When I left a semi-prestigious law firm about 12 years ago, I swore that I was going to start my own law firm. I was 38 and knew my time as an associate attorney making a good salary would be soon over when partners at law firms would end up being younger than me. In a mid-size or large-size law firm setting, the associates are younger and do the bulk of the work. I was getting too old for the grind. Plus if you work for law firm partners, half of them aren’t nice people and aren’t very good at what they do.
When I left the third party administrator (TPA) I was at and before I joined that semi-prestigious Long Island law firm, I spent almost a year at a union side law firm called Cohen, Weiss & Simon. I don’t talk much about it. The pay was decent, the hours weren’t very good when the partner I worked for wanted me to stay and work with her, and she liked to work until 2 am. As someone who liked selling and didn’t like to mix politics with the job, it wasn’t my thing. One highlight was meeting Lisa Gomez, who was a partner there. Unlike most partners, she wasn’t arrogant and quite knowledgeable. When I heard she was nominated for the Employee Benefits Security Administration head, I was pleasantly surprised. Nice guys (or gals) don’t always finish last. When she finally does get approved, she will do a good job.
