Litigator taken off matter - bad sign? Forum

(Advantages vs Disadvantages, Big Law, Work-Life Balance, Hiring Practices, Company Culture, Hours and Compensation, Private Sector Firm Reviews & Experiences)
Anonymous User
Posts: 428122
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Litigator taken off matter - bad sign?

Post by Anonymous User » Fri Mar 25, 2022 1:42 am

I am a second year at a v10. I billed 2500 hours last year, almost had a nervous breakdown, and ended up with tachycardia and other stress related ailments. So, after my second ER visit, I stopped trying in January (went from 200+ hours a month to 120 ish).

I was on a bunch of cases and didn't even realize I was recently removed from one of my matters. Anyway, no one said anything to me, I just realized I hadn't gotten updates. I checked my matters page and it was gone. I planned on trying to coast out the rest of the year, but am now anxious this means I might get fired or did something egregious. AFIAK, I just stopped volunteering for that particular team when I was dealing with health issues. The team is quite large anyway.

Am I reading too much into this? Should I start looking for another job, basically?

Anonymous User
Posts: 428122
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: Litigator taken off matter - bad sign?

Post by Anonymous User » Fri Mar 25, 2022 10:42 am

You're reading too much into this. You billed 2500 last year; there's no way they're firing you for a 120 hour month unless you did something particularly egregious like loosing a multi-million dollar client.120 hour months are fine; it's just a slow month. Everyone has those. I'm sure you'll have some 200+ hour months later in the year. It all balances out. Don't worry about it.

Anonymous User
Posts: 428122
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: Litigator taken off matter - bad sign?

Post by Anonymous User » Sat Aug 13, 2022 4:26 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Fri Mar 25, 2022 1:42 am
I am a second year at a v10. I billed 2500 hours last year, almost had a nervous breakdown, and ended up with tachycardia and other stress related ailments. So, after my second ER visit, I stopped trying in January (went from 200+ hours a month to 120 ish).

I was on a bunch of cases and didn't even realize I was recently removed from one of my matters. Anyway, no one said anything to me, I just realized I hadn't gotten updates. I checked my matters page and it was gone. I planned on trying to coast out the rest of the year, but am now anxious this means I might get fired or did something egregious. AFIAK, I just stopped volunteering for that particular team when I was dealing with health issues. The team is quite large anyway.

Am I reading too much into this? Should I start looking for another job, basically?
I hope you said something to the partners you work for. If you're working that much, they obviously want/need you, and wouldn't just fire you if you said "I physically need to slow down". But if you just all of a sudden became unresponsive and stopped working, then yes, you should be worried they ask you to leave. You need to communicate.

(accidental anon)

Post Reply Post Anonymous Reply  

Return to “Big Law/Private Practice Jobs”