Do You Actually Want Another Legal Job After a Layoff?

Being laid off from a legal job can create a lot of anxiety, financial and otherwise. If you’ve been laid off, you’re worried that a layoff might be coming, or you’ve been through one in the past, there are very real practical concerns that come with losing your job. We all have bills, we all need to be responsible adults, and sometimes getting another job practicing law is the choice that makes sense.

The question is whether you actually want another legal job or whether you’re looking for one because that feels like what you’re supposed to do next. If you felt an immense amount of relief when you were laid off, that feeling is information. You may not have realized how much pressure and stress your job was creating until suddenly that weight was lifted.

In this episode of The Former Lawyer Podcast, Sarah Cottrell talks about why being laid off can be a helpful catalyst for thinking about what you actually want to do next. She shares what she has seen with clients who didn’t recognize how unhappy they were until they were laid off, why another legal job can make sense as a bridge job, and why it’s worth listening if your reaction to losing your job was, “Thank goodness.”

2:09 - Clients who didn’t realize how unhappy they were until they were laid off

2:53 - Asking yourself whether you actually want another legal job

3:18 - The practical reasons you might choose another job practicing law

4:04 - Feeling relief after a layoff is information

5:17 - Using another legal job as a bridge job instead of trying to prove something

7:09 - Listening to what your reaction to being laid off is telling you

Mentioned In Do You Actually Want Another Legal Job After a Layoff?

First Steps to Leaving the Law

1:1 Coaching with Sarah Cottrell