You Got Laid Off at Big Law - Really, You Don't Have to Get Frozen in Time

Despair is the default mindset for most of those cut loose from Big Law. 

During the meeting with Human Resources and a partner, the lucrative compensation, prestige and crack at stimulating assignments went poof - at least for the time being. Too often those axed remain emotionally stuck for too long or even until they retire or die. Continually they replay what they could have, should have done.

The bad news is that you are likely to do that. Humans tend to be wired that way.



The good news from the Tarot is that you don't have to get stuck in a time warp. Immediately you can parachute into strategies of how to extract what's marketable from that experience and get out there and sell it. For example, no one can take away from you that you have Big Law experience. Inventory your skills. Study help-wanted ads to connect the dots on what is needed and what language you can use to align your unique experience with that. 

The ethos of the mystical Tarot is inherently optimistic. The New York Times provides detailed instructions on how you can read the Tarot cards for a DIY.

Why you might not instantly take that leap into possibility is that, when in a setback, humans tend to focus primarily on the headwinds. They ignore the tailwinds which they can harness to give them an edge. In his 2023 bestseller "Anatomy of a Breakthrough," Adam Alter hammers:

" ... we pay far more attention to our barriers (or headwinds) than our blessings (tailwinds) which lead us to believe we face more opposition than we actually do."

Alter's book is about how to get unstuck. All humans will, he documents, get stuck at one or more times. Perhaps our first encounter with stuckness is resisting the rite of passage from college to having to earn a living.

You bet, the tailwind concept can be mighty useful. You can dig into that line of thought more by studying the research of S. Davidai and T. Gilovich. One source is the article "The Headwinds/Tailwinds Asymmetry" in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 111 (2016).

Among those in Big Law the most tailwinds-oriented lawyer I have gotten to know is long-term Paul Weiss chair Brad Karp. The partners voted him in during the crushing global downturn of 2008. Yet, he had confidence demand would bounce back. Unlike so many other law-firm leaders, Karp didn't lay off junior lawyers. During Covid he racked up record Profit Per Equity Partner. Despite the current falloff in law-firm demand he is hiring, not laying off. That includes poaching top talent from other firms. In SuperLawyers, Karp himself best sums up his refusal to become stuck:

"In difficult matters, I will think about my clients' problems ... until a solution emerges."

Seizing the momentum of tailwinds is not toxic positivity. It's the standard recovery formula for lawyers who got knocked out of the box in 2001, 2008-2009, and currently. I have been honored to coach a number of them.

Data or the gut for your careers and communications? Both of course. Complimentary consultation with intuitive coach, content-creator, and Tarot reader Jane Genova (text 202-468-8579, janegenova374@gmail.com).


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Painful Long Half-Life of Trauma: Did Prince William Marry His Mother?

Image
  It was September 6, 1997. A number of psychics such as myself entered a grief trance. We became one with the trauma of Princes William and Harry as they walked behind the coffin of their mother Diana. The pain, I keep picking up, likely hasn’t abated in substantive ways. (Currently, it is agreed, placing them in that forever visual of their personal histories was thoughtless and cruel.) Here we are. It is said that boys marry their mother and Harry seemed to do exactly that in choosing Meghan Markle. Like Diana, she was never going to fit in. There was going to be lots of hurt to go around.  The surprise, though, is that the supposedly less fragile William might also have married his mother in choosing Kate Middleton. We don’t know that, do we? But there is reason to speculate that’s might have been exactly what occurred. Amid the conspiracy theories circling about MIA Middleton (There has been a recent photo op of her mother driving her in car), is this one in the 03-11-24 edi
Read more

Yes, There Are Content Workers - Many of Them Are Freelancers

"A majority of workers feel they’re fairly paid, but at the top of the list are independent workers across all industries, according to a recent survey of 2,500 American workers. The findings suggest that while earning what you think you’re worth is important, so is having some power over when and how much you work for the money." -  The Wall Street Journal, June 26, 2023 Today we call them "freelancers." Among them is Paul Chaney whose field is communications. On the all-important LinkedIn Profile , Chaney actually uses that term: freelancer . Not so long ago, those watching his back would have nudged him to go by the moniker "consultant." Recently, Chaney had me as a guest on a podcast about how the over-50 (who, of course, encounter so much ageism), can freelance. It received an award from Media Dimensions. Here you listen to that podcast and perhaps find your own way to freelancing.  Contentment with one's work has become the new American Dream.
Read more

The Long Half Life of The Feel-Good (from doing good)

Image
The for-sales could have run on Craigslist for 16 more days.  Then came that Ah-Ha moment. Given the low prices you get for used furniture, even though in excellent condition, why not just donate the barely used innovative bed set, artsy storage chest/prism, snow-removal equipment and karma icons.  I knocked on a neighbor's door. When I described the goodies her face lit up. You bet, she said, her husband would be right down the stairs to bring up their new stuff.  Their five-year-old would tag along with some of her stuffed animals to place immediately in the chest.  That family is delighted. The glow spills over to me. And I need that as I continue to put together the logistics for relocating back to Sierra Vista, Arizona. It's a must move, so soon after coming here to the Midwest.  Those who had heard of me back in AZ have offered me contracts for ongoing tarot reading sessions. The region has three resort areas.  Here there is only one resort area - Geneva on the Lake - and
Read more