Marathon No Problem for Laid-Off Lawyer, But Finding New Job Is Harder

Lynne Zagami has never been afraid of a challenge.

As her resumé notes, she wrestled for four years on her high school's boys varsity team. Last year, she completed the Boston Marathon.

And, after being laid off from a $170,000-a-year job as a corporate associate in the Boston office of Brown Rudnick, she mapped out a game plan and approached the hunt for new work with the same dedication and drive that have helped her succeed throughout her life, according to the American Lawyer. The magazine article is reprinted in New York Lawyer (reg. req.).

But now, nearly nine months after she got the word on Nov. 19, 2008 that she was going to lose her job, the 31-year-old Smith College graduate is still looking. She has set up an office in her living room and has landed a temporary job as a paralegal. Meanwhile, she has $125,000 in student loans after graduating from New York Law School, the magazine recounts.

"But I do try to keep everything in perspective," Zagami says. "Over a potentially 40-year career, this is just one year that sucks."