So rather than regurgitating something from ATL three or four days after it gets posted I thought I’d share my news and my plan.  I think step one is self-explanatory if you read the title.  The last straw you might ask? One of those canned “farewell” emails that a laid off associate who still believes in the networking fairy sends out instead of putting as many of his belongings as possible in a bag before security arrives.  This farewell was special though.

Was it sarcastic? Did it rip the firm a new one? No.  Was it a stream of consciousness nervous breakdown?  No that wasn’t it. Read on to find out but if you’re an above the fold type person I will give you a hint.  It has to do with the length.   It was exactly three and a half sentences.

As some of you may know today will be my last day at the firm.  I will be leaving to pursue new opportunities. I enjoyed my time here and appreciated the opportunity to grow professionally. I plan to remain in the area for the time being so please feel

Please feel what? It sounded like she was going to say “please feel free to contact me” and perhaps some personal contact info was to follow.  It wasn’t until I saw this at the bottom that I realized what happened “sent from Mobile.”  So as near as I can recreate the scenario this woman was literally typing her farewell email when the blackberry was snatched out of her hand.  That’s not how you treat people.

So what did I do?  I decided to take a page out of the Mike Triforce playbook.  I stopped going to work and when I WAS at work I spent my time looking for other jobs.  Jobs that had nothing to do with the practice of law. When I found my new job I told the firm that I would have to cut back to part time.  We’ll see how long it takes for them to fire me.  In the meantime I get two checks! Hooray!

The best part however is that by switching jobs out of the legal industry I have discovered a way to finish my JD for practically nothing and pick up another degree to boot.  I am more optimistic about the future than I have been in a long time.  I think I will save that for another post though.