sschoe2 wrote: ↑Tue Apr 20, 2021 1:22 pm
Enjoyment and stimulation at work is a first world problem.
Thank you for summing up my quandary in a much simpler fashion than I could.
Some have asked “how can you complain that it is boring, but like that it is easy,” and the above is generally the answer. The practice of law is generally fun because someone is paying you a hefty sum to figure out a very complicated problem.
As I have alluded to in another exchange in this thread, this just isn’t the case in government work. All of the complicated litigation gets referred to outside counsel. You are left with going through public records requests, researching silly issues, or going through labor negotiations where you have a hard time paying attention because you are so taken aback that this many government resources are being used to determine if firefighters get time and a half on Columbus Day.
Private practice is not a panacea, but it is certainly more interesting than government work.
The hitch, however, is that I’m well aware this government job provides a nice spring board at a nice time in my career. Someone else has correctly mentioned that this could ultimately get leveraged into a more interesting and substantive government job.
Financially speaking, without this job, my household income is likely $100,000/year until I increase the private practice. With this job it is effectively $180,000 plus extremely generous benefits.
The question, therefore, is how long you put up with the mundane government job. I asked in my initial post whether you would use asset targets, net worth targets, financial targets (e.g., payoff student loans, vesting schedules), etc.
So, I’m well aware I’m lucky enough to be dealing with a first world problem. But those are the cards in my hand, and I’m just trying to figure it out.