Happy New Year everyone! As you may have guessed by now, I’m closing down this blog. Because… I’m launching a new blog to coincide with leaving my thirteen year career as a business litigation attorney and clearing a new path for myself one machete stroke at a time.
While the background, journey and what the new year will bring will be detailed on my new blog sarahkkohut.com, here’s a brief glimpse of why I’m making the change.
A Little Background
When certain members of my family firmly drummed into me that “movie star” was not a realistic career goal and writer was also not acceptable, I did what I was expected to do from childhood. I went to law school. (My father and grandfather are both attorneys.)
$120,000 in student loans later I became a business litigator. The work was interesting and mentally challenging – sometimes – but beyond my inherent desire to always succeed and excel, the only thing motivating me was paying off those student loans. Was I passionate about my profession? No.
As I advanced in my career and began working on bigger and bigger cases I grew more dispassionate and just downright frustrated with the legal system. Here’s the thing: anybody can file a lawsuit against anyone for anything whether it has legal merit or not. With enough savvy, the lawsuit can be worded well enough to avoid a dismissal at any early stage. Plus, judges give plaintiffs every break in the book for fear of dismissing a case that actually has merit.
For the past ten years, I have spent my time defending companies (yes, “big bad” Fortune 500 and 100 corporations) against frivolous, and I do mean frivolous lawsuits. Every one of these actions has been attorney driven – my favorite example is the one where in need of a plaintiff (the person who allegedly was harmed) the law firm in question conveniently “found one” in the form of the attorney’s best friend’s boyfriend. Oh, and then there was the one where the plaintiff was the attorney’s husband. And the plaintiff who was the paralegal for the attorney in question and was the plaintiff in no less than 30 lawsuits. In the middle of my tenure, California passed Prop 64 in an attempt to stem the tide on these types of lawsuits. It reduced them from a flood to a rushing river.
But here’s the thing that fundamentally bothers me, these types of cases drag on for years – think 5-10 years – and at the end of the day, the defendant (in this case the “big, bad company”) is left with two options: (1) settle cheap to stem the blood loss from attorney’s fees or (2) win, but several millions dollars poorer because in consumer cases the defendant can rarely receive a dime back of its attorney’s fees and in these types of cases the attorney’s are working constantly (if the plaintiff wins they also win their fees, however - welcome to the world of consumer class actions). And if you’re thinking, “Whatever, corporations can afford it,” let me remind you that there is a very good chance that you, your parents, and/or your grandparents are shareholders of one or more of these corporations and your pension or retirement fund is tied in part to their profits. In other words, when a corporation has to pay out on a frivolous lawsuit you and your granny lose a little bit too.
The Wake-Up Call
Frustration and disillusionment eventually started making itself known physically. A “flu” that lasted six months. Lack of focus. An inability to crawl out of bed on workdays in less than an hour. When my doctor suggested I might want to think about antidepressants, a fire was finally lit. Message received. Forget the pills, I’m going to fix my life.
The Process
Easier said then done. I implemented extreme saving, set a deadline for myself, and gave nine months notice. My last day as an attorney was supposed to be December 31, 2011. Of course it didn’t work out that way. But any day now I will be free and if you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to chuck it all and chart a new course, I hope you will join me on my journey at www.sarahkkohut.com (coming late Jan/early Feb) and on twitter @sarahkkohut.
UPDATE: www. sarahkkohut.com launches February 20, 2012.
Wishing you all health, happiness and the best 2012 has to offer.
-Sarah-
Filed under: Challenges
Wow! It is such an exciting and liberating post! I’m so glad I got to read it, and I can’t wait to follow you on your journey. I think it is so important to listen to our hearts…and to get out of situations that aren’t making us feel healthy and fulfilled. Thank you for sharing. You are an amazing woman who will continue to do great things.
OH MY GOSH sarah…seriously we are living identical lives. I was so sick this summer and it was all stress related to my job. I have been too afraid to chuck it all, but finally made them agree to a 4 day work schedule and i’m setting other goals for that free day now so I can start pursing other things.
what will you be doing???
I’m so sorry you’ve moved up to the stress sickness level but so happy you decided to and your work agreed to let you go to 4 days. I’m looking forward to hearing about what you’re pursuing in your off days.
As for me, I’ll be trying to eke out a living freelance writing. I’ll also be putting my frequent flier miles to use and traveling (trips to Taiwan and Australia are in the works). I’m also serving on the Board of Directors for the Friends of the Seattle Public Library which is a very active board. It should be an interesting year.
Thanks so much Denise, and what a great movie line – it captures things perfectly.
CONGRATS!! This is a liberating post to read. I feel like there’s been a steady revolution going on for the past year or two with people making decisions based on personal happiness versus practical needs. Not that anyone’s advocating crazy changes, but it sounds like you’ve put in your time, you’ve more than earned the right to pursue some personal happiness. I have to think of that sappy but wonderful line from Steel Magnolias when a very earnest, wide-eyed Julia Roberts pleads that she’d rather have ten seconds of wonderful than a lifetime of nothing special.