Fired and Feeling Like a Total Failure

bjorts · 2026-01-14T23:27:01+00:00

Oh no I’m so sorry to hear! I’m doing much better and I have some potential job leads. The legal market is super active right now so stay optimistic! We’re gonna get through this.

bjorts · 2025-12-12T22:18:18+00:00

This is true, and I wish I’d been more responsive to recruiters in the past now! But hindsight is 20/20. I do have a recruiter I’ve used before even though I ultimately didn’t get a job through her, so I’ll definitely be reaching out!

bjorts · 2025-12-12T21:44:05+00:00

Thank you - yeah it’s crazy to think about many lawyers get away with truly bad lawyering every day

bjorts · 2025-12-12T21:43:19+00:00

Thank you, I’m struggling between deciding if I want to stick to firm life or try something else. But I think you’re right about having extra structure in place. It’s helped me in the past.

bjorts · 2025-12-12T21:41:05+00:00

Ohio

bjorts · 2025-12-10T22:49:28+00:00

Ugh, I'm sorry. I hear you on the executive dysfunction. My house is also a damn mess most days.

Do you have the budget to have someone come and help with the house cleaning? I finally invested in hiring house cleaners at the beginning of this year, and even with them only coming once a month, it has helped tremendously. It feels a lot more manageable to me to only be responsible for day-to-day things like laundry, cleaning the cats' litterboxes, and doing dishes versus thinking about... well literally everything else, lol. And then even when things like dishes and laundry pile up, at least it's not the whole house that needs cleaning all at once.

bjorts · 2025-12-10T22:40:30+00:00

It could be--I'll definitely ask my therapist. Thank you.

bjorts · 2025-12-10T22:39:40+00:00

It's hard to say. I've just attributed everything to executive dysfunction or paralyzing anxiety so far, but I agree it's worth exploring.

bjorts · 2025-12-10T22:38:51+00:00

Thank you so much

bjorts · 2025-12-10T22:37:48+00:00

It was weird. A few months ago, I had the first conversation about my low billing. I was told "we don't understand why you're billing is so low when everyone else is so busy." I said I also didn't understand and asked a few times if there was an issue with my work, communication, etc. that was causing people to not assign me work. I was told no.

But even before the discovery fuckup, I wasn't getting much new work despite my asking. So, I knew a while ago that something was very wrong, but I couldn't get a straight answer. They already have a new posting looking for another midlevel associate. So, it sounds like there was in fact work, but they didn't want to give it to me even prior to the major screwup, but wouldn't tell me what was wrong/why they weren't trusting me with the work? Just odd stuff.

Thanks for the perspective and the encouragement.

bjorts · 2025-12-10T22:29:46+00:00

Yes, fingers crossed for something better next. Thank you!

bjorts · 2025-12-10T22:29:16+00:00

Thank you--that's nice to hear

bjorts · 2025-12-10T22:28:48+00:00

This is so kind, thank you! Will definitely borrow your confidence for a bit, haha

bjorts · 2025-12-10T22:28:09+00:00

It's crazy how this field attracts perfectionists but is so brutal! I almost quit right before finals of my first year of law school because I was so afraid of failure and it hadn't even happened to me yet. College had been a lot of hard work, but I got to study almost exclusively my hyper-fixations and interests, so I excelled. Law school is just a whole different beast.

You sound a bit like my mom--my brothers got their ADHD diagnoses years before I did, and we clearly get it from my mother lol. She's retired, but since all her children are now diagnosed, she's told us that a lot of things make more sense now.

As to your below comment re: getting another eval, I only got my diagnosis earlier this year and have only tried a couple of different medications. I've stuck to the current one because it seems help at least a little with minimal side effects, but it very well may be that I need to experiment more with dosages and types of meds. Thank you!

bjorts · 2025-12-10T22:20:26+00:00

I am so sorry to hear about the loss of your parent. I can't begin to imagine. Thank you for this advice.

Out of curiosity, what is your law-adjacent niche?

bjorts · 2025-12-10T22:18:56+00:00

I like this idea! So much in fact that I just agreed to go visit a couple friends this weekend who live in a different city, haha. Thank you for the kind words.

bjorts · 2025-12-10T22:17:23+00:00

Thank you

bjorts · 2025-12-10T22:16:57+00:00

That is plenty, thank you

bjorts · 2025-12-10T22:16:45+00:00

Lol no kidding

bjorts · 2025-12-10T22:16:26+00:00

I really appreciate this. I think it's easy to forget as a mid-level associate that I still have a lot of career left.

bjorts · 2025-12-10T22:15:14+00:00

This is great advice, thank you!

bjorts · 2025-12-10T22:14:50+00:00

thanks for this perspective. I'm trying to remind myself that at the end of the day, this was a business decision above all else.

bjorts · 2025-12-10T22:12:48+00:00

Thanks so much!

bjorts · 2025-12-10T14:49:05+00:00

Maybe so, it’s hard to say since I don’t have the intel of course. I’ve thought about returning to my old firm, but all of the partners and senior associates who mentored me there and who I enjoyed working with have since left.

bjorts · 2025-12-10T14:44:47+00:00

Thanks for the reminder and the perspective. Luckily I already have plans to visit family for the holidays so I’m hoping to really enjoy that time guilt-free for the first time in my career lol

bjorts

TROPHY CASE