Changes & First Week of Work

 

I have just completed my first week at my new job.  It's very different and also, somehow the same.  It's litigation and that definitely makes things challenging but it is also keeps things familiar.  My boss is very responsive and pays attention to detail.  I've not had that in a long time. 

My first week was busy, lots of trainings and some hardware issues.  Everything is getting easier with each passing day. I did get some billable time in and that was nice.  A whole 6 hours on Friday! My cats keep me company during the day and working from home so far has been nice. 

It's been so long since I changed jobs.  Almost 10 years.  It feels so weird and there is so much to figure out and consider.  My goals for 2021 will change but I won't be able to figure out the changes until I settle in a little bit more. 

I need to find a short term ACA plan for 45 days until my new health insurance kicks in. Normally, I would not worry about it but with COVID, going without health insurance makes me nervous. 

My dental and vision policy from my old firm is still in place.  I will pick up those premiums and keep it in place until the dental and vision policy from my new firm kicks in.  It is through the Florida Bar and not through the old firm. 

I know I still intend to pay off my car (less than $10,000 to go!).  I will increase my retirement contributions. For now, the rest will go to savings and at the end of the year I will make a determination as to how much to pay as a lump sum on the mortgage. I would love to have a paid off house and then never have to worry about that for awhile.  If I ever decide to sell it would be nice to have a paid off house and have all that cash go to my new home. 

Even if I don't like this new firm or if things go sideways, I plan to be pretty conservative with my money so that I will have a lump sum if I need to run (or get fired). 

I've never made over 6 figures before and it's fun to dream about how my future will look.  I hope I make all the right choices and exponentially increase my net worth. I hope I made the right choice by accepting this offer and I hope that I like this job (or that it is at least tolerable). It is definitely going to be more work.  I have close to 30 cases.  One of the other attorney told me that he had 50 at one point and he was struggling to keep up.  They have added several new attorneys and the workload is okay for now. 

 I do have a client that was interested in continuing to work with me and hopefully I will get some work from him.  If I do get a case from him I will receive an origination fee of upwards of 5% of every invoice paid.  If anyone else in the firm gets a case that falls under the umbrella of that client, I will get the origination fees from those as well. That is so cool to me.  I accidently brought in a client at my old firm, an insurance adjuster who knew me told her friend at another insurance company to use me and we ended up with those cases.  I did not receive any fees for those cases. 

This is truly a whole new world!