Soonest quitting as a first-year Forum

[Anonymous User]

What is the soonest any of you have heard of someone quitting biglaw as a first year? Momentarily indulging my fantasy of walking out and never looking back...

[jd20132013]

any time under a year would be weird to "quit" (as opposed to moving to something that's better) but if you can afford it somehow who cares

[Anonymous User]

any time under a year would be weird to "quit" (as opposed to moving to something that's better) but if you can afford it somehow who cares

I know I am just curious as to your stories and anything funny/interesting

[Anonymous User]

What is the soonest any of you have heard of someone quitting biglaw as a first year? Momentarily indulging my fantasy of walking out and never looking back...

When I was a first year one of my fellow first years quit about 2-3 weeks in. It was stunning. Most of us hadn't even finished training and gotten real first assignments yet.

[Anonymous User]

One colleague quit 6 months in to become a law professor. Pretty sweet exit there.

Not fitting the topic, but another was fired after several months.

[heythatslife]

What is the soonest any of you have heard of someone quitting biglaw as a first year? Momentarily indulging my fantasy of walking out and never looking back...

When I was a first year one of my fellow first years quit about 2-3 weeks in. It was stunning. Most of us hadn't even finished training and gotten real first assignments yet.

Just out of curiosity, what did they end up doing?

[Anonymous User]

What is the soonest any of you have heard of someone quitting biglaw as a first year? Momentarily indulging my fantasy of walking out and never looking back...

When I was a first year one of my fellow first years quit about 2-3 weeks in. It was stunning. Most of us hadn't even finished training and gotten real first assignments yet.

Just out of curiosity, what did they end up doing?

I don't think they had a job for a while. Eventually they found something vaguely public policy/non-profit/think tank-y but that took like over a year and I don't think it pays a ton. I would guess they didn't have as much debt as I do but I didn't get the sense they were super rich or had none. Seemed like a bad outcome. We had another person get fired like 9 months in for performance issues. They never really got anything else.

It's bad.

[Anonymous User]

How do you not even make it a month in? That's the easiest month!

We have a guy leave about 8 months in because his group was absolutely brutal. Didn't have a single weekend off, crazy hours, and one partner in particular was a complete jerk to him. Went to another biglaw firm though, but I think is a lot happier.

[Anonymous User]

The first month was great! I remember building a lot of marshmallow towers for "team building exercises".

[Anonymous User]

What were the performance issues? Low hours?

[Anonymous User]

What were the performance issues? Low hours?

No absolutely not. Most everyone involved thought the person deserved to be fired from what I heard. This person had personality issues. More importantly, they disappeared at certain key points in major deals with little explanation. They were warned and did it again within days of the warning.

[shock259]

Someone rage quit 6 months in. Started in January, and at like 11pm in May, he sent a long, rambling, angry email to the summer class about how much big law ruins your life and how he was destined to be a photographer. And he told them all to quit immediately and to "not make the same mistakes I did."

And then he just walked out and never came back. Apparently some people still talk to him and he's doing better now.

[jkpolk]

Yeah I know a couple ppl who quit after like 3 or 4 months. One always wanted to do PD work and got picked up immediately. One became a professional gambler.

[Anonymous User]

I knew someone in a big group in a big firm that just stopped showing up.

They paid him for 3 months before firing him, and then he got 3 months severance to look for a job.

Outright quitting is wasting free money.

[Anonymous User]

I quit with no job lined up (after about 4-5 years in biglaw though). I relaxed for awhile and then eventually got a public sector job. It pays little but life is much better. To supplement my income, I dabble in trading and am doing ok (gains of around high five 5 figs this year). Eventually, I'm thinking of doing something more entrepreneurial.

If you are OK with never returning to the legal private sector, quitting with no job lined up is perfectly fine. However, you should never burn bridges - government jobs will call all of your references and ask if you were fired, what your reputation is, etc. It is better to leave money on the table and quit on your own terms than be fired.

If you are thinking of leaving law altogether, then I don't think having a gap on your resume matters at all.

I think a lot of people in law are just extremely risk averse and are unwilling to make changes in their life unless they are 100% certain of the outcome. If you are really unhappy and are financially stable enough (i.e., no student loans, have some savings, can live with parents for awhile), then quitting with no job to find something you want to do is fine IMO. I, obviously, am biased and much more of a risk taker than most lawyers. But I strongly believe that if you are reluctant to change your life, then you will be stuck forever. So save up some money, or if you are financially OK, figure out what you want to do and do it. It's not the end of the world to leave law - most lawyers end up doing it anyway.

Note - I am not recommending quitting if you have loans. But quitting with no job lined up is not the end of the world.

[jd20132013]

Someone rage quit 6 months in. Started in January, and at like 11pm in May, he sent a long, rambling, angry email to the summer class about how much big law ruins your life and how he was destined to be a photographer. And he told them all to quit immediately and to "not make the same mistakes I did."

And then he just walked out and never came back. Apparently some people still talk to him and he's doing better now.

I need this email

[Anonymous User]

Someone rage quit 6 months in. Started in January, and at like 11pm in May, he sent a long, rambling, angry email to the summer class about how much big law ruins your life and how he was destined to be a photographer. And he told them all to quit immediately and to "not make the same mistakes I did."

And then he just walked out and never came back. Apparently some people still talk to him and he's doing better now.

I need this email

Shockingly, I am in possession of said email but did not summer at this firm.

[jd20132013]

Someone rage quit 6 months in. Started in January, and at like 11pm in May, he sent a long, rambling, angry email to the summer class about how much big law ruins your life and how he was destined to be a photographer. And he told them all to quit immediately and to "not make the same mistakes I did."

And then he just walked out and never came back. Apparently some people still talk to him and he's doing better now.

I need this email

Shockingly, I am in possession of said email but did not summer at this firm.

Pm me the text please, don't need any identifying info

[almondjoy]

Someone rage quit 6 months in. Started in January, and at like 11pm in May, he sent a long, rambling, angry email to the summer class about how much big law ruins your life and how he was destined to be a photographer. And he told them all to quit immediately and to "not make the same mistakes I did."

And then he just walked out and never came back. Apparently some people still talk to him and he's doing better now.

I need this email

Shockingly, I am in possession of said email but did not summer at this firm.

Pm me the text please, don't need any identifying info

Ooh would love a pm. Or just post the email and redact as necessary!

[landshoes]

Yeah just post it. What could possibly go wrong?

[Anonymous User]

Someone rage quit 6 months in. Started in January, and at like 11pm in May, he sent a long, rambling, angry email to the summer class about how much big law ruins your life and how he was destined to be a photographer. And he told them all to quit immediately and to "not make the same mistakes I did."

And then he just walked out and never came back. Apparently some people still talk to him and he's doing better now.

I need this email

Shockingly, I am in possession of said email but did not summer at this firm.

Pm me the text please, don't need any identifying info

Ooh would love a pm. Or just post the email and redact as necessary!

Omg yes post it or pm me.

[Anonymous User]

Ok I win this thread. FOUR DAYS. This associate did not make it a full week.

[Anonymous User]

I quit after 4 days as well cuz I got a higher paying job that turned out to be life sucking.

[delusional]

Sorry for fighting the hypo here... Buddy quit as a summer.

[WhiteCollarBlueShirt]

Multiple people quit within the first year that I started: at least 1 lateral within NYC; multiple laterals to different states or countries; and at least 1 realizing very quickly that big law was not for them (I think it took more than 4 days if I remember correctly). Following up on the above, I also know a handful that rode out the summer, but did not accept offers to go to banking or McK instead.