Choices

My post-law school plans are officially in limbo again. I had planned on starting at the firm in the fall a few months after the bar exam. In the past, they've given incoming associates the choice of starting in September, October or November. As long as you started before December 1st, you would keep your standing in the class. I knew with the bad economy, my start date would likely be pushed back, and I was ok with that. I figured more time with Timmy couldn't be bad. At the same time, I would have been ok with them telling us we had to start in September. I feel ready for my career to begin and could use the money.

That was then. Now, I have two choices:

1. Start working at the end of 2009. Supposedly work is slowly but surely picking back up. I'm sure there still won't be much corporate work to go around, but it sounds like they think they'd have enough work to keep us employed. (we don't have to pick a department until our third year of working).

2. Defer starting until fall of 2010 and take a stipend (roughly 45% of what my salary would be). Upon starting, I would be a stub-associate, i.e. 1 year behind the people I summered with.

Maybe it's because the shock still hasn't worn off, but I feel really (and surprisingly) conflicted about what to do. It seems like a year of free money (and to some extent it is), but there is a little more to it than that.

I'm not sure what I would do for that extra year. The idea is that we'll take jobs doing pro-bono work or volunteer for something, but we're not obligated to do anything. In the words of the Recruiting Committee partner, we can sit on a beach for 12 months, they don't care. I could just stay home with Timmy, but if the economy hasn't improved, that's an empty year on my resume in probably the most crowded market for legal jobs ever. If I take on some pro bono type job, I have to figure out child care, which will probably be too expensive once I have to start paying back student loans. Of course there is the best case scenario that I could get another paid job. I have kind of wanted to try out wills and estate planning, which isn't really a big-firm practice area, so this could be a good opportunity to do it if there is a job available.

There is also the uncertainty of how either choice will affect my career. If I start in 2009, I may have work, but it's likely not the kind of work I would want to build my career on. If I start in 2010, presumably there will be more finance, corporate and tax work, but there will also be many more associates trying to get work (current 2Ls and 3Ls).

I'm leaning towards deferring because it just seems like a once-in-a-lifetime offer. Theoretically, I could do ANYTHING in that year off. PJO could look for a job in Hawaii or Europe or Aspen. I could spend as much time as my heart desires with Timmy until he's 22 months old, much more time than I had anticipated. More than anything though, I want to do what's best for me and my family.

I am feeling so grateful that my job is still open for me (at least for the moment). With so much turmoil in the legal world and so many people being laid off (including at my future firm), I am kind of dumbfounded by my lucky timing. The class ahead of me was fair game for layoffs. The class below me has a much harder summer and job prospect facing them. Beyond that general timing, I'm so blessed that this choice is coming to me so soon after having a baby. If there's anyone that such a deferral program could benefit, it's probably me. My heart goes out to all the people who have lost their jobs and are looking now.

So ... what would you do?