Emily Hayes knew what she was getting into when she became a lawyer.
Long hours, difficult customers and billing pressure are synonymous with this job. But for Hayes, the intellectual challenge and the opportunity to help people made those sacrifices feel worthwhile.
What she didn’t expect was how quickly Burnout – or how much her job would overshadow other areas of her life.
Hayes, 32, graduated from Stanford Law School in 2019. She spent the next two years working at a large international law firm in Redwood Shores, California, followed by a clerkship at the Federal District Court in Portland, Oregon.
In October 2021, she joined O’Melveny & Myers, a large law firm in Los Angeles, as an associate.
After years of moving between jobs and cities, Hayes was optimistic about this new chapter in her career.
Her colleagues supported her, the tasks were exciting and the pay was generous. By the time she turned 30, Hayes was earning over $300,000 a year.
But beneath the surface, the grief was taking its toll.
Her “breaking point” came in April 2023. Hayes had to work overtime on a Saturday morning to prepare for arbitration, just hours after she left the office at 11 p.m. the previous evening. She was preparing for a big court hearing, but her stress and exhaustion had been building for months.
As she stared at her computer screen that morning, she collapsed. She recalls, “I started sobbing” because someone close to her was going through a difficult time and she regretted being in the office instead of supporting them at home.
“It felt like I had to decide whether I wanted to go into my job the way I was expected to or whether I wanted to show myself to the people I love the way I wanted to,” says she CNBC Do it. “I panicked because of the tension between the two of them.”
Hayes adds: “Working in a law firm can make your life so unpredictable. You can never expect to have free time in the evening or log off before 10 p.m. I think you have to really love the work you do to do this job.” Saving your time makes you feel worthwhile.
In that moment, Hayes made a silent promise to herself that she would find a new job within a year.
Switching from law to technology
This spring, Hayes began reaching out to former classmates and colleagues for advice. Through these conversations, she learned about a growing career path in the legal industry: product consulting.
Product consulting positions that are particularly popular in Silicon Valley involve working internally at technology companies to provide legal and regulatory advice on products and services.
Unlike traditional law firm positions, product advisor positions often combine legal expertise with business strategy. “You’re a little less concerned with the law and a lot more concerned with business strategy, which I’ve always been very interested in,” Hayes explains.
In October, a Stanford classmate mentioned that the tech company she worked for in San Francisco was hiring for product consultant positions.
The job came with two compromises: Hayes had to relocate to San Francisco, and the base salary was about $220,000 in addition to an annual bonus that began after her first year up to 15% of their total salary, depending on their performance and other company metrics.
This represented a significant pay cut from her law firm salary – approximately $150,000 less than her current earnings of $370,000 (consisting of a $295,000 base salary and a $75,000 bonus) and $200,000 less than that $435,000, which she received the following year as a fifth grader would have earned connection with salary and bonus increases.
However, the position promised a more balanced lifestyle: a consistent 40-hour week, the flexibility to work from home two days a week, and the opportunity to advise on cutting-edge technologies such as AI and cloud computing.
After careful consideration, Hayes made his decision the lower salary was a small price to pay for her well-being and a fresh start in an exciting new field.
She applied for the position in October 2023, received her offer letter in December and started her new position in January 2024.
Her colleagues at O’Melveny & Myers were “really kind and supportive” of her decision, Hayes says. To facilitate a smooth transition, she prepared a detailed list of her ongoing cases and proposed a succession plan for her departure from the firm.
Living on a tighter budget
Adjusting to the six-figure pay cut was “much more difficult” than Hayes expected.
Hayes says her previous income allows her to spend money “without much thought or stress,” whether it’s ordering takeout several times a week or making significant payments on her student loans without having to worry about running out of money There is money left over for rent.
Hayes now makes about $150,000 less than she did a year ago and says she has to pay more attention to her monthly spending and savings while feeling responsible for her budget.
Last year, she began creating TikToks to document her budgeting efforts and get advice from other professionals in similar situations.
“I’m really lucky that I still make enough to live comfortably,” says Hayes, who adds that her cost of living is slightly higher after moving from LA to San Francisco. “The biggest change of all from this pay cut is that it changed the way I thought about money – I realized I had to think about my purchases, even if they didn’t seem extravagant.”
“Having that freedom and balance was priceless.”
Now, as she approaches her first anniversary at the tech company (which she declines to name), Hayes says she’s “really happy.”
For Hayes, the $150,000 pay cut wasn’t a sacrifice; It was an investment in their health, their relationships and their future. During the first five years of her legal career, she often struggled with lack of sleep and stress
“I couldn’t turn off my thoughts,” she says. “I was having trouble falling asleep at night and getting persistent jaw pain – but as soon as I quit my old job, all of those symptoms went away… it’s crazy.”
The hardest part of her new job was figuring out how to spend her suddenly free evenings and weekends, she says.
“On weekdays I spend more time with friends, go to Pilates, pursue new hobbies and bought a sewing machine,” she says. “Having that freedom and balance was priceless.”
