I haven't posted here in a while. I guess that is because there isn't much to say that hasn't already been said. I feel like I'm treading water, and barely at that.
I graduated law school in May of 2011. I have yet to find full-time, permanent employment. You know, like the kind I thought I'd find with a law degree. The J.D. is so versatile, after all. You can do almost anything with a J.D. In fact, you will do almost anything with a J.D.
I thought that investing in my education would create more stability. Boy, did I ever have that wrong. There is nothing "stable" about what I've been doing. I'm always looking, always networking, always applying.
I accepted another contract position back in May. This one is scheduled to last six months. The work is enjoyable, and money good. I'm actually really busy with this one. So busy, in fact, that I haven't been doing any work for other lawyers. That's a first. Previous to this, I was always working for several people at once.
I make a good bit more than I had been. Still, it's only a six month gig. It could be extended, I suppose. I hear such things sometimes are. But, then what? I can hold on for another six months and make it a year of employment? Then do I cross my finders and hope for a year and a half?
This won't last forever. That's the reality. It will end.
I'll be out beating the streets again. As if I ever stopped, right? Always be closing... Always.
It's been like this the last two years. Contract gigs. Nothing but contract gigs. I've managed to stay busy and build up my resume with actual legal experience. I'm way beyond listing law school achievements or law professors as references. I now have more professional (read: practicing lawyer) references than I can use. I guess that's an upside.
I shouldn't complain. I know some folks who have it worse than me.
Best of luck to all of you. To all of us.
Your english skills need work too.
ReplyDeleteMr. Infinity/Knorps strikes again @ 3:20. He berates people for not working on the one hand, and when they do work he mocks their difficult circumstances on the other. Don't expect anything but schizophrenic inconsistency and incoherency from him.
ReplyDeleteIf you're not careful, he'll randomly accuse you next of wanting a free mortgage or a student loan bailout, even though you said nothing of the kind in your post, because Mr. Infinity. He's truly a miserable, spoiled brat who relishes the difficulties of others, while his mom and dad bail him out on his law school debt and send him on vacations around the world in his 30s. He's truly a self-made man.
I'm pretty much in the same boat as you, slightly older law student, graduated, no job, but actually found a good associate position within 6 months. That was 10 years ago. I've spent the better part of 7 years doing contract work. No benefits, no stability, no respect whatsoever. Now all the contract work is (has been) drying up - even those jobs are hard to come by these days. I'm now doing contract work for a company doing "JD preferred" work, which actually has better job prospects than actually working as an attorney. I'm hoping ... hoping that once this assignment ends that I might ... might have the marketability to finally say FU to all the scum sucking document review agencies out there. I will repeat what has often been said for those considering law school - don't go unless you get into a top 10 school or you have a full scholarship (and maintain that scholarship) or you have wealthy parents who will bankroll your tuition and likley bouts of unemployment. Make sure your parents keep you bedroom intact too - you will likely be moving back home. Good luck.
ReplyDeleteno seriously, you really do need to work on your English. You're a middle-aged bum who went to law school really late in life, and yet you're complaining? LOL.
ReplyDelete-Dana
I think most of us are in the same boat. Some law school classmates of mine graduated five years ago and just string together whatever scraps they can find. It's a fairly pathetic career existence for most of these doctorate level professionals.
ReplyDeleteI never hear what happens to many of my classmates. The ones who can't find attorney jobs eventually seem to accept their mistake and move on to other professions or non-law jobs that offer some steady salary.
Thanks for the post. I too was a graduate of 2011. I make $40k and have $200k in debt. At this point, the facts regarding law school are readily available on the Internet and I don't feel sorry for any graduates post 2013. They dug their own graves.
ReplyDeleteLaw schools are run by evil charlatans and greedy swindlers.
Funny...about that...the scam blogs really were in place by 2009, so I'm sure the class of 2009 thinks the same about you. The market collapsed in 2008 completely and very publicly.
DeleteGraduated in 2008, I've had even worse luck. I didn't even get my first contract gig until 2 years after graduating! Since then I've had gaps of 3-4 months between projects. It wouldn't be so bad without the debt, with a different tax code, and if the contract gigs didn't shit all over you all the time. But alas, the life of a contract attorney is all those things.
ReplyDelete