Laid Off at 25: The Start of Something I Couldn’t See Yet

By Erin Giglia

I was 25 years old, just out of law school, when the law firm I worked for—Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison LLP—imploded. I still remember the day I got laid off. I hadn’t even been practicing for a full year.

Here’s the backstory. Up to that point, I did everything right. I excelled academically in high school, which landed me at Wellesley College. I’m a first-generation college graduate, and I worked minimum 20 hours/week in addition to a full course load, which was no easy feat. I decided on law school and went to the University of San Diego School of Law, where I graduated at the top of my class, because I was good at school, but also because I studied my ass off.

After all of that, here I was, unemployed. It was scary. I had done everything “right.” Good law school, prestigious firm, working hard, checking the boxes. And still, I found myself out of a job, trying to figure out what came next before I even had a chance to settle in.

At the time, it felt like a failure. It felt like the ground had dropped out from under me.

So, what did I do? I reflected. At that point, I had achieved what I initially set out to do. I had some decisions to make and needed to focus on my career direction. I decided that I wanted the best possible legal training, in addition to a reliable paycheck (recall I’m a first-gen college graduate, which means no one was helping me). I set my sights on the larger firms, but the dot.com bubble was bursting, and the marketplace was filling with associates who had been laid off. I turned to my network, which was admittedly small at the time. I reached out to all my law school classmates who were working locally. I asked them if they liked their firms. Most of them said no. There’s some foreshadowing for you! Of the few who said they liked their firms, I asked if they thought their firms were hiring, and if they would walk my resume in to the powers that be. It worked, and I landed at Snell & Wilmer, where I stayed for 8 years.

Looking back now, I see that moment as the beginning of a much bigger journey—one that would eventually lead to the creation of Montage Legal Group.

That experience taught me, very early on, that nothing in the legal profession is guaranteed. Even the most “stable” jobs aren’t always safe. And the system isn’t really built to support lawyers when life (or the economy, or a merger, or a pandemic) throws curveballs.

That’s part of why I care so deeply about building something different.

At Montage, we’ve created a space where talented, experienced attorneys can keep working—on their own terms. Many Montage freelance lawyers have had their own Brobeck moment of sorts, albeit voluntarily: they’ve stepped away for personal reasons, relocated outside their jurisdiction, decided to pursue other interests. They’re not done with law—they just need a better way to do it.

I didn’t know it back then, but losing my job at 25 cracked open the door to everything I would go on to build. It was terrifying, humbling, and, ultimately, a gift. If not for Brobeck, I never would have landed at Snell & Wilmer. I wouldn’t have met Laurie. We wouldn’t have started Montage Legal Group.

If you’re going through something similar, or if your firm wants to tap into an incredible freelance legal resource to grow in a more sustainable way, I hope you’ll stick around. We’ve got stories, ideas, and solutions to share.