Quitting law after biglaw and nonprofit gig? Forum

[Tenzen]

Long story short, worked in biglaw for a few years, before deciding to lateral. Ended up with some interviews at small firms, but decided to work at a nonprofit. A specific attorney at the nonprofit* has been very passive aggressive and jealous about me being at the nonprofit, because of my biglaw background and his sense there's no "fit" between me and the nonprofit. He doesn't have final power over whether I get fired or anything, but he has complained to senior management.

Has anyone been in this position? Do you think it's worth quitting? I took a huge paycut obviously because, ironically enough, I actually do care about the work the nonprofit does (won't disclose specifics on the off chance they would browse a site like TLS). But at this point I think I'd be better off quitting law entirely or doing a JD advantage gig.

[acr]

Long story short, worked in biglaw for a few years, before deciding to lateral. Ended up with some interviews at small firms, but decided to work at a nonprofit. A specific attorney at the nonprofit* has been very passive aggressive and jealous about me being at the nonprofit, because of my biglaw background and his sense there's no "fit" between me and the nonprofit. He doesn't have final power over whether I get fired or anything, but he has complained to senior management.

Has anyone been in this position? Do you think it's worth quitting? I took a huge paycut obviously because, ironically enough, I actually do care about the work the nonprofit does (won't disclose specifics on the off chance they would browse a site like TLS). But at this point I think I'd be better off quitting law entirely or doing a JD advantage gig.

Is it worth ending a career path you've invested ~6+ years of your life into because of a coworker who's being passive aggressive? Nope, standing alone, that would hardly justify a rash and serious career decision. People have problems with coworkers all the time and rarely just quit their profession/field entirely because of a one-off experience with one person, absent additional factors.

However, based on what you've said, I instinctually feel like there's something deeper involved here, with how you view the legal profession and your life, because I think there would need to be a deeper reason involved for you to even suggest quitting law entirely (or seek "JD advantage" jobs). For example, if you're no longer satisfied practicing law (it's making you miserable), the practice of law is associated with mental health problems for you, a better opportunity comes along outside of law that's too good to refuse, etc.

Have you tried simply talking with the coworker to resolve the conflict? If it were me, I would stand up for myself. "Listen, my big firm background might bother you, but people have different paths through life and different reasons for taking jobs. What's important is that I'm committed to our organization and our mission now, and I deserve to be respected."

I guess I would just encourage you to isolate this experience with your coworker and decide whether you truly want to practice law or not. Then, once you've reached a conclusion, you can resolve your current situation by a) addressing the problem internally; b) looking for new jobs with other organizations/firms; or c) quitting law entirely.

[wildcatatpenn]

Long story short, worked in biglaw for a few years, before deciding to lateral. Ended up with some interviews at small firms, but decided to work at a nonprofit. A specific attorney at the nonprofit* has been very passive aggressive and jealous about me being at the nonprofit, because of my biglaw background and his sense there's no "fit" between me and the nonprofit. He doesn't have final power over whether I get fired or anything, but he has complained to senior management.

Has anyone been in this position? Do you think it's worth quitting? I took a huge paycut obviously because, ironically enough, I actually do care about the work the nonprofit does (won't disclose specifics on the off chance they would browse a site like TLS). But at this point I think I'd be better off quitting law entirely or doing a JD advantage gig.

Is it worth ending a career path you've invested ~6+ years of your life into because of a coworker who's being passive aggressive? Nope, standing alone, that would hardly justify a rash and serious career decision. People have problems with coworkers all the time and rarely just quit their profession/field entirely because of a one-off experience with one person, absent additional factors.

However, based on what you've said, I instinctually feel like there's something deeper involved here, with how you view the legal profession and your life, because I think there would need to be a deeper reason involved for you to even suggest quitting law entirely (or seek "JD advantage" jobs). For example, if you're no longer satisfied practicing law (it's making you miserable), the practice of law is associated with mental health problems for you, a better opportunity comes along outside of law that's too good to refuse, etc.

Have you tried simply talking with the coworker to resolve the conflict? If it were me, I would stand up for myself. "Listen, my big firm background might bother you, but people have different paths through life and different reasons for taking jobs. What's important is that I'm committed to our organization and our mission now, and I deserve to be respected."

I guess I would just encourage you to isolate this experience with your coworker and decide whether you truly want to practice law or not. Then, once you've reached a conclusion, you can resolve your current situation by a) addressing the problem internally; b) looking for new jobs with other organizations/firms; or c) quitting law entirely.

how is it ending a 6 year career? Unless you want it to.

People quit jobs all the time of all types. I highly encourage you to if is a making you unhappy

[nixy]

It would be ended a 6+ year career bc the OP is considering leaving law entirely, not just changing jobs.

OP, I agree with acr. I get the misery of your colleague but I don’t really understand why one bad colleague would make you leave law unless you already actually want to.

[dabigchina]

I can see why OP would want to leave the law, given that they've had a bad time in both biglaw and in PI.

OP, can you go in house? It honestly just sounds like you've had a shit run of luck.

Didn't mean to Anon. Please de-anon me

[nixy]

Totally fair if the OP does want out of law - no judgment on that or anything. Just confused because they didn’t say they had a bad time in biglaw (I also get if that was supposed to be assumed, but they didn’t say it), and then their issue with the non-profit doesn’t appear to be the work/organization but one asshole coworker. (I also have no idea what that coworker thinks is productive about complaining to mgmt about the OP’s background, since presumably management hired the OP and has no issue with their background, but that’s neither here nor there.) One bad coworker can definitely make your life miserable, but if it’s one person and not the actual job/work it doesn’t make sense to me to leave law entirely. Maybe talk to senior management about this attorney and find out if mgmt agrees with him/her? And if mgmt is fine with the OP then ask them to get this attorney to back off? (I get, too, that non-profits can be small and maybe dysfunctional and maybe that’s not going to accomplish anything, but dealing with an asshole coworker shouldn’t start with quitting, but with going to the asshole’s superiors.)

Again, if the OP does want to leave law entirely that’s fine, I’m just trying to connect the dots between what they’ve identified as the problem and their proposed solutions. There may well be other things going on, I realize.

[sparty99]

Long story short, worked in biglaw for a few years, before deciding to lateral. Ended up with some interviews at small firms, but decided to work at a nonprofit. A specific attorney at the nonprofit* has been very passive aggressive and jealous about me being at the nonprofit, because of my biglaw background and his sense there's no "fit" between me and the nonprofit. He doesn't have final power over whether I get fired or anything, but he has complained to senior management.

Has anyone been in this position? Do you think it's worth quitting? I took a huge paycut obviously because, ironically enough, I actually do care about the work the nonprofit does (won't disclose specifics on the off chance they would browse a site like TLS). But at this point I think I'd be better off quitting law entirely or doing a JD advantage gig.

Would you quit without a job? Then no, don't quit. You need to call this attorney out. In a face to face. And perhaps even address this with senior management. I heard he has talked about me. I would confront him. Or find another job, I just don't understand why he would care if you worked at a nonprofit. Seems like there is more to this story. There are other nonprofits.