Question: Should I Quit A Law Firm Job I Don't Like Before I Have Another Position Lined Up?

Are you a young lawyer thinking of quitting your job even though you do not have another position lined up? What should you do? Quit and devote full time to your job search? Or hold on until you secure another, more satisfying position? A young litigator working in the D.C. area confronting this dilemma recently wrote to me asking for advice:

I graduated from law school in 2004, and since that time, I have worked as a litigation associate for a respected midsized firm in DC. I went to law school because I thought that being a litigator would be intellectually challenging. But most of my days are filled with endless discovery disputes . . . and I find myself getting depressed. I have made a few attempts to interview for non-legal jobs, but it is difficult to find the time to think about what I want from my career, let alone go out on interviews. I'm thinking of quitting my law firm job so that I can focus more consistently on looking for an alternative legal job, but some of my friends say I shouldn't quit until I find something else. What should I do?

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Stephen Seckler, recruiter and guest JD Bliss blogger