I know there are a few attorney's out there. My wife is not real pleased with her current job. She's kicking ass there, and they're moving her up pretty quickly, but I can see her unhappiness there, and I think she'd be better served elsewhere. You have to understand too.....she's normally about the most happy, upbeat person I've ever met. When we got married late in 2000, she moved to Houston from Dallas and took on a new job. Before, she was a trial attorney for the US Department of Justice, and now she's not practicing law. She took a job as a tax consultant at the biggest accounting firm in the world, and within half a year, they moved her to the International division....which apparantly is the elite of the firm. I know she misses practicing law, and I know she's not happy, so I'm going to take it on myself to convince her to leave. She's a lot more responsible than me, so I need to point her in a good direction if I can get her to take the bait. Where should I send her? What would be the best thing for her to do in Houston? I know she wouldn't mind being an in-house attorney for a large company. If I had my way though, I'd like to see her be a big fish in a small pond though. I think that would make her the happiest. She's got all kinds of degrees: Her undergraduate degree in both accounting economics is from Baylor. She got her law degree and her LLM in tax (I think I have that right) from Tech, and she's got an MBA from SMU. She's also a CPA. She loves tax, and to a degree, I think she misses litigation. I know she also enjoys research, planning, and writing. Her current job is really utilizing her strongest points: management and implementation. What should I be looking for in a job for her? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Pole, She needs to decide if she wants a transactional practice (i.e., advising clients with respect to tax planning) or a litigation practice (handling tax controversies with the IRS/Dep't of Justice). Although some attorneys do both, it is fairly unusual. If she likes international tax, she is primarily going to be limited to the big accounting firms and big law firms or an in house job with a multinational corporation. One exception I can think of in Houston is the firm of Chamberlain Hrdlicka, which is a mid-size (100 attorneys) firm with a strong tax practice. There are probably some other smaller boutique tax firms that you could find through a google search. With her resume (LLM, CPA, and MBA) she is qualified for more than just tax work. If she wants to be a general business/transactional attorney, that would open up many more opportunities to work at smaller firms. As far as finding a job, she could use a headhunter, check the classifieds in the Houston Bar Journal and the Texas Bar Journal, or just send out resumes to the likely candidates mentioned above. Networking is, IMO, the best route. Good luck.
Thanks Pipe....I check out some of those things you menioned. Part of my problem is selling her on the idea. She's a "stick-it-out" type person, so first I need to convince her she needs a change. She works in a company that has a horrible culture, and I just don't see it changing. I guess I'm looking for an idea to sell her on, but then again, I'm just a dumb computer geek, so maybe some of things you said are just what I need to tell her.
