Another Unemployed Attorney Confessional: Another Blog

{ June 16, 2010 @ 11:49 pm } · { Economy, Esquire, Imagery vs. Reality, Law School, Unemployment }
{ Tags: 2009, attorney, bleak, career path, economy, job losses, job searches, laid off, law graduate, law school, legal education, legal industry, no work, unemployed lawyer, what's next }

Although the author’s blog is not dedicated to the legal industry, she is an unemployed attorney who appears to chronicle her current life situation. Anyway, I saw the blog’s most recent post:

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

What I want to be when I grow up.

Remember when you were little and you used to tell people what you wanted to be when you grew up?  When I was really young I would tell people that I wanted to be a teacher (like most super young kids do).  When I reached an age where I realized you could do things other than be a teacher…but since I knew nothing else, I was at a loss of what to really do.

Many things intrigued me about being a lawyer.  One of the main things is that lawyers do just that – they practice law.  It is certain, it is ascertainable, it is controlled.  Naturally, my type-A self would be attracted to the profession.  So off I went.  I loved the law, I loved the environment and I loved that I knew what I was going to be when I grew up.

I was laid off nearly one year ago.  On June 26, 2009, both of my bosses walked into my office (which is never a good sign) and told me they could no longer afford to keep me.  I knew prior to this news that something had to happen, I just hoped I would not be the first to go.  That hope was incredibly unrealistic considering I was the most junior associate.  For the first time in my life I was unwillingly out of work.  I was 32 weeks pregnant.

At first I thought I would get a job right after I had Nikolai.  Then I thought by Christmas for sure.  By January I started to panic.  By February I started to give up.  Now I realize that there are thousands of unemployed attorneys in the twin cities and I am just another drop in the bucket.  Employers can chose whomever they would like – and for whatever reason I am not what they like.

With the end of my unemployment compensation looming and the prospects of my legal employment dimming, I am once again facing the question: what do I want to be when I grow up… I really have no idea what I am really looking for when I search for jobs.  I don’t have a specific career path in mind.  I wish things were different and I will never shake the feeling that I have simply given up on my dream, but life doesn’t always take you down the road you planned.

So, wherever this new path takes me, I hope I end up being what I want to be when I grow up.

Posted by Anne at 7:28 AM

At least she had one child at least to start a family. I’m not sure about why she is surprised about the amoung of unemployed attorneys in her area, must be a newer law graduate. Well, JD Underdog, looks like you’re not the only attorney deciding to leave the legal field altogether. What’s interesting is that her parents had some form of higher education, oft-times we hear about first generational or first sibling to make it to college or graduate school. You think you have arrived, yes you have at the nearest unemployment line on the other side of the tracks.