Last Day

Well, today's the last day at the job--the managing partner sent out a kind farewell note to the firm yesterday and I sent my own farewell messages as well. It was sort of like a series finale for a TV show--everyone coming by to say their goodbyes, various kind emails indicating sorrow and expressing best hopes in my job search. I almost expect the return of popular characters who left the show two seasons ago! But today's a day of wrapping up, and just about everything's done. I will certainly miss this place.

Four and a half years ago, when I first came to the firm (and Portland, for that matter) we had a growing, big client and a practice group that was expanding. (It would double in size during the time I was here). Of course, those years were gravy--I was consistently meeting billable hour targets and getting the bonuses. But alas, the collapse of the securitization market meant an implosion in the credit industry, and this caused a precipitous dropoff in work earlier this year, requiring us to let go of two employees almost immediately. The hope was that we could hold on until more work picked up, but this sadly has not happened as more and more banks cut back. Finally, the axe had to fall on me and another of our attorneys, bringing the practice group down in size to handle a smaller workload. Unfortunate that this has to happen, but understandable. It's just not a good time for this economy.

Where to now? That's the tough question. My experience is in a niche area of law, but that niche is hurting right now. I'm going to have to find something somewhere though.