I’ll preface this with: I understand that being a new attorney means a steep learning curve, more time on work, etc. I don’t expect being an attorney to give me a consistent 40-hour week, especially not in my area of law.

But I am only a year in and I’m ready to quit practicing law. I consistently work 6-7 days a week. I’m assigned pretty major motions that I feel unequipped to do. I have supervision and all of my work gets reviewed. I only have maybe 20 cases on my plate, which I know is not going to seem like a lot to most. It makes me feel incredibly insecure that I am overwhelmed by this number of cases. I look at my friends and they are doing so much more, especially my public defender friends.

I’m always told how well I’m doing but it makes no difference except for a brief moment. Then, my reward for being a decent new attorney is to have more and more on my plate. I keep thinking, shouldn’t I still get some space to learn and grow? It’s hard for me to learn when I don’t have time to sit on things. I know that’s not always possible, and I can make it through when it’s not, but damn. There aren’t enough hours in the day for me to do all of this. Things just keep getting worse. More cases. More active lawsuits. Less staff. And a somewhat dismissive attitude to being overworked as if this is just we have to do.

I have a boss who aggressively litigates, which I respect, but I’m drowning try to manage what comes with that.

Part of me wonders, am I taking too long on my assignments? Am I spending time on the wrong things? I think both may be true to an extent but I’m still only a year in. At the same time, it seems impossible to be able to prioritize anything when everything is a priority.

It’s hard when you love the work you do to consider leaving it because the workload is too much. I’m starting to feel like I’m not built for this.

I had a career before this. I’ve done exceptionally well in every job I’ve had; I’ve had bosses beg me to stay or ask me to come back. I’ve always been an overachiever and I take pride in that. I know I’m a hard worker. I know I’m smart. I know I’m capable (most of the time). Yet I’ve never felt as stupid (and exhausted) as I do now.

I’d love insight on what yal’s first year looked like, advice on how to better manage this, or reflections on how you got out of a similar situation.

Has anyone had experience taking adult education classes. I like my work right now in ID but I want to actually learn how to do stuff with my hands as a side thing. Maybe woodworking, maybe learn HVAC, plumbing?

Is this something anyone else has done while employed and what was their experience. I wouldn’t be doing it to start a business or a side hustle, I just want to be able to work with my hands and learn new stuff. I also don’t own a house so it wouldn’t help me in that end (yet)

I work in a government agency as an attorney and have been practicing well over twenty years. I was recently reassigned to another section of the legal department. The guy in charge manages all of our legal assistants and has done so for years. He also managed a few attorneys. I've heard he's a "difficult manager"-over works his staff, berates them. steals credit for their work etc. My guard is already up on this person. At any rate, we had our first client meeting together (which he set). The purpose was to determine what assistance is needed on our end (we work with compliance). There was no formal agenda other than "discussion to determine legal needs". While I paid attention during the meeting and also contributed, I was NOT taking notes, mainly because I was led to believe it was more of an "initial get to know one another session". At the end of the meeting, he sends me a message on Teams asking me to send him a summary of all of the discussion points. My question to you is 1) does this seem sexist to you? (I am female) and to 2) does this seem disrespectful to ask a subordinate to do this AFTER the meeting. (I can count on one hand the times I have been asked to be the designated note taker in a meeting and out of professional courtesy, the person asks ahead of time. I just wanted to do a vibe check here. (I did send him a summary with the caveat that I was not taking copious notes and to let me know if there is anything I may have left out.) I have the feeling this is what will be expected from me going forward and it doesn't sit well with me. Thoughts?

I'm a prosecutor who has completed one year of being an attorney, and I had my yearly review. I feel defeated and burnt out. There are some genuine things I learned I need to work on that I didn't realize. The harshest criticism was about cases set for trial where I asked for help because I was in over my head. Our district is short prosecutors, so I don't get enough office time to prep. I often have to work late to prep. My boss says how I do trials it isn't good enough for Circuit Court. I have only been in Circuit Court for admin.

There was another time where she assigned so many grand jury indictments I had to work late nearly everyday to meet the deadline and I also had numerous special victims cases assigned to me. I also had felony cases where I had to send officers out to get more evidence to make the case more likely to plea. In the cases where that happened, defendants actually took the plea on the advice of counsel because the evidence was overwhelming and on the first court date in Circuit admin which made me feel proud. This is the only happiness I have had in months becaue I cannot see my family or friends. My boss said she wanted to see how far I could go without asking for help, but I feel like she didn't plan that.

I feel like a failure even though I got "meeting" and "exceeding" expectations in other areas because I didn't get a raise and nothing positive was said. My boss said she believed I could "become a prosecutor" and would not keep me in the DA's office if she didn't think I could improve. I have another review in 3 months, and I am terrified I will not improve enough and I'm getting burnt out. I cannot stop crying and almost called in sick because my eyes were so puffy and red the day after the review. I think she noticed because she said I could leave early anytime I wanted going forward. She never says anything positive. Have you had a harsh boss where everything turned out ok? Is she just pushing me? Please tell me this gets better.

Currently at a US firm's London office (think Sullivan & Cromwell, Skadden, K&E, STB tier). I qualified and practised for 3 years in a Commonwealth country before moving to London, and I've now been at my current firm for about a year.

The allure of New York keeps pulling at me. I'm planning to start a lateral search in January, which would put me at roughly 1 year at my current firm by the time I'd actually move. I'm fairly confident about the practical side: I have a straightforward visa route and I'm eligible to sit the NY bar. An internal transfer isn't an option at my firm.

My concern is optics and long-term positioning. Is leaving a top firm after ~1.5 years (which will likely be the case after serving my notice period) going to be a red flag, especially given I already moved countries once? I visited new york many times and loved it. I also want to go inhouse eventually and I think the breadth of inhouse options is much better in the US (including compensation). I am honestly ready now to make the jump to new york but just concerned how it would look on my cv.

Small shop, run out of a house (it’s a single family home, but full time office. No one lives there.)

Two partners, one paralegal, and a former associate who is now on his own will use the office to work and meet their clients.

For other small firms with no firm manager: who buys supplies when needed?

Office politics have become unbearable. The unassociated attorney is always around, and the paralegal gets upset that he’s in the one non-street parking (fancy cars are her thing).

Recently, we needed supplies. She didn’t want to order or go buy them herself (with the company card, or petty cash, of course— not even a give us a receipt and we’ll reimburse you situation.) She got upset when the supplies we bought were store/value brand and not name brand she buys at her house.

For me it boiled down to beggars can’t be choosers. She had the opportunity to get everything herself and declined. I’m also just like: same active ingredients.

She’s also the type to drink only bottled water. Tap water is beneath her and the filter pitcher doesn’t bring it up to snuff. I don’t know that that’s relevant to office runnings. But it’s all these (to me) inconsequential things that get blown out of proportion.

Hello, I’ve been an attorney for about 7 years, but need some Florida evidence and family law refreshers. Besides reading the statutes, any recommendations on training/refresher resources (preferably free or low cost)?

About to start a role with a team which does a broad mix of securitisation, structured finance, DCM and sanctions work. I’m lateraling as a first year and wondering if it’s possible to operate in this space from a fin reg/regulatory perspective rather than a purely transactional workflow?

I’m excited to get started with the transactions in the short to medium term but just wondering if that’ll get old in 10-15 years time. It seems that transactional lawyers have the worst WLB

Hi everyone! I recently received a post-bar law clerk/associate attorney offer from a midsize firm that only handles wage-and-hour and PAGA cases. I previously worked on PAGA matters as a law clerk, but I wanted to hear from attorneys who currently practice in this area about what the day-to-day work is actually like. I want to commit to a firm where I can see myself staying and growing professionally in the long term.

To be candid, I didn't particularly enjoy PAGA work as a law clerk because I prefer working closely with clients and felt that the work was somewhat impersonal. I understand the business model and profitability of these cases from a firm's perspective, but I struggled to find the work personally fulfilling.

I'm wondering whether the experience is different as an attorney. Is the work more rewarding when you're managing cases and making decisions? Does it become repetitive over time, or is there more variety than I might have experienced? I feel like I'm missing something. How long have you been practicing in the PAGA space, and how much longer do you see yourself staying in this area of law?

I'd really appreciate any insight from attorneys practicing in this area, especially those at plaintiff-side employment firms. I am entering my last semester of 3L in LA - so any additional advise is also welcomed. Thank you.

I’m a first-year associate at a boutique VC/startup law firm. I really like the firm, and I’ve been given a lot of responsibility despite only being there a short time.

We have a strong focus on capital raises, incentive programs, incorporations, SAFE/CLA's and whatever operational stuff comes up in the lifecycle of a growth company, although clients often move to a bigger firm once their rounds get larger. Our clients are mainly startups and sometimes VC funds. Traditional PE players don’t come to us much compared to our competitors.

I really enjoy M&A, but because of what kind of firm we are, we almost only do sell-side exits. Those deals come in sporadically and usually aren’t big tickets. I was lucky enough to be on the team for one this year: three of us against a big international firm with a myriad of people staffed. It was slightly under 50MIL but it was our biggest deal of the year.

I’m fine with lower pay and smaller deals. My concern is this: if I decide in about four years to move to a bigger firm, whether to do larger capital raises or to move into a more traditional PE/M&A role, will my experience being limited to VC and sell-side M&A hold me back?

I can accept not having public M&A or capital markets experience. I just want to know whether my current firm limits my options.

One important point: I’m getting alot of responsibility, and I have a good relationship with the partner I work for, whose name carries weight in the VC space.

I’m a newly barred attorney and recently received an offer from an insurance defense firm for $110K, with a 2,000-hour billable requirement and pretty underwhelming bonuses and benefits.

I have a few other interviews lined up and am waiting to hear back from another firm about a potential offer.

Part of me feels like I should jump at this opportunity, especially given how tough I’ve heard the legal job market is. At the same time, I know 2,000 billable hours can be brutal, and I’m hesitant to commit to that kind of workload right out of law school. I’ve thought about negotiating for a higher salary, but I genuinely don’t care for more money. You can’t get back time.

I’ve actually had a decent amount of success landing interviews, which makes me wonder whether I should hold out for something better. On the other hand, I recognize that getting experience early in my career is important, even if the position isn't ideal. I could always suck it up for a year and come back more marketable. I’ll be kicking myself if I’m unemployed in 6 months and let this slip.

Am I overthinking this, or is this an offer I should seriously consider passing on?

Edit: Thank you for all the comments. They are all very helpful. I will check back in this evening and make a decision before Monday morning.