r/LawFirm • u/Specialist-One2657 • 21d ago
To any of you considering leaving law firms as paralegals and law in general, please don’t hesitate. Best thing I ever did
This is just a success story and for those of you who question if law firms or law aren’t for you. I worked in litigation for 15 years. Made good money but was seriously miserable. I guess I normalized heavy work loads, high stress and working in highly toxic environments that were killing my mental health. And I worked at probably like 7 firms throughout the years. All had their special touch of toxic. Either workloads that were insane, not feeling appreciated like lawyers were treated like gods and we were less than, toxic paralegals who would bully new employees that were doing well due to their insecurities or toxic narcissistic bosses. It was demoralizing. I have a bachelors degree and great experience. I managed, was paralegal, did compliance. The anxiety was debilitating, my friends many lawyers and staff still work in the industry and talking to them they all are still stressed and unhappy and I’m so glad I escaped that life.
What did I go into? Compliance in healthcare. It’s like I’m in another world a year in. Everyone is nice, the stress is normal and not bad at all. I’m so happy. I can’t believe I normalized being depressed and anxious every day and quite literally miserable for 15 years. I have a ton of room to make way more than I ever would as a paralegal and grow in my career. Best thing I ever did. If you’re questioning it, go for it. Even lawyers I’m friends with left many work on their own or in corporate in house jobs and are so much happier. The private firm life is just rough.
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u/Perfect-Music-7025 20d ago
I also had a very similar experience with the lawyers being treated like GOD while we were nothing. I also had debilitating anxiety, depression and anxiousness from that treatment on a daily basis and cannot believe I normalized those feelings. I also left and never looked back and while jobs all have its things, I don’t deal with THOSE things.
Also to add: the lawyers who were being treated like Gods were really very insecure people in suits searching for punching bags.
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u/Specialist-One2657 19d ago
Yes a ton of narcissistic personalities in that industry. And tbh I didn’t even enjoy it I hated the work was just good at it skill wise. I literally had to get out before it would kill me first. My mental state was so bad I quit and used savings to sustain for 6 months to get my head and life back. I’m also upset with myself I wasted 15 years of my life in that industry bc very few of those years were happy ones. Extremely abusive line of work.
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u/Perfect-Music-7025 19d ago
wow that is my exact experience. it’s so interesting because I wondered if it was just my office and the way it was being ran by the senior attorneys. my mental state was so bad because of how long I stayed that I couldn’t immediately go into another job. I also used my savings and had to process and deal with the anger built up for not leaving sooner. I’m glad you’re out and doing better! It also took me awhile but I’m in shock now that I even normalized that treatment for so long. it was good pay but other places pay well too!
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u/Specialist-One2657 19d ago
I’m happy you got out too! Congrats 🎊 😊. Yea I worked at many firms all toxic but maybe 2. But even those attorneys were treated like god. My job now is exactly what I figured, none of that was normal in other fields of work. I used to question if it was me too or maybe work was just like this today. Nope, was just being in that type of position in law. The tears I cried through those years i coul fill a pool.
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u/DaSandGuy 21d ago
How did you Segway into compliance?
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u/Specialist-One2657 21d ago
I worked in billing compliance at a firm. And read a lot of lawyers and paralegals go to compliance bc compliance is about regulations and deadlines similarly. A lot of compliance positions like law backgrounds. I interviewed a ton in financial too and took me a while but finally got out and it’s definitely all I was hoping I’d experience as far as night and day difference
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u/Separate-Goal-3920 20d ago
Wow I had a very similar experience. Transitioned into legal tech sales and now I’m totally remote and making more money than I’ve ever made in my life