I want to quit my job

mexicolombiana · February 2014

If you've ever seen me post before you know I'm a bankruptcy lawyer with a lot of student loans and a career that's pretty boring and unsatisfying. I pay our nanny pretty much one net paycheck a month. With our nanny situation changing in Oct (with her having to watch her new granddaughter and do more driving) I am seriously considering quitting my job. I never thought I would consider this but it keeps getting more tempting.

I'm not positive we could swing it financially since I pay her 1/2 my net salary so I would have to do some law work on the side but I THINK I could do it. I could start my own firm (just incorporate quickly) and then my husband can do some law work on the side using the same firm name. I would only have to file 1 or 2 bankruptcy cases on my own a month to contribute some income to our household. I could also do some contract review work and other misc. work.

I don't have any benefits at work, they all come from my husband so I'm very seriously considering quitting. I have to really work through our budget to see if it's feasible and I would have to start marketing myself more to do some law work on the side but I have a big network of people that refer me cases as it is, so I think I could swing it.

Anyway I have to put more thought into this but it's tempting. So tempting. Tell me I'm not crazy.

MommaP12 · February 2014

You're not crazy. BUT, make sure you have a way to drum up the clientele that you need to meet the income level you want/need/expect to make this work. Think of every possible scenario you can to be fully prepared. What happens if you have a slow month, etc.? What if you are supposed to meet with a client and you or the kids are sick (self employed don't get PTO)? Just want to have all the bases covered in case and then go for it. Good luck!!!

Curls218 · February 2014

I don't think you're crazy. If you can swing it financially, then why not? If you loved your job or your office then that would be different. In this case it sounds like a perfect "out" due to the nanny situation.

MelissaMiso · February 2014

Not crazy at all. Think about this: 5 or 10 years from now do you want to look back and say "I'm glad I stayed at an unsatisfying job" or "I'm glad I spent more time with my family"

mexicolombiana · February 2014

ClaryPax said:

If you think you could get 2 cases a month I think you should do it. Where would you meet with your clients. I for one might be a bit leery meeting a lawyer somewhere that didn't have an office or meeting them in their home. It's not something I had heard of before.

I would have to advertise myself more but i'm already pretty active in this one bar association where I'm a board member, and I would have to go to more networking events. I would mostly get clients from other attorneys and referrals. I have a decent amount of referrals sent to me from other attorneys now but I have to take the cases through my firm (obviously). I would be "borrowing" offices from other attorneys to start (I already have 2 offices I could use whenever I want) I would be meeting with clients downtown in other offices if needed.

I do have to think this through more, but mostly referrals, word of mouth and some advertising at first. I have an office 2 minutes from my house that has extremely cheap rent ($400 a month) to rent a small office so if I needed to I could do that. But that would be later on if necessary and if $ allowed it.

I agree w/others I would think this out a LOT before making the plunge but I really think it's time. I've been working in bankruptcy since before law school (2003) and have been an attorney for 5 years now. I'm getting the itch to just go out on my own, but mostly I want to stay home with the kids for a while and be able to drive them to school and pick them up. The beauty of bankruptcy is that there is very little or NO litigation so it's just preparing petitions which can be done at home and meeting with clients ONCE, then attending one bankruptcy meeting for 5 minutes downtown.

mexicolombiana · February 2014

Also we just got back from an amazing trip to Arizona and I always "re-think" my life after vacations

Amelia4 · February 2014

My husband went out on his own about 3 years ago and he is very happy. My only thought is making sure you have someone to watch the kids when you go to court and meet clients. Good luck with whatever you decide!

mexicolombiana · February 2014

kdc2007 said:

I do what you are looking to do -

I do some contract work for a large corporation weekly (it's my steady income) and then I have a part-time law practice.

some other things to think about - cost of malpractice insurance, CLEs, attorney license fee, etc - all the things a firm normally pays for but that you would now be paying for OOP.

paying self-employment taxes

definitely take a look at your budget, and how you would structure your days/work hours.

do you have money saved up in case it's a bad month or two with your own practice, etc, etc

feel free to PM if you want to chat more about this.

All good points! I haven't looked into malpractice insurance rates yet. I think I will be DMing you. I need to make myself a list. I'm glad to see you are able to do this!

jesuisfatiguee · February 2014

I say if you're unhappy and unsatisfied and there are no feasible opportunities for you elsewhere... go for it.

glaw · February 2014

OP, I have had many of the same thoughts. I do immigration though so not as lucrative to take on 1-2 clients per month. Plus they are forever filing ineffective assistance of counsel claims (hey they have nothing to lose I can't blame them). Please keep us posted on how it goes. I'm sure there are others like me curious about the transition and seeing how it all plays out.

glaw · February 2014

And good luck. It sounds like it could be a great new chapter for you. Also if you like your nanny so much, maybe you can drop off your DDs the 1-2 days per week that you work at nannys daughters house.

thedash · February 2014

I am 6 years out of law school and started my own firm 2 years ago. I do criminal so it's very different but I'm happy to talk about the unexpected or hidden expenses of private practice. Feel free to PM me but also page me please since I'm almost always mobile.

laurakaz13 · February 2014

When will your loans be paid off? That would be my only concern. Would one or two more bonuses pay them off?

If you think you could take a few cases, then go for it. You'd still be in your career field, so if you want to go back full-time you will easily be able to do so.

Good luck with what you decide!

glaw · February 2014

@kdc2007 I'm in So Cal. How about you?

litzo27 · February 2014

I don't think you are crazy. For me, to be honest I don't think I would be happy as a SAHM after the novelty of a couple of months wore off. Also how old are your girls? You probably plan to do preschool/pre-k at some point? Are you planning more kids? What will you do once they are in school - grow your practice or return to other firms?

mexicolombiana · February 2014

laurakaz13 said:

When will your loans be paid off? That would be my only concern. Would one or two more bonuses pay them off?
If you think you could take a few cases, then go for it. You'd still be in your career field, so if you want to go back full-time you will easily be able to do so.
Good luck with what you decide!

Oh man, my loans. When will they be paid off? Never. I'm not on a plan to pay them off. It's not feasible. I'm talking $320K with my husband's loans. We are on IBR plans which means we pay whatever minimum possible, with no foreseeable plan to pay them off, but I'm ok with that.

As a bankruptcy attorney, I have a different attitude about paying "off" student loans. In order to really be on a plan to pay them off in say 10 years our payments would have to be over $3,000 per month which is a joke. I think that in my lifetime there will be some kind of legislation to deal with the student loan crisis. So I don't see the point in killing myself at a time when my kids are so small. I would instead rather enjoy my life now and see what happens with possible loan forgiveness legislation in the future. Bankruptcy attorneys are still holding on to the idea that student loans might be dischargeable in maybe a Chapter 13 bankruptcy in the future too.

So anyway screw my student loans. If i'm not working I would go back on IBR with a payment of zero.

Thanks I have to think more about this but every day I wake up dreaming about quitting my job!

glaw · February 2014

What is IBR? I need to look into that if it meant I could pay 0. Lol. Please let me know.

mexicolombiana · February 2014

glaw said:

What is IBR? I need to look into that if it meant I could pay 0. Lol. Please let me know.

Income based repayment plans. Only available for certain federal loans (not private one). Your repayment "could" be zero if you're unemployed or broke as shit depending on your family size. I also file separate taxes from my husband so they don't consider his income at all.

https://studentaid.ed.gov/sites/default/files/income-based-repayment.pdf

The downsides are that you pretty much only pay interest and obviously if you start working or earning more $ you have to pay more. You have to submit documentation every year to qualify. If you stick with it for 25 years and pay "zero" or very little under their guidelines your student loans are forgiven. (or if you work for the public sector your loans are forgiven in 10 years if you stick w/IBR) You will potentially have a giant IRS 1099 form coming to you in 25 years but who cares? You only pay taxes on stuff to the extent that you're solvent. The goal would be to be "insolvent" in 25 years meaning no assets are in your name and then you just attach IRS form 982 saying too bad I'm insolvent and you don't pay taxes on the huge tax bill you might get in 25 years.

mexicolombiana · February 2014

kdc2007 said:

mexicolombiana said:

laurakaz13 said:

When will your loans be paid off? That would be my only concern. Would one or two more bonuses pay them off?
If you think you could take a few cases, then go for it. You'd still be in your career field, so if you want to go back full-time you will easily be able to do so.
Good luck with what you decide!

Oh man, my loans. When will they be paid off? Never. I'm not on a plan to pay them off. It's not feasible. I'm talking $320K with my husband's loans. We are on IBR plans which means we pay whatever minimum possible, with no foreseeable plan to pay them off, but I'm ok with that.

As a bankruptcy attorney, I have a different attitude about paying "off" student loans. In order to really be on a plan to pay them off in say 10 years our payments would have to be over $3,000 per month which is a joke. I think that in my lifetime there will be some kind of legislation to deal with the student loan crisis. So I don't see the point in killing myself at a time when my kids are so small. I would instead rather enjoy my life now and see what happens with possible loan forgiveness legislation in the future. Bankruptcy attorneys are still holding on to the idea that student loans might be dischargeable in maybe a Chapter 13 bankruptcy in the future too.

So anyway screw my student loans. If i'm not working I would go back on IBR with a payment of zero.

Thanks I have to think more about this but every day I wake up dreaming about quitting my job!

I love your thinking! and I hope you're right. we pay about $1300/month in student loans between DH and me. 6 more years to go on a big one and then we'll be down to $600/month.

We pay $825.93 exactly a month between all our loans- some private and some federal but that is with a lot of working the system. IBR is the bomb if your income is low and your household size is big. I'm actually considering having more kids to bring my IBR payment even further down and get my loans forgiven! (only sort of kidding).

Don't worry I'll be sure to be insolvent in 25 years. The only thing we'll have is our house and I can QC that mofo to someone else in 20 years or put it in trust or something. They can't touch your retirement (not that we'll have much) then my husband and I will be on a beach retiring in Puerto Rico living off of some kind of retirement $ and fishing. They can't garnish our sunshine!

laurakaz13 · February 2014

Wow! The student loan amounts in this post make me so sad! :-(

hollandmama · February 2014

I'd go for it. If you can work on the side and still make some income that would be amazing. I am working towards that goal. I would like to do this in around 7 years time, when I'll have 4 kids and enough experience to do freelancing :P

mexicolombiana · February 2014

Yup I have no loans from undergrad. All law school. Not the best choice I've made in my life. Oh well.

mal922 said:

You mentioned getting referrals from other attorneys and borrowing offices. Any chance a firm where you have connections might be interested in taking you on as sort of a contract attorney? I recently left BigLaw to join a small firm in my practice area where I am attempting to build my own practice. They pay me an hourly rate when I do work for their clients and a larger cut when I do work for clients I bring in. Although I would be taking in 100% if I went out on my own, I'd also have to worry about malpractice insurance and some of the other things that were mentioned, and to me there was some comfort in not going it completely alone. (They are also helping me quite a bit with developing business, etc.) In my case, I hope to eventually get up to around 25-30 billable hours a week, but we do have a couple of people who only work a few hours a week, basically as much as they want to. Most of us work remotely, so it doesn't cost the firm that much to have us around. I'm in benefits law, which is a good specialty in terms of finding special arrangements like this, but bankruptcy seems like a special niche as well. Good luck!

Bankruptcy isn't quite the type of law that would allow me to do this kind of contract work, but it's definitely something to consider.

MommaP12 · February 2014

I really applaud your attitude and to be honest it gives me hope.

I have 39K in student loans total for my MBA/BA and DH has none. I've been telling myself I must work for Corp America (which I no longer enjoy AT ALL) until they are paid off. I do intend to pay them down significantly, if not off completely a year from now when my bonus is paid. But letting something like that take over my life and happiness is stupid.

I love that this is a working moms board, but that so many of you are making it work in non traditional ways. Gives me hope that I can part of that club in a year or less! I'll be rooting for you and watching you make your dream come true!

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