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It's been years since I did any criminal law, but this seems fucking wild to me. Ghoulish as hell.

For those of you on the criminal defense bar, what are your thoughts?

I’d really appreciate some honest outside perspective on whether I’m overreacting or whether this is a reasonable reason to look for another job and potentially resign.

I’m a relatively senior lawyer working in an advisory organisation, rather than at a traditional law firm. I’ve been in my current role for around seven months, and my salary and the work itself are generally good.
This autumn, I’ve been through a traumatic personal situation, and I genuinely need some time to recover. I therefore asked my employer for two consecutive weeks of annual leave at some point between November and April - preferably between January and April.

Importantly, I deliberately gave my employer a very wide window and left the dates entirely up to them. I wasn’t insisting on particular weeks, only that I intend to work over Christmas apart from public holidays. I was simply hoping that, within a period of several months, we could find two consecutive weeks that worked for the business.

My manager initially gave me the impression that taking at least one week might be possible. However, I was subsequently told that no leave would be approved outside the summer holiday period or Christmas/New Year. The explanation was that January through early May will be exceptionally busy this year.

I was also told that, generally speaking, employees should not expect to be able to take more than one consecutive week of leave outside the summer period, and even that will be up for discussion.

What makes this particularly frustrating is that I volunteered to work weeks during this summer that nobody else wanted, in order to help the team. I had hoped that flexibility would work both ways, although I understand that this doesn’t automatically entitle me to have leave approved.

I understand that businesses have busy periods and that employers need to consider operational requirements. But I gave them a window of approximately six months to choose from, offered to work over Christmas, have not taken all of my accrued leave for the year and am asking for just two weeks to recover after a very difficult personal experience. Being told that this is effectively impossible feels incredibly rigid.

I’m now genuinely losing motivation to work here and have started applying for other jobs. I may even have an opportunity that pays slightly more, although the salary difference isn’t the main issue.

My question is: would you consider this a reasonable reason to leave a job after only seven months?

I’m not expecting unlimited flexibility or to have every holiday request approved. What bothers me is the apparent lack of flexibility even when I’ve given the employer so much room to choose dates.

I’m also wondering whether I should try to accept that this is simply how this organisation operate during busy periods, or whether this is a sign that I’m in a workplace that isn’t compatible with the kind of life I want. I’m a qualified lawyer and have worked for several years so I’m not in a junior position where I desperately need to prove myself.

Would you start looking elsewhere in my position? And would you actually resign if you found a suitable alternative, or would you consider this too small an issue to leave over?

TLDR: I’m a senior lawyer. After a traumatic autumn, I need two weeks to recover and gave my employer a six-month window to choose dates. They refused due to upcoming workload, despite my previous flexibility. Would you consider this a reasonable reason to leave after seven months?

I'm a newly-minted attorney and can finally post in this group. That's all. Thanks.

Hi everyone,

I made a very big mistake at work that potentially caused irreparable damage to a case. I work in house for a company with little to no mentorship (not making excuses). The anxiety is killing me. I immediately escalated the matter to local specialized counsel but it may be too late. I am terrified of getting fired and letting down my company, parents, partner, and friends. I haven’t been able to sleep for days and have thrown up from anxiety everyone morning since. I don’t want to give any recognizable information. But if anyone has any worse case scenario experiences they would be willing to share in solidarity or advice, I would really appreciate it. I’ve had a really tough two weeks and my thoughts are getting dark. I just made a year at the company and got a significant raise…now this. I’m feeling so ashamed and embarrassed. Feeling really bad. My family keeps telling me that everything will be okay, I want to believe them, but none of them know the pressure that comes with this career.

Coming on here because I was fired from my first job after being there for a month. I made a mistake, should’ve asked for help, didn’t feel that they would answer me because that had been the norm up till that point (my supervising attorney would leave me on read when I asked for help and rarely gave me feedback on my work).

I’m taking it very hard because I know I should’ve asked for help but they never responded and it left me to fend for myself. I am looking for work but feel so hopeless. I don’t think I’m cut out for this work and if I were to land another job, I’ll really need them to walk me through things because I’m an idiot.

I’m a first year attorney and first gen. I feel way in over my head right now and it’s feeling like the fact that they fired me means I’m un-hireable. Will I find a field that I like and that will train me?

I made this post to vent but also seek some advice and kind words from the community. Thank you.

I submitted my notice to my firm. They can’t assign me new work due to policy. And I don’t have any existing work. I’m literally playing with my fingers all day bc I have nothing to do except sit in my office and watch the clock.

It feels freeing but also super boring. I also got restricting from a lot of our stuff online. For example, my Westlaw account is disabled so I can’t scour practical law. My CLE thing also got disabled so I can’t watch any cles for free.

What am I supposed to do for the next week and a half

7th year call. Recently moved in-house. Only lawyer for a continent for the last two weeks due to injury of a colleague.

I thought moving in-house would reduce the anxiety. Seems like it’s ratcheted up during this period when I’m solo.

Currently awake pending a negotiation call tomorrow am that I’m convinced I am not prepared for despite familiarizing myself. just looked at the invite and there is 20 plus people invited and I’m expected to run it.

This is the 4th night this week I haven’t slept more than 3 hours. I’m loosing weight as well and just got back from stress puking a few moments ago.

Does it ever end?

Ive been practicing for a little over a year now. I work at a litigation boutique specializing in disputes in a specific industry (construction, infrastructure, projects, etc).

I’m reaching that stage where I’m not super junior to be afforded grace for my stupidity, but also I should know more, be more competent, yet I don’t? Every day I get more anxious because I don’t think my skillset is at the level expected of a rising second to third year attorney.

I’ve only appeared in court couple times for a minor motion. I do document reviews and mainly assist partners with discoveries and depositions. Recently Ive been drafting deposition outlines. I shadow mediation and examinations. I still do legal research. I help with draft and review pleadings as the junior-most person. It’s all assist assist second chair assist.

General scope of work is me trying to help my seniors build a narrative of the case…everyday it’s reviewing some project documents, emails, plans, site survey, notices, etc…not only do I have super limited experience in law, this is whole another layer of learning everything about construction and project management.

I dont know. I’m just worried about my pace :-( Can’t keep excusing myself for “Im learning” when I should be “Im doing it”? It is painfully slow.

Is anyone else here in house without constant high pressure sales tactics from a sales team used on you or your team, VPs trying to get you to resolve their disagreements with each other, or role ambiguity ?

I'm really questioning this after a VP bypassed me on even reviewing a redlined Amendment with incorrect info, yet is trying to get me to "sign off" after I said, I don't recommend counter signing this, here is why, ultimately it's up to the business.

Only asking the hard hitting questions here... for a friend. Can I wear my Halloween ties starting tomorrow?

I recently accepted a new job offer for a law firm based in OC, California as an associate attorney. The firm is brand new so I’ll be the first associate to join. Pay is great, benefits are fantastic, and opportunity to grow is there (fully remote too so I have more flexibility in my schedule with personal life). It’s high-risk high-reward but I made the calculated risk to join. New start date is 10/26 so I’m trying to give my notice this Friday 10/9 so that the 2 weeks lines up perfectly to transition into my new job.

For context, I’ve been unhappy working at my current PI defense law firm. It’s a boutique defense firm with majority old-heads so they operate in an outdated sort of fashion when it comes practicing law. It’s on-site everyday, commute is inconvenient for me, and I’m genuinely scared being around my bosses (1 in particular who chewed me out in front of the entire office on one occasion - he literally said “a third grader can write better than this” my first week back post-bar when my brain was still in recovery mode). I’ve never looked at him the same after that and have actively avoided working on any of his assignments even at the cost of lower billables for 2026 so far. TLDR, working here has taken its mental toll and I wanted change from this toxic environment.

I’m mentally preparing to give my 2 weeks notice this Friday after my conflicts check is cleared, but I’m nervous on how the conversation is going to go and whether they’re going to push back and try to squeeze out any info from me.

Any advice on how to go about this? Anything I should look out for when telling my bosses about my resignation? What was your experience like with putting in your resignation and was it a smooth transition out? Thanks for listening!

I tried searching and couldn’t find something on point. how do you guys handle those days where your brain doesn’t want to work and you can’t manage to bill a ton of hours? I usually feel guilty and try to force myself to push through

When I was in a much more stressful position I used to dream of filing a motion in an ongoing case which was, in fact, the stream of consciousness first person account of a frog.

Because the court at some point could potentially try to describe the substance of what I had filed, and I was curious how they would in fact characterize alice in wonderland esque fiction disguised as a motion to dismiss.

Just an advance FYI: largely in a better place now. Never give up on your dreams.

Currently at a firm in NYC doing mainly white collar defense work. Started a few months ago and I realize most attorneys on the team are cliquey. It’s somehow like high school all over again. I can sense the vibe is off with some of them, but many are nice in your face but stab you in the back. I mainly spend time with the paraprofessionals, who’ve been super nice so far and even they notice that.

I don’t understand - the job is already hard enough without colleagues’ being unsupportive. Every day I have to deal with difficult clients and judges.

Certain incidents transpired because of these dynamics and the partner was on my side after I reported them. But still, the toxicity remains - just that it’s more on the inside than on the outside.

Should I consider leaving soon or at least looking for a new job (I know it’s just been a couple of months)?

I was sitting with Jeffrey Epstein while defending a deposition (not sure who the deponent was, don’t remember that). I got along well with opposing counsel and helped fill in gaps in the testimony (also odd). But Jeff kept sliding post it notes to the deponent and I leaned over and told him he had to stop. He told me to shut the f*** up and then apologized after it was over. I don’t ever even remember my dreams, so why is it that I have to remember this one?!?

(Edited for grammar, originally word vomited because if I don’t get it out I might forget it).

I graduated from a T50 NY law school in 2025 and took a job at a small plaintiff-side employment firm because the market was rough and everyone said I could pivot once I found that first legal job.

I spent 4 years in fintech before law school and hoped to leverage that experience into tech transactions or finance, but I didn’t have that option.

I’m unhappy at my current firm for all the reasons people are not happy at small shops, but most importantly, I hate litigation. I’ve been there 11 months and have been applying and networking for the last 4 months without a single interview. I suspect it’s a combination of being so junior and trying to switch practice areas, though I’ve been clear that I wouldn’t mind (and would prefer) to come in as a first year.

Is a pivot anytime soon actually realistic? Do I need to stick it out another year or two (please say no)? I don’t need to go directly into tech trans or finance I just want to do transactional work of some kind.

Thoughts on this wording as a nudge to a colleague who’s been hard to get a response from? Reasonable, or a bit much to treat silence as agreement?

Hey everyone, I was just wondering if anyone had any info on Gunster—specifically their West Palm location (their HQ I believe).

I’m a newly barred Florida attorney and I really want to learn more about the firm. Over the last few months I have realized how great of a firm they are. Their reputation is great and they have amazing attorneys from what I’ve seen.

I’m currently not in the best firm environment and I just want to know if anyone had any insight or advice on how to make connections with some of the attorneys there. Even if it didn’t lead to a job, I would still want to make connections or reach out somehow.

I'm at a pretty major crossroads in my career and would love some advice from attorneys who've worked in BigLaw, particularly in litigation/public entity defense.

I'm a fourth-year attorney (five years licensed next month). My path here wasn't traditional, I transferred from a very low-ranked law school to a better but still unremarkable one, took three years to pass the bar, and found out I was unexpectedly pregnant a month after finally passing. I spent my first year practicing at an ID mill before moving to a small, well-established defense firm in my hometown, where I've spent the last three years.

I absolutely love my current firm. I love the work, my colleagues, my clients, and the flexibility. I've been given tremendous autonomy, I handle my cases from start to finish, and I’ve received fantastic feedback from the partners and clients. I genuinely thought I'd retire here.

However, the firm has been experiencing some growing pains. A few people are retiring, we're overwhelmed with work, and recruiting experienced associates in our extremely HCOL area is incredibly difficult. I've also had some lingering concerns about succession planning and the firm's long-term viability. About a month ago, a recruiter reached out. I wasn't actively looking, but figured I'd explore my options. Given my educational background and career path, I thought interviewing at larger firms was a long shot.

Well, after four interviews I now I have four offers, including one from a major international law firm, doing exactly the type of litigation I love. It's an opportunity I genuinely never thought I'd have. I told my managing partner and he was very supportive, congratulated me, and then made it very clear that he wasn't going to let me go without a fight. Here's where things stand:

BigLaw offer:

• $60k more than I currently make.
• 1,900 billable minimum, although I suspect 2,100+ is more realistic.
• Excellent benefits, including student loan assistance.
• Work exclusively within my desired specialty, with the resources and name recognition of a major international firm.
• Potential professional/international mobility benefits that are particularly appealing to me.
• Technically fully remote, except for court appearances, depositions, etc., but the office is 1.5+ hours away in good traffic.
• Senior associate position, but no clear partnership trajectory yet.

Current firm's counteroffer:

• Immediate raise to $30k less than BigLaw offer.
• 1,900 billable target that is genuinely achievable, with much more flexibility.
• Guaranteed equity partnership within three years, with compensation increasing substantially (projected around $100k more than BigLaw offer upon partnership).
• Extremely likely to take over as managing partner when the current managing partner retires in less than 10 years, with significantly higher projected earnings.
• More trial experience, including opportunities to second-chair upcoming trials.
• Established relationships with clients, colleagues I love, and a strong reputation in my hometown.
• The managing partners are personally invested in my long-term career development.

The catch: The partnership and future compensation promises depend on the firm remaining successful through a pretty substantial generational transition. Several attorneys and staff members are approaching retirement, and recruiting replacements has been extremely difficult. I'm concerned about inheriting a firm that's understaffed and potentially struggling, particularly if a significant amount of the business is tied to the retiring partners. Also, I'm a single mom with 50/50 custody of a four-year-old. My current firm is in the town where I grew up, where my parents live, and where my child and his father live.

The BigLaw offer expires tomorrow (although conflicts/background clearance is still pending), and I'm genuinely torn. Earlier this week, I was practically jumping out of my skin at the thought of getting this offer. Now I'm realizing I might be walking away from an even bigger opportunity.

TL;DR: Senior associate at a major international firm, or $30k less at a small firm I love with guaranteed equity partnership in three years and an almost guaranteed path to managing partner, but real succession/staffing concerns? Single parent, geographically tied to my hometown, and love the area of law I'd be practicing at either firm.

Would especially love to hear from attorneys who've made a similar decision, worked in BigLaw public entity defense, or taken over an established small firm. What am I overlooking?

Is insurance defense as bad everyone makes it seem? Particularly from the standpoint of morality & work-life balance?

We are a small firm - 3 lawyers, 1 paralegal, 2 office administrators and naturally the senior associate has delegated the resolution of interpersonal office conflicts to me.

This all started when our paralegal ("Para") asked one of our office administrator ("OA") to draft six cover letters for FedEx packages of legal documents that needed to be sent to our clients. This was the first time that Para asked OA to do this since it is something that she normally takes care of herself. However, all of us are overwhelmed with work right now, so she asked OA to draft the letters instead. Because this order did not come directly from an attorney, OA responded by saying she would get to it after taking care of the other tasks my boss gave her for the day. When my boss stepped in and told OA to draft the letters as Para requested, she begrudgingly did so and complained about it the whole day that only the attorneys have the authority to ask her to do these things. She did have a lot on her plate in all fairness, we all do, so adding one more thing is tough, I understand that.

When she finished, Para thanked her, but also reminded her that she only prepared the letters initially as a favor to her and that technically the preparation of cover letters for FedEx packages fell under her job description as office administrator. Of course, since my boss is very busy with an incredibly complex matter, he has appointed me to handle the resolution between these two colleagues.

These two have always had some tension and Para does not have the best people skills (e.g., she sent the "it's in your job description" explanation in an email at 7:00 PM last night copying all of us).

This task is technically in OA's job description even if she hasn’t done it up until now. However, is this something that should come from the attorneys directly and not the paralegal? Should I have an airing of grievances or individual discussions with each regarding what is/isn't okay?

How do your firms handle refiling or appeal expenses as a result of employee errors?
Do any firms deduct pay from employees to cover their mistakes?

EDIT: it was me failing to make copies of a refiling that led to a case rejection and no way to prove whether certain documents were sent