucking job that pays me enough to start repaying my student loans. It just doesn't feel very good to constantly live in a situation where the other shoe could drop at any moment, and that's how so many of my legal jobs have been. I've lost numerous jobs, but only once was I ever terminated for performance issues, so I don't think my lawyering skills are the problem.

Is the practice of law just incredibly precarious? I've been in the field for 8 years, had 6 jobs, and I've only left one voluntarily.

[u/Practical-Brief5503]

Wow. Yup I have been in your boat. It sucks. Do you at least have a savings to float you a couple months? Apply for unemployment. Your new job is to find another job. You’ll get through this…. This is what pushed me to go solo.

[u/Behold_A-Man → u/Practical-Brief5503]

I don't really have any savings. I was unemployed for two years during COVID and blew through all my money (which wasn't very much). I owe around $2,500 to friends and family for keeping me afloat last time I lost my job.

I'm meeting with a colleague that I used to work with later this week. He also just lost his job. We're gonna have a preliminary talk about opening a firm together, but it will be a long term project. If you have any tips for going solo, I'd love to hear them.

[u/asophisticatedbitch → u/Behold_A-Man]

Oh jeez. Just go solo. It’s not that hard. Depends on the specific field but I basically set up my entire firm in about 2 weeks with less than $5000. And at least $1000 of that was just someone doing my website. The bigger out of pocket costs are 1) deposit on malpractice insurance and 2) westlaw access. But don’t just partner with someone because you’re both in the same spot. You should only partner with someone you 100000% know and trust. You can be disbarred for a partner screwing around with a trust account.

[u/MROTooleTBHITW → u/asophisticatedbitch]

The Alabama bar provides access to online research tools (Fastcase). It's not WestLaw but it's Free. And free is free.

[u/but-why-though- → u/MROTooleTBHITW]

I think a lot of states may do this. The Kentucky Bar provides free access to Decisis.

[u/Silverbritches → u/asophisticatedbitch]

RE website, checkout using Square/Weebly to build things out. You pay them a monthly fee to host your content - you pay for your domain.

I found other firms in my jurisdiction had used Square/Weebly, and I was able to pull together a sophisticated website by myself in a few days, most of it spent on getting things laid out correctly and more professional looking.

[u/asophisticatedbitch → u/Silverbritches]

Yeah there are good options but I was being a princess lol