midsummer

The working full-time thing, it's going okay so far. I'm halfway through my summer, now at the second of the two firms I'm working at for the summer. I will have to make up my mind as to which firm I'll join in a year at the end of the summer, but that is then and this is now and I'm mostly ignoring that decision for the time being.

And I will be joining that firm in a year, specifically late October 2007. After much analysis and a little bit of angst, I decided not to apply for clerkships this year. Instead, I will work for either one or two years, and then apply if I'm still interested.

The timing of the clerkship was a factor in our decision. My husband and I talked it over, and we decided that we want a mellow year. We want a year to relax, to prepare for the following year, which will be a year of adjustment as I return full-time to the working world. (Both firms offer part-time work, but part-time is not available until after I have worked full-time for a year. Of course, whether part-time work is a realistic option is another question entirely.) We want time together as a family, unencumbered by the logistics of a pending move.

If we move to another part of the country for a clerkship, which is a possibility, we'll essentially have to start packing and planning during the school year, except for the time when I'm studying for the bar. We'll have to find renters, pack our house up, get a storage facility, find a place to live, find a good preschool for Nathaniel, and a million other details. Even if I could get a judge to agree to a late September start date, it would still mean that I would take the bar and then immediately start preparing for a major move. We would get no time off, no chance to unwind from the long bar march, and certainly no chance of any bar trip. It didn't sound right to either of us. We want a 3L year in all its unhurried glory.

The reality is that we do not know how firm life is going to go. I like the people at both firms, I've liked the work, and both firms have working mothers, which is a good sign. But who knows, really, until we're in the thick of it?

In two years, we'll have a much better idea of how that life is going. Perhaps a clerkship will be an interesting intellectual break, at the end of which I'll be ready to jump back into firm life. But it's also possible that after two years, a clerkship will be a graceful exit out of firm life, a well-respected way of slipping out the door.

It took a long time to reach that decision, but it feels right to both of us.

Comments

[zuska]

I went through SUCH a similar decision process, with the same result. i wasn't considering moving, since I moved my 3rd and 5th graders HERE to attend law school - any applications sent would have to stay within the state where I'm attending school. But I just am feeling done - and also see the opportunity as returning upon my exit (when and if) from firm life.

It's nice to read that you came to the same decision. Makes me feel better.

[bt]

I, too, did the soul-searching and came to the same conclusion, but for slightly different reasons.

http://bitingtongue.blogspot.com/2005_05_01_bitingtongue_archive.html#111609634477454087

[Rayne of Terror]

Sounds like s good plan. I wish I had as much planning done for after graduation as you do. I'm investigating various options, elder law, tax, or back into politics, but am kind of waiting to see what openings are available to determine where I'm going.

[transmogriflaw]

Thanks, all. Zuska, I'm glad you felt the same way I did.