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Welp, my legal career is over. No warning. Nothing. Called me in and shitboss told me that I had to leave in 5 minutes and I was fired because I was not learning fast enough. Told me they are going to hire someone else whom they interviewed and is still unemployed.

This is law in 2013. My legal career is over. Thankfully I went to a school on scholarship and my heart isn't totally into the practice of law, so good for the next person. But, well, fuck. I'm fucked.

Sucks bro. Why is your career over? You aren't even going to try to find a new jerb?

Sorry to hear that. What kind of work were you doing?

OP here. Work was litigation, transactional. Firm does a mix. Rumor is that there were $$$ problems and the other person will take a considerable pay cut. In fact, I cannot prove they will actually hire the other person. Just sucks that I was fired so fast. I have to leave the area, no one will hire me here. I probably have to leave law.

Anonymous User wrote:OP here. Work was litigation, transactional. Firm does a mix. Rumor is that there were $$$ problems and the other person will take a considerable pay cut. In fact, I cannot prove they will actually hire the other person. Just sucks that I was fired so fast. I have to leave the area, no one will hire me here. I probably have to leave law.

Why won't anyone hire you.

I don't work in a big city. I will have stench on me, and, I doubt my employer will do much to help me except torpedo every call that comes their way. "Oh yeah that person couldn't hack it here."

Anonymous User wrote:I don't work in a big city. I will have stench on me, and, I doubt my employer will do much to help me except torpedo every call that comes their way. "Oh yeah that person couldn't hack it here."

If you only worked there 7 weeks just leave it off your resume.

Just one google away and it's easy to find. Plus then I am labeled a liar if someone finds out I left it off. And there is going to be a several month hole in my resume.

Mind saying your school range and rank?

Is this for real?

Yes, it's real, and I was (just outside) top 1/3 at a T15-40 school. Being kind of broad, draw whatever conclusions you want.

I certainly picked some shitty bosses, so I guess this is a mixture of me complaining about the situation and sort of serving as caution to others. If you're not in a clearly defined legal track -- ADA --> DA, or BIGLAW, or government, watch out. A lot of times you'll be doing BIGLAW hours for SHITLAW pay in crappy areas.

Anonymous User wrote:Just one google away and it's easy to find. Plus then I am labeled a liar if someone finds out I left it off. And there is going to be a several month hole in my resume.

Your resume isn't supposed to be every job you ever worked. Though I guess you'd have to disclose for conflict checks.

If real, it sucks, but it is not as big of a deal as you are making of it.

Yeah not having an income for undetermined stretches of time is nbd.

damn, that really sucks. so much feels.

what state are you in OP?

I went to Davis and your experience sounds like pretty much everyone in my graduating class outside the top 25 percent or so. Sorry you got canned. It's a shitty market and some of these shitlaw microfirms are just the worst.

Real talk though: Don't let the fact that this situation sucks and you're pissed distract you from the fact that you need to be learning from this experience so the next job goes better.

Anonymous User wrote:I don't work in a big city. I will have stench on me, and, I doubt my employer will do much to help me except torpedo every call that comes their way. "Oh yeah that person couldn't hack it here."

In that case, you should out the firm. Who was your employer?

A few thoughts for those in a similar situation who remain interested in a legal career:

• 1. Quickly lose the defeatist attitude.
• It will likely hurt your ongoing networking efforts. Elapsed time since your graduation (and since your termination) will hurt you, so you need to move quickly and confidently.

• 2. Update your resume.
• Yes, include the terminating firm. Consider omitting the terminating employer.

• 3. Gather letters of recommendation (LORs).
• Existing LORs: Consider requesting an update or renewal from their authors.
• New LORS: Ask mentors, former supervisors, and colleagues (from old jobs, law school, volunteer organizations, legal associations, law journal, etc.).
  - Consider sharing your resume and existing LORs in your requests for new LORs.
  - On a case-by-case basis, determine whether you should explain your recent termination to potential recommenders. If so, be upfront with them about the employer's stated reason for terminating you. State your disagreement (and reference your existing LORs and resume to bolster your opinion). Take care to avoid: anger, speculation about the reason for your termination, and revealing sensitive info about your terminating employer or your work there (see this Hermann post).

• 4. Create an application package.
• Physical package: Consider using nice, two-pocket folders that include your resume and a writing sample in one pocket and LORs in the other (credit Guerrilla Tactics for this idea). This approach worked well for one of my friends. Perhaps you'll want to throw a cover letter in there too.
• Digital package: Prepare two pdfs. The first will be your resume. The second will contain LORs—best letters first, but keeping chronology in mind (here's some solid pdf-merging software). Use the email body as a *very* brief cover letter.
• Cover letters: Avoid mentioning the terminating employer—it's already on your resume but it will probably come up later. Any concerns that might arise about your performance there might be quelled by the packet of LORs (or maybe they'll encourage the recipient to give you the benefit of the doubt).

• 5. Distribute that application package.
• Keep it up-to-date with any new LORs from step 3.
• Give the packet to mentors, former supervisors, and colleagues. Mass-mail it. Keep it handy for networking activities (but be careful about if/when you dump it on someone). As in step 3., use discretion when deciding whether you should address the termination head-on.
• Other threads provide good lessons on networking 101 (example).

Anonymous User wrote:Welp, my legal career is over. No warning. Nothing. Called me in and shitboss told me that I had to leave in 5 minutes and I was fired because I was not learning fast enough. Told me they are going to hire someone else whom they interviewed and is still unemployed.

This is law in 2013. My legal career is over. Thankfully I went to a school on scholarship and my heart isn't totally into the practice of law, so good for the next person. But, well, fuck. I'm fucked.

Agent wrote:A few thoughts for those in a similar situation who remain interested in a legal career:

• 1. Quickly lose the defeatist attitude.
• It will likely hurt your ongoing networking efforts. Elapsed time since your graduation (and your termination) will hurt you, so you need to move quickly and confidently.

• 2. Update your resume.
• Yes, include the terminating firm.

• 3. Gather letters of recommendation (LORs).
• Existing LORs: Consider requesting an update or renewal from their authors.
• New LORS: Ask mentors, former supervisors, and colleagues (from old jobs, law school, volunteer organizations, legal associations, law journal, etc.).
  - Consider sharing your resume and existing LORs in your requests for new LORs.
  - On a case-by-case basis, determine whether you should explain your recent termination to potential recommenders. If so, be upfront with them about the employer's stated reason for terminating you. State your disagreement (and reference your existing LORs and resume to bolster your opinion). Take care to avoid: anger, speculation about the reason for your termination, and revealing sensitive info about your terminating employer or your work there (see this Hermann post).

• 4. Create an application package.
• Physical package: Consider using nice, two-pocket folders that include your resume and a writing sample in one pocket and LORs in the other (credit Guerrilla Tactics for this idea). This approach worked well for one of my friends. Perhaps you'll want to throw a cover letter in there too.
• Digital package: Prepare two pdfs. The first will be your resume. The second contain LORs—best letters first, but keeping chronology in mind (here's some solid pdf-merging software). Use the email body as a *very* brief cover letter.
• Cover letters: Avoid mentioning the terminating employer—it's already on your resume. Any concerns that might arise about your performance there might be quelled by the packet of LORs (or maybe they'll encourage the recipient to give you the benefit of the doubt).

• 5. Distribute that application package.
• Keep it up-to-date with any new LORs from step 3.
• Give the packet to mentors, former supervisors, and colleagues. Mass-mail it. Keep it handy for networking activities (but be careful about if/when you dump it on someone). As in step 3., use discretion when deciding whether you should address the termination head-on.
• Other threads provide good lessons on networking 101 (example).

Anonymous User wrote:Welp, my legal career is over. No warning. Nothing. Called me in and shitboss told me that I had to leave in 5 minutes and I was fired because I was not learning fast enough. Told me they are going to hire someone else whom they interviewed and is still unemployed.

This is law in 2013. My legal career is over. Thankfully I went to a school on scholarship and my heart isn't totally into the practice of law, so good for the next person. But, well, fuck. I'm fucked.

why should he keep the terminated position? 7 weeks of law experience > no experience or 7 week gap???

I believe that OP said it's easily seen via Googling his name. Plus, as mentioned earlier, he'll have to overcome conflicts checks anyway.

citylawyer1010 wrote: why should he keep the terminated position? 7 weeks of law experience > no experience or 7 week gap???

If I got shit-canned by a shit-law firm 7 weeks into the gig, you can bet your bottom dollar I'd leave it off my resume.

Thinking more about it, I do wonder whether it'd be a better approach to leave it off the resume (scratching the bullet under 2. in my previous post). Maybe the LOR-heavy approach should kick in after the termination issue arises with potential employers.

Anonymous User wrote:If I got shit-canned by a shit-law firm 7 weeks into the gig, you can bet your bottom dollar I'd leave it off my resume.

Agent wrote:Thinking more about it, I do wonder whether it'd be a better approach to leave it off the resume (scratching the bullet under 2. in my previous post). Maybe the LOR-heavy approach should kick in after the termination issue arises with potential employers.

Anonymous User wrote:If I got shit-canned by a shit-law firm 7 weeks into the gig, you can bet your bottom dollar I'd leave it off my resume.

It should definitely be left off. Just weigh the pros and cons:

Pros: ... Someone has 7 weeks of experience at a garbage law firm, which says precisely butkus about that person's experience or ability.

Cons: CONS IN DROVES. You have to start every interview explaining why you got canned.

I see the point, and I sympathize with OP's concern about giving the impression that he's misrepresenting himself if potential employers take the google step. Then again, as DF said, I guess a resume doesn't have to be all-inclusive regarding recent employment. Revising my first post to this thread.

Anonymous User wrote:Welp, my legal career is over. No warning. Nothing. Called me in and shitboss told me that I had to leave in 5 minutes and I was fired because I was not learning fast enough. Told me they are going to hire someone else whom they interviewed and is still unemployed.

This is law in 2013. My legal career is over. Thankfully I went to a school on scholarship and my heart isn't totally into the practice of law, so good for the next person. But, well, fuck. I'm fucked.

Can we get more info on the location and firm?

-scared 1L