I met a woman last week who has been an admitted attorney for over a year and is working retail because she can't even find contract work because she doesn't have any experience. Then I saw an advertisement for contract attorneys on one of the job search sites that only wanted candidates with 3 years of document review experience. When did you start needing significant experience to review documents? The temp agencies seem to have so many candidates for work that they can be choosy now. Recruiters were always picky, but temp agencies would sign anyone up. They were the last resort for law grads when I started.
It's not just lawyers though. I've noticed the same temp agency trend in all professions lately. I have friends who are nurses, accountants, and cooks, and we are all working for temporary agencies. This seems to be the most stable decent paying work out there...I just don't know what that means. I just feel more and more lucky to even be a temp everyday...that makes me so sad.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Friday, October 12, 2007
Rejected for Volunteer Work...Again!
Every year I hear rumblings from non-profiit organizations and bar associations about more attorneys being needed to perform pro bono work, yet I have attempted numerous times in the past to offer my services to various organizations only to be rejected because I don't have big firm resources to support me. Now there are plenty of organizations that genuinely want to help people and will take all the volunteer help they can get, and I have great respect for them, but I believe a few of these organizations exist for selfish reasons alone...
Last night I attended a pro bono fair designed to connect attorneys who want to volunteer with agencies that need volunteers, and while the bulk of the attorneys there were very nice, I had the misfortune of encountering one of the rudest people I have ever met in my life. I actually have vast experience in the practice area and a background that would make me an asset to the organization she represented, but she wouldn't know this because she didn't bother to ask me anything about my background before she told me to look elsewhere. She was not polite about it either. While her organization represents a community for which I care deeply, I do not have the financial resources necessary to volunteer with her organization, and my time is apparently of no value. I wanted to argue more with her, but while I want to help and have a lot to offer, I'm not going to beg to work for free.
I have come to the conclusion that most attorneys are like me and have a desire to help people, and the bulk of complaints about us not being willing to give back are garbage. I feel terrible for the people who need help and aren't receiving it because of the arrogance of individuals working at these supposedly altruistic organizations. They give attorneys a bad name.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
The Legal Job Market And Me.
Just when I was had finally accepted my life as a contract attorney and personal responsibility for my career woes, the Wall Street Journal published an article entitled "Hard Case: Job Market Wanes for U.S. Lawyers". Immediately this article became the main topic of discussion on all the legal bulletin boards, and I found myself once again doubting my position. When I compare myself to the population as a whole, I can't help but be grateful for my position, and I have to believe that law school provided it to me. When I graduated from undergrad, I wasn't exactly getting a ton of big money offers. I don't know what I would have done at that time other than continue my education. When I read the thoughts of my fellow attorneys, I feel like I am a victim of some vast conspiracy that tricked me into getting a law degree some I could be the butt of some cosmic joke. Perhaps it is because I did not come from money, and I never had extremely high earning expectations entering law school that I am having a hard time deciding whether I am a failure. So many of the people I grew up with would give their right arm to make half of what I make in a year and to have the kind of flexibility that I have in life as a contract attorney. Sure I would love to have more substantive work, to be valued by my peers, and to have fully paid benefits, who wouldn't?
I wonder why it's only now that the Wall Street Journal decides to publish this article when this has been a problem for so many years. Articles are fine, but what is the solution? Will law schools suddenly lower tuition because they have been exposed? Will the government provide more jobs and loan forgiveness to us? Will big firms divide those huge salaries up and take on more attorneys? Will the ABA stop accrediting under qualified schools? Will the bar associations that pay their non-attorney employees more than most entry level attorneys dream of making offer a hand to those in need? Will the state bars quit requiring attorneys to pay exorbitant fees for registration and CLEs each year? Will anything happen, or will we just keep complaining for another 20 years without change? What kind of legal community are we if we won't do anything to fix the problem. Isn't that our job? If we can't do it for ourselves, why should we be allowed to help others?
I wonder why it's only now that the Wall Street Journal decides to publish this article when this has been a problem for so many years. Articles are fine, but what is the solution? Will law schools suddenly lower tuition because they have been exposed? Will the government provide more jobs and loan forgiveness to us? Will big firms divide those huge salaries up and take on more attorneys? Will the ABA stop accrediting under qualified schools? Will the bar associations that pay their non-attorney employees more than most entry level attorneys dream of making offer a hand to those in need? Will the state bars quit requiring attorneys to pay exorbitant fees for registration and CLEs each year? Will anything happen, or will we just keep complaining for another 20 years without change? What kind of legal community are we if we won't do anything to fix the problem. Isn't that our job? If we can't do it for ourselves, why should we be allowed to help others?
I certainly don't have the answers. For now, I just have to focus on the future and quit worrying about what I think I deserve and what I don't have. If I spend my days dwelling and blaming my law school and fellow attorneys for my life, I know I will never get anywhere. I tried that and got nowhere. I definitely feel for the more recent graduates, but if they are anything like me knowing the truth probably wouldn't have stopped them from making the same decision.
Monday, September 10, 2007
I Pounded The Pavement In Search Of My First Law Job And Failed.
The market had worsened during my 1st year of law school, so much so that as the end of year approached most of my classmates and I had failed to secure even unpaid summer work. I had mailed my resume just about everywhere, applied to just about every posting, and exhausted every lead. I spoke to my Career Services office, read job search books, and scoured the Internet desperate for advice on how to find that summer position. In the end, I decided that pounding the pavement would be the most effective approach for me. The idea is that if you cold call on the telephone or just show up in person, there will be at least a few attorneys out there who will appreciate your courage and take a minute to talk to you and possibly even offer you a position. I figured that I was brave enough to give it a shot. In retrospect this was perhaps the most traumatic experience of my legal career.
I was prepared to do whatever it took to get someone to talk to me. At the time, being unsure of my practice preference and just wanting to find any legal job, I decided that small family law and civil rights litigation firms would be the kindest to a young female attorney. I searched my school’s alumni directory and made a list of the alumni who worked at those types firms. I first tried to make contact via telephone and email, but I got nowhere fast. I decided it was time to be more aggressive, so I suited up, printed out a stack of resumes, and headed out determined to secure a summer position. I remember it like it was yesterday. I didn’t have a lot of money as a first year law student, so I went to the local thrift store and bought a new used suit. It was an ill-fitting brown wool number, perhaps a bit too stodgy for a young female attorney. Being very young looking 22 year old at the time, I thought it made me look like a professional. I had a plan of attack, and I was off on my hunt.
My first problem was actually getting into the attorneys’ suites. This was a post-9/11 world and there was virtually no way to get passed security of a high rise office building without an appointment…no one ever mentioned this problem to me beforehand, but there went half of the list right there. I didn’t let this discourage me too much, after all I had at least 50 attorneys left on my list, and someone would talk to me somewhere. That didn’t happen. All day, I went from office to office, like one of those cheesy job search montages in the movies, with not one single attorney even willing to speak with me. By the time I reached one of the last names on my list, I thought I was going to get lucky, the receptionist was very friendly and said she would get and attorney to talk to me. Five minutes later the receptionist returned with a message from a female attorney (whose name I can very clearly remember) that I had absolutely no business barging in to someone’s office without an appointment, that if she wanted to talk to me she would stop by my house later unannounced, and that no one would ever hire me. I was in shock. I quickly left the office, found a nearby restroom, and cried. Perhaps I was not as brave a woman as I thought. I gave up cold calling forever right then and there.
I regret allowing that one experience to hold me back. As a 1L I had so much respect for anyone who had achieved attorney status that I took her words to heart. This was the first time I had set a goal for myself and failed to achieve it. I felt like a laughing stock at the time, thinking that this one woman had the power to blacklist me with every law firm in town. Now I realize she probably didn’t even know my name. Even if she did, I hope she would have the good sense to be embarrassed by her nasty behavior.
I don’t know why things didn’t work for me that day. Since I never made it by a single receptionist on the phone or in person, I can only speculate. I think I was too wet behind the ears, and the job market was just really bad. Sometimes that happens. It’s a bitter pill to swallow when you’re the one looking for work. Law firms just don’t have the resources to employ (paid or unpaid) every law student. Law students don’t have a whole lot to offer and require an incredible amount of oversight that most firms cannot afford. I shouldn’t have taken it so personally. For a long time I felt ashamed, as if I were the only one in the whole entire world who had ever failed at pounding the pavement. I’m sure that can’t really be true.
Pride can be a horrible thing when seeking a legal job. Rejection is hard to accept in any job search, but as attorneys we are already such accomplished individuals that it is difficult to put ourselves out there only to discover that we somehow don’t measure up to our peers. Nothing will ever make it any easier. You just have to believe in yourself and know you have what it takes. If you can’t, then why would anyone else?
I was prepared to do whatever it took to get someone to talk to me. At the time, being unsure of my practice preference and just wanting to find any legal job, I decided that small family law and civil rights litigation firms would be the kindest to a young female attorney. I searched my school’s alumni directory and made a list of the alumni who worked at those types firms. I first tried to make contact via telephone and email, but I got nowhere fast. I decided it was time to be more aggressive, so I suited up, printed out a stack of resumes, and headed out determined to secure a summer position. I remember it like it was yesterday. I didn’t have a lot of money as a first year law student, so I went to the local thrift store and bought a new used suit. It was an ill-fitting brown wool number, perhaps a bit too stodgy for a young female attorney. Being very young looking 22 year old at the time, I thought it made me look like a professional. I had a plan of attack, and I was off on my hunt.
My first problem was actually getting into the attorneys’ suites. This was a post-9/11 world and there was virtually no way to get passed security of a high rise office building without an appointment…no one ever mentioned this problem to me beforehand, but there went half of the list right there. I didn’t let this discourage me too much, after all I had at least 50 attorneys left on my list, and someone would talk to me somewhere. That didn’t happen. All day, I went from office to office, like one of those cheesy job search montages in the movies, with not one single attorney even willing to speak with me. By the time I reached one of the last names on my list, I thought I was going to get lucky, the receptionist was very friendly and said she would get and attorney to talk to me. Five minutes later the receptionist returned with a message from a female attorney (whose name I can very clearly remember) that I had absolutely no business barging in to someone’s office without an appointment, that if she wanted to talk to me she would stop by my house later unannounced, and that no one would ever hire me. I was in shock. I quickly left the office, found a nearby restroom, and cried. Perhaps I was not as brave a woman as I thought. I gave up cold calling forever right then and there.
I regret allowing that one experience to hold me back. As a 1L I had so much respect for anyone who had achieved attorney status that I took her words to heart. This was the first time I had set a goal for myself and failed to achieve it. I felt like a laughing stock at the time, thinking that this one woman had the power to blacklist me with every law firm in town. Now I realize she probably didn’t even know my name. Even if she did, I hope she would have the good sense to be embarrassed by her nasty behavior.
I don’t know why things didn’t work for me that day. Since I never made it by a single receptionist on the phone or in person, I can only speculate. I think I was too wet behind the ears, and the job market was just really bad. Sometimes that happens. It’s a bitter pill to swallow when you’re the one looking for work. Law firms just don’t have the resources to employ (paid or unpaid) every law student. Law students don’t have a whole lot to offer and require an incredible amount of oversight that most firms cannot afford. I shouldn’t have taken it so personally. For a long time I felt ashamed, as if I were the only one in the whole entire world who had ever failed at pounding the pavement. I’m sure that can’t really be true.
Pride can be a horrible thing when seeking a legal job. Rejection is hard to accept in any job search, but as attorneys we are already such accomplished individuals that it is difficult to put ourselves out there only to discover that we somehow don’t measure up to our peers. Nothing will ever make it any easier. You just have to believe in yourself and know you have what it takes. If you can’t, then why would anyone else?
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Unrealistic Expectations For Restarting A Legal Career.
Like any good woman, I was watching a repeat of Snapped this morning. It’s a eerily popular Oxygen TV show about everyday women who are accused or have been convicted of murdering their husbands. This particular episode told the story of a female attorney from Texas who had moved with her husband to Richmond, Virginia and raised a family. She never took the Virginia bar or practiced law after she relocated. After their marriage fell apart years later, her husband was awarded the marital home and custody of their 3 children largely because of her unemployment. She was ordered to pay child support. She returned to Texas where she was admitted and attempted to start her own law practice, but after being away for so many years, she found it difficult to do so. She quickly became $10k behind in child support. Eventually she snapped and killed her husband for whatever reason.
Rather than focusing on the heinousness of the crime, I found myself questioning why the court ever thought this housewife could make enough money to pay such as large amount of child support when she hadn’t held a job in so long. She had to start over from scratch…a monumental task for a woman in the legal profession. While this certainly would never justify homicide, it definitely made me think about opportunities available to someone like me restarting her legal career.
I suppose she could have looked for contract work in Texas or in Virginia to be near her children. For the last 2 years, I have been working as a contract attorney. It was difficult to for me to get work even with 3 out-of-state licenses (before my 4th admission), and I did have practice experience when I came here. While this job pays okay, it certainly isn’t the kind of salary that could afford thousands of dollars in monthly child support payments.
She could have taken the Virginia bar or returned to Texas and looked for a job. Of the many other attorneys of varying levels of experience have come and gone from my temp project these past 2 years not one of them has left for more money…most significantly less and largely because they had been out of practice, so I’m thinking they couldn’t afford massive child support payments. As for those who have gone solo (definitely something I see in my future), like our homicidal Texas mother, they have struggled to support themselves, let alone 3 children, for the first couple of years and relied on substantial savings and referral bases to make it.
Because of my law school graduation year I have found it difficult to find suitable permanent positions. The entry level jobs I want assume I want to be evaluated as someone with 4 years experience. The jobs opportunities I don't really want but feel I have sufficient experience to do offer me entry level salaries because I have been temping...as if temping has erased my past experience. I assume things would be worse for me had I just been unemployed for 2 years…maybe I’m wrong. So as I sat their watching Snapped, I wondered why the court considered this housewife’s out-of-state law license as an instant source of considerable income, when I have found that not to be the case. I guess she couldn’t figure it out either. I’m going need some time to reflect on this…
Don't Judge Me Because I Do Contract Work.
I found myself in Illinois for the first time in my life 2 years ago. At the time I really needed a fresh start after my marriage fell apart, and Chicago seemed like a good place to do it. I know that lawyers are supposed to be robots and not allow personal lives to interfere with their careers, but I’m only human. I make mistakes. So there I was living in a strange city licensed to practice law in 3 other states, with few friends, a gaping hole on my resume, a transient background that could not be explained without delving into personal relationships, and not much else.
Even with 3 bar licenses, I had to work really hard to get work through a temporary agency here. I think everyone just assumes that you can walk into an agency and be making money the next day, and in some markets that is true but not here. I registered with 13 different agencies (the ones that actually responded to my resume submission, many didn’t), and then I called and/or emailed them every single day for 3 months to get work. I was a real pest. Eventually just sort of starvation, I was offered a low paying 2-3 week assignment as a contract attorney. I took it anyway because I needed the money. Two years later, I am in the same position. I now make more money than most of the people I know who have permanent positions which sadly isn’t saying much nowadays. I feel very fortunate.
I am not a contract attorney because I’m lazy or incompetent but because it’s the best thing for me to be right now. Since I graduated 4 years ago, I have watched many on my friends become disillusioned with the law and leave the practice entirely. It saddens me to see brilliant young legal minds beaten down so early in their careers, saddled with insurmountable debt, with their dreams shattered. Sometimes they burn out, sometimes they get laid off, or sometimes they are outright fired. They usually work in jobs doing something they don’t like in areas they avoided in law school that won’t prepare them to do what they really want when they leave. So I wonder if I’m really in worse position because I have been working as a contract attorney?
I have a steady paycheck with insurance, 401k, and paid holidays and vacations. At 30, I make a comfortable living. I have a great apartment. I can pay my bills. My life is totally flexible. I can spend as much or as little time as I want pursuing outside interests, attend bar association activities, and take time off to go on job interviews. After being here for a year, I made the decision to take the Illinois bar and was able to do so because of the flexibility of temping.
Yes, I get frustrated at times by the boring and monotonous work. I know that I am capable of doing so much more, and I would love to have a real opportunity to do so. I have to remind myself of that frequently. Whenever I am asked for the name of my law firm or for my business address, I have a sudden feeling of shame and urge to explain the nature of my work or talk about my big plans for the future. I have attended pro bono fairs attempting to volunteer only to be asked about my firm’s resources and my practice areas. Moments like this make me feel that I am not a real lawyer and can't even give my services away. I have to stop myself and remember that I am a lawyer. I went to law school. I am admitted to 4 bars. I graduated from a highly regarded law school in the top third of my class with numerous honors and accolades. I am just as capable of providing legal services as the people making $100k+ at big firms or any other attorney for that matter. I have to remember that this job is not the end only the means.
I am making my way in life, paying down my student loans, and spending every minute of my spare time following developments in the law and making myself a better lawyer. I should not really be ashamed of this, but I feel like the scourge of the legal profession. I have seen others leave contract work to pursue much lower paying opportunities in practice areas they don’t really enjoy because they are willing to do anything to get “a year of experience" because of the stigma of contract work. I talk to my coworkers who all feel pressure to do the same. Maybe my attitude is different because I actually practiced law before becoming a temp, but I think that experience is only really experience if it is helping to prepare you for the job that you want. I don’t think it would be fair the firm, my clients, or myself to take a job that I don’t feel comfortable doing. I have to trust my instincts, and for now I will continue doing what I’m doing. After all I’m only 30.
Even with 3 bar licenses, I had to work really hard to get work through a temporary agency here. I think everyone just assumes that you can walk into an agency and be making money the next day, and in some markets that is true but not here. I registered with 13 different agencies (the ones that actually responded to my resume submission, many didn’t), and then I called and/or emailed them every single day for 3 months to get work. I was a real pest. Eventually just sort of starvation, I was offered a low paying 2-3 week assignment as a contract attorney. I took it anyway because I needed the money. Two years later, I am in the same position. I now make more money than most of the people I know who have permanent positions which sadly isn’t saying much nowadays. I feel very fortunate.
I am not a contract attorney because I’m lazy or incompetent but because it’s the best thing for me to be right now. Since I graduated 4 years ago, I have watched many on my friends become disillusioned with the law and leave the practice entirely. It saddens me to see brilliant young legal minds beaten down so early in their careers, saddled with insurmountable debt, with their dreams shattered. Sometimes they burn out, sometimes they get laid off, or sometimes they are outright fired. They usually work in jobs doing something they don’t like in areas they avoided in law school that won’t prepare them to do what they really want when they leave. So I wonder if I’m really in worse position because I have been working as a contract attorney?
I have a steady paycheck with insurance, 401k, and paid holidays and vacations. At 30, I make a comfortable living. I have a great apartment. I can pay my bills. My life is totally flexible. I can spend as much or as little time as I want pursuing outside interests, attend bar association activities, and take time off to go on job interviews. After being here for a year, I made the decision to take the Illinois bar and was able to do so because of the flexibility of temping.
Yes, I get frustrated at times by the boring and monotonous work. I know that I am capable of doing so much more, and I would love to have a real opportunity to do so. I have to remind myself of that frequently. Whenever I am asked for the name of my law firm or for my business address, I have a sudden feeling of shame and urge to explain the nature of my work or talk about my big plans for the future. I have attended pro bono fairs attempting to volunteer only to be asked about my firm’s resources and my practice areas. Moments like this make me feel that I am not a real lawyer and can't even give my services away. I have to stop myself and remember that I am a lawyer. I went to law school. I am admitted to 4 bars. I graduated from a highly regarded law school in the top third of my class with numerous honors and accolades. I am just as capable of providing legal services as the people making $100k+ at big firms or any other attorney for that matter. I have to remember that this job is not the end only the means.
I am making my way in life, paying down my student loans, and spending every minute of my spare time following developments in the law and making myself a better lawyer. I should not really be ashamed of this, but I feel like the scourge of the legal profession. I have seen others leave contract work to pursue much lower paying opportunities in practice areas they don’t really enjoy because they are willing to do anything to get “a year of experience" because of the stigma of contract work. I talk to my coworkers who all feel pressure to do the same. Maybe my attitude is different because I actually practiced law before becoming a temp, but I think that experience is only really experience if it is helping to prepare you for the job that you want. I don’t think it would be fair the firm, my clients, or myself to take a job that I don’t feel comfortable doing. I have to trust my instincts, and for now I will continue doing what I’m doing. After all I’m only 30.
Friday, September 7, 2007
Tackling My Debt After Law School!
There is an old adage that if you live like a lawyer while you're in law school, then you'll live like a law student when you are an attorney. I find this to be true. At what other time in life would someone with no income and no assets feel it necessary to rack up $100k+ in debt. Unless you have a trust fund, you borrow excessively to attend law school imagining that it will instantly disappear after you pass the bar exam and become a licensed attorney. I even have a friend who borrowed an additional $10k to go to Europe while she was still a student...while I'm sure she had tons of fun, right now I am thankful that I'm not her. I made my fair share of mistakes though.
We are all sold on promises of fortune in law school. Not all of us get it, and even some of those who do would rather not have the responsibilities that go with it. Four years after law school, I still have an enormous amount of debt. I am realizing that it doesn't do any good to sit around and complain about the debt and blame our schools or our poor parents for it. I am coming to terms with the fact that I was never guaranteed anything by my school except for an education, and I feel that I received a very good one. I am fortunate that I make pretty good money (though nowhere near what most of us expected), but I still have an enormous amount of debt. Since graduation, I have done a number of things to make a dent in this.
I do know some people who were able to get financial assistance from their parents after law school. I was not fortunate enough to be one of these people. I was the first person in my family who dared to go to graduate school, and as such, I am on my own figuring out how to pay for it.
The first thing I did was consolidate my federal loans. While this may seem like a no brainer, I did miss the 6 month window following graduation when I could have reduced my interest rate an addition .25%. It didn't seem like a big deal at the time, but when I look at how much that will cost me long term, I cringe. Handling my federal student loans since graduation has definitely been the easy part. I was fortunate to be able to consolidate with Direct Loans. When I was unemployed I was able to defer my student loan payments, and when I was underemployed I was able to get a forbearance, so I could focus my attention on higher interest rate debts. The one thing I do know is that you cannot escape these loans. Just ask a friend of mine who did not consolidate her loans, then defaulted on one of her loan payments, and now she has to pay $1350 per month for just that one loan payment or have her wages garnished! The federal government will get theirs...
To make extra money to pay debt, I went back to doing all the fun things I did to make extra money in college. These are things that do not require a substantial time requirement and are financially lucrative. No I haven't gone so far as to sell my eggs and plasma like some college kids, but I do a lot of little side projects.
I participate in market research studies when I can. Since I live in a major US city these are more readily available to me, so I take full advantage. These companies need opinions from people of all ages and backgrounds and usually pay $75-$150 per hour for you to give your opinions on products and services. Easy money. I am also registered with a company as an independent contractor to review deposition transcripts and prepare summaries on the Internet. I am paid per page and can accept or reject projects as I chose. As with most things in life if you do a good job, you will be offered more work. I have even participated in mystery shopping around town, earning extra cash taking pictures of sinks and trying on clothes...It pays, so why not? I know a lot of lawyers who think I am crazy to participate in these menial projects, but when do you become too good to make money?...that's crazy!
Then there are the more drastic cuts to my life. To decide what I needed to eliminate from my life, I prepared a detailed budget. I wrote down the interest rates of my private loans and credit card debt and set a payoff goal of 3-4 years for these debts (I plan to keep my lower interest rate federal loans for life!). Then I used debt payoff calculators readily available on the Internet to see exactly what I needed to pay to get each debt paid off in that amount of time. That became my minimum payment for that debt in my new budget and a fixed expense. Since getting out of debt is my number one goal in life, everything else on my budget had to be reworked so I could live within my means. I had to give up the attitude that someday I will be make more money and then I will be able to pay off this debt. Yes someday that may happen, but it's not happening today, so I need to take charge of things. I eliminated my house phone and went exclusively no frills mobile. I reduced my food budget substantially, so I can't eat out a lot and have to clip coupons...but it's been good for my waistline (I'm finally ditching that extra weight I packed on in school, but that's for another day). So far it has been working, and I am on track to meet my goal.
I sold a few things too. I decided that I could make it with public transportation and my own two feet, so for the first time in 14 years I do not own a vehicle. It was hard to let the car go, but with soaring gas prices parking expenses, maintenance, and car and insurance payments, I think I made the right decision...it's better for the environment anyway.
I realized that I didn't need all those old CDs I had converted into MP3s, so I sold them. I didn't need a nice DVD collection when I had already seen the movies, so I sold it. It's amazing what you can live without when you decide to get out of debt. In law school I used a laptop, but I sold it when it no longer seemed like a necessity. I'm getting back to basics. It doesn't matter that I am an attorney. I am thinking like a person who has no money because as long as I have more in the debt than the asset column that's who I am. It's time to stop putting on an act and living beyond my means on hope because all lawyers are supposed to make insane amounts of money. Once I am debt free, even a small paycheck will seem huge because it will all be mine. Then I can be whatever kind of lawyer I want.
We are all sold on promises of fortune in law school. Not all of us get it, and even some of those who do would rather not have the responsibilities that go with it. Four years after law school, I still have an enormous amount of debt. I am realizing that it doesn't do any good to sit around and complain about the debt and blame our schools or our poor parents for it. I am coming to terms with the fact that I was never guaranteed anything by my school except for an education, and I feel that I received a very good one. I am fortunate that I make pretty good money (though nowhere near what most of us expected), but I still have an enormous amount of debt. Since graduation, I have done a number of things to make a dent in this.
I do know some people who were able to get financial assistance from their parents after law school. I was not fortunate enough to be one of these people. I was the first person in my family who dared to go to graduate school, and as such, I am on my own figuring out how to pay for it.
The first thing I did was consolidate my federal loans. While this may seem like a no brainer, I did miss the 6 month window following graduation when I could have reduced my interest rate an addition .25%. It didn't seem like a big deal at the time, but when I look at how much that will cost me long term, I cringe. Handling my federal student loans since graduation has definitely been the easy part. I was fortunate to be able to consolidate with Direct Loans. When I was unemployed I was able to defer my student loan payments, and when I was underemployed I was able to get a forbearance, so I could focus my attention on higher interest rate debts. The one thing I do know is that you cannot escape these loans. Just ask a friend of mine who did not consolidate her loans, then defaulted on one of her loan payments, and now she has to pay $1350 per month for just that one loan payment or have her wages garnished! The federal government will get theirs...
To make extra money to pay debt, I went back to doing all the fun things I did to make extra money in college. These are things that do not require a substantial time requirement and are financially lucrative. No I haven't gone so far as to sell my eggs and plasma like some college kids, but I do a lot of little side projects.
I participate in market research studies when I can. Since I live in a major US city these are more readily available to me, so I take full advantage. These companies need opinions from people of all ages and backgrounds and usually pay $75-$150 per hour for you to give your opinions on products and services. Easy money. I am also registered with a company as an independent contractor to review deposition transcripts and prepare summaries on the Internet. I am paid per page and can accept or reject projects as I chose. As with most things in life if you do a good job, you will be offered more work. I have even participated in mystery shopping around town, earning extra cash taking pictures of sinks and trying on clothes...It pays, so why not? I know a lot of lawyers who think I am crazy to participate in these menial projects, but when do you become too good to make money?...that's crazy!
Then there are the more drastic cuts to my life. To decide what I needed to eliminate from my life, I prepared a detailed budget. I wrote down the interest rates of my private loans and credit card debt and set a payoff goal of 3-4 years for these debts (I plan to keep my lower interest rate federal loans for life!). Then I used debt payoff calculators readily available on the Internet to see exactly what I needed to pay to get each debt paid off in that amount of time. That became my minimum payment for that debt in my new budget and a fixed expense. Since getting out of debt is my number one goal in life, everything else on my budget had to be reworked so I could live within my means. I had to give up the attitude that someday I will be make more money and then I will be able to pay off this debt. Yes someday that may happen, but it's not happening today, so I need to take charge of things. I eliminated my house phone and went exclusively no frills mobile. I reduced my food budget substantially, so I can't eat out a lot and have to clip coupons...but it's been good for my waistline (I'm finally ditching that extra weight I packed on in school, but that's for another day). So far it has been working, and I am on track to meet my goal.
I sold a few things too. I decided that I could make it with public transportation and my own two feet, so for the first time in 14 years I do not own a vehicle. It was hard to let the car go, but with soaring gas prices parking expenses, maintenance, and car and insurance payments, I think I made the right decision...it's better for the environment anyway.
I realized that I didn't need all those old CDs I had converted into MP3s, so I sold them. I didn't need a nice DVD collection when I had already seen the movies, so I sold it. It's amazing what you can live without when you decide to get out of debt. In law school I used a laptop, but I sold it when it no longer seemed like a necessity. I'm getting back to basics. It doesn't matter that I am an attorney. I am thinking like a person who has no money because as long as I have more in the debt than the asset column that's who I am. It's time to stop putting on an act and living beyond my means on hope because all lawyers are supposed to make insane amounts of money. Once I am debt free, even a small paycheck will seem huge because it will all be mine. Then I can be whatever kind of lawyer I want.
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
The Right To Have A Voice?
The legal profession is not always easy for idealistic nomads like me. Since there is no reciprocity early in one’s legal career, I have taken and passed 4 bar examinations since law school graduation in 2003. My moving can only be explained by failed relationships and the quest for a grand opportunity to contribute something meaningful to the world (WARNING: NEVER ADMIT THIS TO A POTENTIAL EMPLOYER!). I have become a drifter of sorts, moving from state to state searching for answers.
Recently I have been trying to reconnect with that opinionated younger version of myself who would argue with anyone, who would never take no for an answer, who wanted to change the world, and who said she would never change. I have been looking for that girl who believed as she wrote in her law school admission essay that she would be voice of her generation, fighting for female equality, battling social injustice, and making the world at least a little better for everyone.
At some point in time, I must have bought into the idea that I had to wait to be called on before I could speak, that I had to wait until some big law firm accepted me as an associate and paid me hundreds of thousands of dollars a year before I could be respected as an attorney, that my one voice alone was not worthy of anyone’s ear. It is ridiculous that I, like so many young lawyers who went to law school to gain knowledge and add strength to my crusade, allowed myself to be silenced when there are so many things that need to be said. When did I forget that it was my job to be the voice of regular everyday people. For a minute, I foolishly bought into the propaganda spread by my profession and allowed myself to feel helpless, drifting from place to place. I had forgotten that it is a lawyer’s brain, words, and time that are her value and not a fancy office or the name on the letterhead. I have felt sorry for myself, when I am so not a victim.
I am a 30 year old attorney living in Chicago working as a temp at a law firm. Of course this is not where I began my legal career. After graduating from law school, I joined a mid-size litigation firm on the east coast. This was the job that my then boyfriend (who is now my ex-husband) wanted, but he mistakenly mailed both of our resumes to the firm. We both interviewed for the job, and despite my best efforts, I was offered the position. Even though I had no interest in the practice area, I thought I had to take it out of fear that I would never get another opportunity. I quickly found myself working in a position that was so far removed from anything I was ever willing to do in my entire life that I had to walk away after only 6 months. Since then, I have supported myself quite well through contract jobs. It is empowering to know when you don’t want to do something and to be willing to walk away. However, this is not something appreciated by others in my profession who think that one must be certifiably insane to give up an opportunity to work with a firm without having the fabled year of experience (regardless of whether or not you want experience in whatever it is that firm is practicing!) or without having another permanent position safely waiting for you. I never played with safety nets, so I took a chance. Hindsight being what it is, I still don’t regret leaving that job (or my ex-husband for that matter), but I do regret allowing myself to get bullied into questioning my own judgment. If I had allowed others to make my life decisions for me prior to law school, I would probably never have made it through undergrad and would be living in the south married to a redneck with 5 kids in a trailer parked in my parents’ backyard (there is absolutely nothing wrong with this, it’s just a far cry from where I am today!)…but I digress. I made the decisions that I made for whatever reasons I made them and those decisions led me to different places, different relationships, and of course different bar exams. These were not easy choices. That’s all I know or am willing to share, and I shouldn’t have to give more.
I am a very capable woman from humble beginnings who has managed to build an above average life wherever I have ventured with extremely limited financial resources and with limited or non-existent social networks. I always pull myself together and keep moving forward. I know I don't fit the mold of a traditional lawyer, but I know there is a place for me in this world.
Recently I have been trying to reconnect with that opinionated younger version of myself who would argue with anyone, who would never take no for an answer, who wanted to change the world, and who said she would never change. I have been looking for that girl who believed as she wrote in her law school admission essay that she would be voice of her generation, fighting for female equality, battling social injustice, and making the world at least a little better for everyone.
At some point in time, I must have bought into the idea that I had to wait to be called on before I could speak, that I had to wait until some big law firm accepted me as an associate and paid me hundreds of thousands of dollars a year before I could be respected as an attorney, that my one voice alone was not worthy of anyone’s ear. It is ridiculous that I, like so many young lawyers who went to law school to gain knowledge and add strength to my crusade, allowed myself to be silenced when there are so many things that need to be said. When did I forget that it was my job to be the voice of regular everyday people. For a minute, I foolishly bought into the propaganda spread by my profession and allowed myself to feel helpless, drifting from place to place. I had forgotten that it is a lawyer’s brain, words, and time that are her value and not a fancy office or the name on the letterhead. I have felt sorry for myself, when I am so not a victim.
I am a 30 year old attorney living in Chicago working as a temp at a law firm. Of course this is not where I began my legal career. After graduating from law school, I joined a mid-size litigation firm on the east coast. This was the job that my then boyfriend (who is now my ex-husband) wanted, but he mistakenly mailed both of our resumes to the firm. We both interviewed for the job, and despite my best efforts, I was offered the position. Even though I had no interest in the practice area, I thought I had to take it out of fear that I would never get another opportunity. I quickly found myself working in a position that was so far removed from anything I was ever willing to do in my entire life that I had to walk away after only 6 months. Since then, I have supported myself quite well through contract jobs. It is empowering to know when you don’t want to do something and to be willing to walk away. However, this is not something appreciated by others in my profession who think that one must be certifiably insane to give up an opportunity to work with a firm without having the fabled year of experience (regardless of whether or not you want experience in whatever it is that firm is practicing!) or without having another permanent position safely waiting for you. I never played with safety nets, so I took a chance. Hindsight being what it is, I still don’t regret leaving that job (or my ex-husband for that matter), but I do regret allowing myself to get bullied into questioning my own judgment. If I had allowed others to make my life decisions for me prior to law school, I would probably never have made it through undergrad and would be living in the south married to a redneck with 5 kids in a trailer parked in my parents’ backyard (there is absolutely nothing wrong with this, it’s just a far cry from where I am today!)…but I digress. I made the decisions that I made for whatever reasons I made them and those decisions led me to different places, different relationships, and of course different bar exams. These were not easy choices. That’s all I know or am willing to share, and I shouldn’t have to give more.
I am a very capable woman from humble beginnings who has managed to build an above average life wherever I have ventured with extremely limited financial resources and with limited or non-existent social networks. I always pull myself together and keep moving forward. I know I don't fit the mold of a traditional lawyer, but I know there is a place for me in this world.
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