Monday, June 05, 2006

Monday, June 5, 2006

I have decided to quit my comfortable, well-paid (but non-law related) office job and open a law office as a full-time solo practitioner. I made the decision a few weeks ago, but I have been holding off making any announcement until I had a chance to notify my boss so he would hear the news directly from me and not third-hand or through the magic of Google.

Like a lot of solos, working for myself wasn't exactly my first choice, but sort of my only choice. When I was wrapping up law school and thinking about the future, I always imagined I would work for someone else - in a perfect world, it would be a corporate job with my existing employer. But after spending the last year and a half networking and applying for jobs (both inside my company and out) with no results, the time to fish or cut bait is finally here, and I choose to fish.

This was a difficult decision for me to make. I have worked for my current employer for over 13 years, and my job is not entirely unsatisfying. I could work here happily until retirement and probably have a nice career to show for it, but I would always regret not giving law a shot. I can't stand the thought of all the time and effort - and student loan payments - standing for nothing.

My plan represents a huge undertaking for my whole family, including selling our house and moving, but despite all the risks it feels 100% like the right thing to do. I've never been much of a risk-taker before, and I come by that naturally: my dad worked 35 years for the government, and having grown up on welfare he instilled in me the importance of always knowing where your next paycheck is coming from. (We lost my dad to cancer last year, and when I asked my stepmom what he would think of my plan she said, "Your dad would be proud of you no matter what, but he would say you're out of your mind," which proves how well she knew my old man.) Still, after my initial acceptance that this was the only way to accomplish my goals, I have been getting more and more excited about the possibilities that lie before me.

I will be writing regularly about my progress. Hopefully my struggles will be of interest to some future generation of lawyers interested in following in my footsteps. If I am successful, feel free to steal my good ideas; if I fail, hey, this becomes a more interesting story and maybe they will find someone good looking to play me in the movie version.

1 Comments:

At 10:40 PM, Blogger Lee Rudnicki said...

Brandon,

I am sure that you will succeed. It won't be easy, but you will.



Lee Rudnicki

 

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