Unexpected 3-6 month break from practice? Forum

[Anonymous User]

I'm a corporate fifth year living with my partner in a VHCL city, and have wanted to quit since about six-months into it. Student loan repayment and all the typical middle-class goals have been just enough motivation to keep me in the biglaw game despite increasing burnout. Within the last 18 months we've managed to pay off the student loans and buy a home. I never expected to make partner, since I really don't have the hunger for it, and so I was always planning to go in-house or perhaps government at some point. Pretty typical stuff on TLS, I think.

So, my partner, who doesn't work in law or finance, received a new job offer that we did not anticipate. She'd be getting a huge pay bump and making as much as me without bonus. We would have to relocate to a smaller, VLCL city. I'd have to quit my job, but I was always planning to do that, I just didn't think we'd have these kind of finances when it happened. Since starting biglaw, I've been covering most of our expenses, and never really considered that that would ever change.

My partner has been very supportive of me leaving biglaw, and says that I should quit, take a restorative break for 3-6 months, and figure out what to do next without all the accumulated stress, anxiety and urgency of leaving biglaw directly for another job. That sounds fantastic, but I worry that, if I take that much time off, it could be hard to get back into the job market. The economy is slowing down, plus I'd be applying from a position of unemployment rather than as a current associate at a firm, and whatever comes next would have to be 100% remote anyway, since I won't be in a big city full of jobs anymore.

Of course the prudent thing is to just never allow an employment gap, but this also feels like a golden opportunity to take some time off and rediscover phoneless nights and weekends. We're hoping to start a family soon (next couple years), so the next opportunity for a big break may be retirement. I know this is a very privileged situation to be in, and it's not one I ever anticipated. Have others on here taken long-ish breaks like this and then come back into practice after a self-imposed "sabbatical"? Per all the above, I think I have a pretty decent story to tell.

[UnfrozenCaveman]

Seems to me the best thing to do is just to have a good story/reason for the gap and you'd be fine.

[nealric]

I get the appeal of time off, but have you considered looking for opportunities in the new city NOW rather than just quitting and looking later? Once you have an offer, you could probably negotiate a month or two gap. I assume the new city doesn't have much in the way of biglaw opportunities, but if your spouse found such a lucrative job, I assume its a big enough city that there are jobs out there (in-house, mid law-, satellite office) for someone with your resume.

[crazywafflez]

I agree with Nealric, I'd start looking now and see if you could start later. I think a month or so is easy to cover up when presenting a resume. 6 months becomes a bit dicey.

[Lesion of Doom]

I would lie and say you had to take care of an ailing family member while also managing a move to a new city.

It’s not like you are 18 months into your career. You’ve already shown you have what it takes. I would enjoy the time and perfect your lie as needed.

[Anonymous User]

Agree that unless you’re in a truly rural area, I don’t see why you want to be permanent remote. You don’t like biglaw and don’t need the money, and virtually every state has firms with reasonably sophisticated practices, which will often have reasonable hours, pay you a killing for the COL, and have very strong partnership prospects compared to BL. Even North Dakota has a Fredrikson satellite that I’m sure would love to hire you. Just negotiate time off before starting. I would take a scouting trip and talk to some lawyers in the market, maybe people who also came from BL.

[Anonymous User]

That sounds to me like a pretty ideal exit. But I'm in lit and there's lots of government jobs I would take in a heartbeat if I didn't have to be sensitive to pay and I guess there's not that option for corporate. I suppose I would start putting out feelers just to get a sense of what the possibilities really look like both in the new area and places that are fully remote. But I interview a lot of lateral candidates and I would not think that a resume gap for that reason (partner moving unexpectedly to a very different market) would be odd or a problem, so I think I would just enjoy a little break if you can.