A Year Later, Ex-Thacher Lawyer Realizes Optimism Was Wrong

When Thacher Proffitt & Wood dissolved last year, lawyer Fanni Koszeg figured she could take it easy before looking for a job.

Koszeg, 36, thought she might take the summer off and then find a public interest job. Now, a year later, Koszeg realizes she was too optimistic, the Associated Press reports.

“That was very naive of me,'' Koszeg told AP. ''Now, all of the other law firms have been laying off hundreds of lawyers.''

Koszeg is facing some stiff competition. Last year the number of unemployed lawyers increased 66 percent, reaching a 10-year high of 20,000, according to AP.

And those numbers don’t account for the lawyers looking for work as a result of massive layoffs announced by large law firms in the last three months—more than 3,300 have lost their jobs so far this year, according to LawShucks.

Another laid-off lawyer is 33-year-old Karla Cortes, who lost her job with the Nature Conservancy last November. ''I hope to find a job soon,'' Cortes told AP. ''Otherwise, I will have to return to Puerto Rico because my savings will be depleted.''

Tim Brown, 32, was laid off more recently from his job working on franchise law for the National Auto Dealers Association. He told AP he has sent out hundreds of resumés since his layoff March 26, yet he hasn’t gotten a single interview. ''My computer is about to die with the amount of resumés I've sent out,'' he said.