u/Radiant_Landscape901

Long story short, I was recently let go from my firm without much of an explanation, just how great I am and how I’m the best associate they had, and bla bla bla. That’s not the point of this post though. During my time at this firm, I had been doing well, had strong relationships with adjusters/clients, and even had adjusters specifically request me on certain files. I genuinely cared about the work and the relationships I built.

My question is: is it appropriate for me to reach out to adjusters/clients I had good working relationships with and simply say something like:

“Hey, I just wanted to let you know I’m no longer with the firm. You’re in good hands, but I truly appreciated working with you. This is my personal number if you ever need anything.”

A few adjusters had previously told me that if I ever left the firm, they would want to continue working with me/follow me wherever I went. Few clients also expressed their satisfaction with me saying they would keep my number for the future just in case. Few of the cases with those adjusters/clients are ongoing and very much still open. But I’m not sure whether I should reach out first or just wait and see if they contact me on their own.

I don’t want to do anything inappropriate or look like I’m trying to poach anyone. I just want to preserve the professional relationships I built.

Would you reach out, or would you wait if you were me? Also, important to mention is that I’m not at any firm, yet. I’m taking a little time off and focusing on myself and family for few months. I got three job offers already, one from plaintiff’s counsel who I worked with on one of the cases, another one from co-counsel on one of the cases, and third one was this morning.. guy I briefly met at one of the conferences who heard I got laid off and wanted to offer me a job. Legal community is a small community lol that said , I have not decided where I’m going, yet.

Anyways, would like to hear your thoughts!

Got fired by text out of nowhere this week and honestly I’m still trying to make logical sense of it.

When I asked for a reason, all I got was:
“You’re amazing.”
“You’re one of the best associates we’ve had.”
“You did nothing wrong.”
“We support you with whatever you need.”
“I had to make an impossible decision.”

So naturally I’m sitting there like… okay? Then why am I being fired?😂😂 the day I got fired, partner that fired me told me what a great job I was doing because clients were happy with my work. So logically, I’m confused but at the same time I’m not trying to speculate and spend more time than I already did thinking about it.

What makes it weirder is that I was one of the top billers in the office, clients specifically requested me on files, and I was constantly getting positive feedback. I was also regularly helping other associates. Opposing counsel had even asked if I’d ever consider switching firms lol

The only thing I can think of is culture/politics honestly. I never really participated in the whole after-hours drinking/social scene with partners and their little office minions. Some people basically lived for the clique dynamic and I stayed out of it. Would not shock me at all if people were saying things behind the scenes or pushing narratives. One associate literally made comments before about wanting my office, which in hindsight is kind of funny.

That said, I’m not even devastated about it because the culture had become incredibly toxic and I had already seen some absurd things happen there. I’ve been contemplating about leaving but never made that step so actually I’m grateful this happened because it gave me that push. The whole thing honestly just confirmed a lot of my instincts.

Now I’m mostly conflicted about next steps. I have a baby and part of me wants to take a few months off and reset mentally before jumping back into practicing. I am also considering moving to DC, which would mean potentially studying for another bar and deciding whether I want to stay in the same practice area or pivot completely.

I was in ID before this, for context.

So I guess my question is: How bad does it actually look career-wise to take some time off after something like this? I want to figure out what’s going on and what I want to do. I always knew ID was not for me but I became so good at it, i stayed longer than I planned lol.

Any advice/ perspective is welcomed!

Got fired by text out of nowhere this week and honestly I’m still trying to make logical sense of it.

When I asked for a reason, all I got was:
“You’re amazing.”
“You’re one of the best associates we’ve had.”
“You did nothing wrong.”
“We support you with whatever you need.”
“I had to make an impossible decision.”

So naturally I’m sitting there like… okay? Then why am I being fired?😂😂 the day I got fired, partner that fired me told me what a great job I was doing because clients were happy with my work. So logically, I’m confused but at the same time I’m not trying to speculate and spend more time than I already did thinking about it.

What makes it weirder is that I was one of the top billers in the office, clients specifically requested me on files, and I was constantly getting positive feedback. I was also regularly helping other associates. Opposing counsel had even asked if I’d ever consider switching firms lol

The only thing I can think of is culture/politics honestly. I never really participated in the whole after-hours drinking/social scene with partners and their little office minions. Some people basically lived for the clique dynamic and I stayed out of it. Would not shock me at all if people were saying things behind the scenes or pushing narratives. One associate literally made comments before about wanting my office, which in hindsight is kind of funny.

That said, I’m not even devastated about it because the culture had become incredibly toxic and I had already seen some absurd things happen there. I’ve been contemplating about leaving but never made that step so actually I’m grateful this happened because it gave me that push. The whole thing honestly just confirmed a lot of my instincts.

Now I’m mostly conflicted about next steps. I have a baby and part of me wants to take a few months off and reset mentally before jumping back into practicing. I am also considering moving to DC, which would mean potentially studying for another bar and deciding whether I want to stay in the same practice area or pivot completely.

I was in ID before this, for context.

So I guess my question is: How bad does it actually look career-wise to take some time off after something like this? I want to figure out what’s going on and what I want to do. I always knew ID was not for me but I became so good at it, i stayed longer than I planned lol.

Any advice/ perspective is welcomed!