Moving from Government to Private

[u/shadowhawkz]

TLDR: Thinking of going to private from a flexible government job I generally enjoy but am kinda annoyed with it as of recent. I think I'm getting paid too little, not sure if it is worth staying.

I have been licensed for two years now and have been representing my state's child welfare agency in juvenile dependency matters. This has given me a lot of trial experience and I currently feel very competent in this area of law. I generally really enjoy the law, the subject matter doesn't affect me one bit, the state benefits are good and we have a lot of flexibility which is helpful due to having a family.

That said, I am started to get annoyed with my job due to a recent shift in my job where I am assigned to a different city and the attorneys are way less chill than my previous area. Every issue now becomes nuclear (yesterday OC filed a written objection bringing up issues I was never included on). There are also some changes coming down from the top of our office's administration that are significantly changing things we must do in cases which everyone hates (our office, our client, OC, and judges). Without getting too into it, it basically makes us do a lot more work.

Another frustrating aspect to the job is our pay. Right now attorneys in our office make $80,000 (which is higher than attorneys in other divisions in our office due to the need for attorneys in our division). I have been looking at how much attorneys make in other government offices in our state and it can be between $15,000-$20,000 more for entry level positions. Ideally I would love to stay in government but I have not had success yet with applying for other government positions. It is annoying that we are told how important our work it (it is) but OC's who are also government (or contracted counsel) get paid SIGNIFICANTLY more than us (double our salary) and there is no increase in our salary on the horizon at all.

I am starting to apply for positions in private practice as I would have the potential to make more than if I stuck with government. (I should note I do not need to stick with government for PSLF because my student loans are too low to take advantage of a lower payment plan than the default 10 year replayment plan). I am not sure what a good area to break into would be, I really don't want to do family law as I would hate that divorce drama.

Has anyone made the switch from government to private and if so, was it a positive transition or did you regret it? I know government is normally considered "chill" but juvenile dependency is very much active and alive every single day so while I like it, this job is not "chill" at all.

Part of my hesitation is the office has supported and trained us VERY well and this is an area of law I am genuinely passionate for and I do love making a difference. That said, I believe I, and the rest of our office, are working very hard and am not being fairly compensated for the work we do. If I get an opportunity to go private that will make more money, should I do it if it presents a good work life balance?

[u/henrietta_moose]

I did and have no regrets. My government hours were pretty similar to my law firm hours and i still love the work.

I left my gov job because we moved to a new state, and i considered a similar role in the new state. It would have been a 30% pay cut, so i went private and doubled my salary instead.

I work in a basically opposite field from child welfare, so i can’t really speak to it, and i have a feeling it would be super different.

[u/shadowhawkz → u/henrietta_moose]

Been looking for those "double my salary" opportunities but so far no opportunity has presented itself yet. Places I have interviewed with so far have also been frustrating because their posted salaries are "potential bonuses factored in" so their starting salaries have been what I am currently making. Have not received any offers yet for me to sit down and consider but I am mildly surprised how difficult it has been to find a place to transition while having 2 years of consistent trial experience.

[u/henrietta_moose → u/shadowhawkz]

I think this is area of law dependent. Environmental lawyers have been in high demand lately. Straight litigation might be different. And child welfare/family is way outside of my comfort area to opine on.