Thread: A tough decision:

This is my philosophy.

You can never win if you don't play the game. You have to take risks in life. The trick is knowing which risks to take. If you're younger, with fewer responsibilities, take bigger risks.

The only reason why I have anything is because I took risks. Sometimes they paid off, sometimes they didn't. But every risk I have taken has been worth it because I've either profited from it monetarily or I've learned something I could use the next time around.

My $0.02.

Originally Posted by tjf

I just thought I would pose a hypothetical based on what a friend of mine is currently going through. We are both attorneys, but I think this will translate to any business path:

My friend and I graduated law school together and both got jobs at relatively well respected corporate defense firms in our hometown. For those that dont know, corporate defense is a steady salaried paycheck, but you will never get the chance at the big payoff like a plaintiff's attorney (what most would refer to as an "ambulance chaser").

We have both decided to make moves to other employers, and I recently went to another large defense firm. He has a couple outstanding offers: one from a defense firm, and one with a buddy who wants to open his own plaintiffs practice.

What type of personality are you? Are you a gambler that will risk going belly up for the big score, or would you take the safe route and make a comfy paycheck knowing that there will never be a Veyron or a Corporate Jet in your future?

Just FYI, I am a safe route kind of guy (and unapologetically so).

Your situation sounds like the path in the road presented to my buddy -- let me tell you how it turned out for him. My guy took the risky route, lived large and is now regretting his decision.

My buddy and I went to a Top law school. He did not care about his grades or his class rank. (I was just the opposite.) He just needed his diploma because he intended to start his own PI firm in Vegas upon graduation.

When he graduated, he realized that he could not hang up his own shingle without meaningful trial experience. He gets a lowly defense job with a high volume insurance defense firm; guy, gets immediate trial experience on pissant matters. He doesn't care because it helps him sharpen his "on the feet skills." Fast forward 3 years, he now has substantial experience and contacts. He has offers from larger more prestigious law firms, but wants to start his own PI practice. (His soon to be wife wants him to stay the course and not risk it on his own business.)

He decided to roll the dice and was rewarded handsomely. His practice grew into a high volume PI practice with 5 paralegals helping him with managing his cases. He was doing 6 figures a month (settlement payouts on the various PI claims.)

With his wealth and notoriety, he became the man in Vegas. He had all access passes to the best places on the Strip; he called LV his town. He did everything which he bragged about doing in law school: he went to strip bars for lunch so he could pick up that night's date. Dude was living large.

Well, the fast life caught up to him. His wife catches him in bed with a stripper, divorces him and takes half of his wealth. He later develops a bad meth habit and is arrested for beating up on his baby momma (a stripper), and is disbarred. His practice goes into the dumps.

Where is he now? He is working with the TSA (and kicks himself for not staying the course, but he does admit to enjoying himself while it lasted.)

Originally Posted by orlando333

Your situation sounds like the path in the road presented to my buddy -- let me tell you how it turned out for him. My guy took the risky route, lived large and is now regretting his decision.

My buddy and I went to a Top law school. He did not care about his grades or his class rank. (I was just the opposite.) He just needed his diploma because he intended to start his own PI firm in Vegas upon graduation.

When he graduated, he realized that he could not hang up his own shingle without meaningful trial experience. He gets a lowly defense job with a high volume insurance defense firm; guy, gets immediate trial experience on pissant matters. He doesn't care because it helps him sharpen his "on the feet skills." Fast forward 3 years, he now has substantial experience and contacts. He has offers from larger more prestigious law firms, but wants to start his own PI practice. (His soon to be wife wants him to stay the course and not risk it on his own business.)

He decided to roll the dice and was rewarded handsomely. His practice grew into a high volume PI practice with 5 paralegals helping him with managing his cases. He was doing 6 figures a month (settlement payouts on the various PI claims.)

With his wealth and notoriety, he became the man in Vegas. He had all access passes to the best places on the Strip; he called LV his town. He did everything which he bragged about doing in law school: he went to strip bars for lunch so he could pick up that night's date. Dude was living large.

Well, the fast life caught up to him. His wife catches him in bed with a stripper, divorces him and takes half of his wealth. He later develops a bad meth habit and is arrested for beating up on his baby momma (a stripper), and is disbarred. His practice goes into the dumps.

Where is he now? He is working with the TSA (and kicks himself for not staying the course, but he does admit to enjoying himself while it lasted.)

Sounds like your buddy has poor moral fabric, not poor business sense. You don't need to be making 6 figures per month to do meth and sleep with strippers.

To the OP, I'd roll the dice, you only live once.

XXX,XXX a month gets you a hell of a lot of meth and strippers though!

Originally Posted by RAWMEAN

^^ agree %100. You have to really measure that against what you have to lose, If you are young and flexible, do it, take the gamble, what can happen. If you dont make it you can always go back to the other job but if you have responsibilities such as a family and kids then thats a different story but remember you will never ever climb the ladder without taking some risks. But it all depends on you and what you want from life.

I agree with Raw. You need to analize the risk to reward ratio, and be realistic with your "comfort" zone. Risk can be stressfull but the potential rewards are better. I am a calculating risk taker. Heres my take on safe VS risk in your situation. Safe = same paycheck and a false sence of security. Remember, no one has a safe job in a failing economy, 20 years down the road you will still be asking yourself "what if". By then you will have more responsibilities and it will be much harder to make a change. Risk = Do your homework and make sure you and your law partners are willing to WORK HARD. Approach it like you have nothing to fall back on, and you can make it work.

Originally Posted by RAWMEAN

^^ agree %100. You have to really measure that against what you have to lose, If you are young and flexible, do it, take the gamble, what can happen. If you dont make it you can always go back to the other job but if you have responsibilities such as a family and kids then thats a different story but remember you will never ever climb the ladder without taking some risks. But it all depends on you and what you want from life.

+1

If you have kids & wifey - Safe route.
If it's just you - Gamble route.

Success always involves some risk.

Originally Posted by Spencer

Sounds like your buddy has poor moral fabric, not poor business sense. You don't need to be making 6 figures per month to do meth and sleep with strippers.

To the OP, I'd roll the dice, you only live once.

Funny, he was the most humble guy in law school. He lived like a monk; he never partied; he had no girlfriend; he rarely went out with friends; and about his only diversion was watching SC football and Dodger baseball. (He certainly did not study.)

When he hit Vegas and money started flowing in, he was transformed. Dude lost about 30 pounds, pulled all the chicks, was one of the most outgoing guys I have ever met, and his goal in life was to have fun to the fullest extent possible.

Whether he had poor "moral fabric" is not for me to say; but I do know this: power corrupted him to change.

He is now grunting it out in Hawaii as a TSA agent.

It's not only about the risk and money, it's about the work. I wouldn't want to be a PI attorney even if it was the safe and lucrative choice.

I face similar decisions (government work v. large firm) all the time. I wish your buddy all the best in making this decision.

The way I see it, being afraid of failure is to go against success. During my relatively short career, I've jumped on plenty of unsure things. Won some and lost some.

As long as the people around you don't have to compromise with their way of life, wife or children, the worst thing that could happen is that it didn't work out and you'd fall back into another steady job until you've built enough confidence for the next venture.