Question for the Lawyers.. Re: Switching jobs

This is about my Dh not me. He works for the city right now as an Attorney and for various reason is looking to leave. My questions are:
1) How hard is it to swicth areas of Law?

2)Do you think he will have to take a pay cut.

He feels that although he has 10 years exp as an attorney he worked in a very specific area of the city and is not that common of an area of law so it may be hard for him to get a job with his current pay?
Also he has a ton of flexibility which i know whill have to change with a new job but my next question is... How many hours do you work and how much flexibility do you have?

Message edited 6/1/2009 7:24:59 AM.

Re: Question for the Lawyers.. Re: Switching jobs

Is he looking for a job in a firm? Another gov't job? An in-house job?

Re: Question for the Lawyers.. Re: Switching jobs

What area of law has he been practicing for the past 10 years? Some types of experience are readily transferable to other areas of law and may make him marketable outside his area of expertise.

Whether or not he'll have to take a pay cut will depend on a lot of things. Generally (not always) government work pays less than private practice... but one starting over in a completely new area of law may need to start at ground level again. Pay varies significantly in the legal profession based on employer (firm, corporation, government), experience, type of law, etc.

I work for a large law firm. 50 hours a week for me is a good (slow) week... 60+ is the norm now. The hours are definitely a downer. I'm on track to bill over 2500 hours this year... NOT by choice!

Good luck to him!