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Emily Hayes She knew what she was signing up for when she became a lawyer.
Long hours, difficult customers and billing pressures are synonymous with work. Still, for Hayes, the intellectual challenge and the opportunity to help people made these sacrifices worthwhile.
What he didn’t anticipate was how quickly burnout he puts in – or how much his work destroys other parts of his life.
Hayes, 32, graduated from Stanford Law School in 2019. He spent the next two years working at a large international law firm in Redwood Shores, California, followed by a position as a federal court clerk in Portland , Oregon.
In October 2021, he 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 his career.
His colleagues were supportive, the assignments were challenging and the pay was generous. By the time he turned 30, Hayes was earning more than $300,000 a year.
Yet, beneath the surface, the grind was taking its toll.
His “breaking point” came in April 2023. Hayes found himself working overtime on a Saturday morning to prepare for an arbitration, just hours after leaving the office at 11 pm the night before. He was preparing for a major trial, but his stress and fatigue had been building for months.
That morning, while staring at his computer screen, it crashed. She recalled: “I started to cry” because someone close to her was going through a difficult time, and she regretted being in the office instead of supporting her at home.
“I felt like I had to choose between showing up for my job in the way that was expected of me and showing up for the people I love in the way that I wanted,” he said. CNBC Make It. “I’m panicking about the tension between the two.”
Hayes adds: “Working in a law firm can make your life so unpredictable. You can never count on free time in the evening or log off before 10 pm I think you really have to love the work you do to make that trade – out of your time you feel it’s worth it.”
At that moment, Hayes made a silent promise – that she would find a new job within a year.
Moving from law to technology
That spring, Hayes began reaching out to former classmates and colleagues for advice. Through these conversations, he learned about a growing career path in the legal sector: product counsel.
Product advisory roles, particularly popular in Silicon Valley, involve working in-house at technology companies to provide legal and regulatory guidance on products and services.
Unlike traditional lawyer roles, product advisory positions often blend legal expertise with business strategy. “You get a little less in the weeds with the law and a lot more involved in business strategy, which I’ve always been really interested in,” Hayes explains.
In October, a Stanford classmate told me that the tech company he worked for in San Francisco was hiring for product consulting positions.
The job came with two trade-offs: Hayes would need to move to San Francisco, and the base salary was about $220,000 plus an annual bonus, starting after his first year, of up to 15% of their total pay, depending on their performance and other company metrics.
This represented a significant pay cut from his law firm salary—about $150,000 less than his current earnings of $370,000 (comprised of $295,000 base pay and a $75,000 bonus) and $200,000 less than the $ 435,000 that he would have earned the following year. associated with salary increases and bonuses.
However, the role promised a more balanced lifestyle: a consistent 40-hour work 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 decided the lowest salary it was a small price to pay for his well-being and a new start in an exciting new field.
He applied for the position in October 2023, received his offer letter in December, and started his new job in January 2024.
His colleagues at O’Melveny & Myers were “really kind and supportive” of his decision, Hayes says. To facilitate a smooth transition, he created a detailed list of his ongoing cases and a suggested succession plan for his departure from the firm.
Live on a tighter budget
Adjusting to the six-figure pay cut was “much more difficult” than Hayes had anticipated.
With her previous income, Hayes says she could “spend without much thought or stress,” whether it’s ordering takeout several times a week or making significant payments on her student loans without worrying about having enough money for the rent.
Now, making about $150,000 less than she did a year ago, Hayes says she’s been paying more attention to her monthly spending and savings, while still staying accountable to a budget.
Last year, he started making TikToks to document his budgeting efforts and gather advice from other professionals in similar situations.
“I’m really lucky that I still have enough to live comfortably,” says Hayes, who adds that her living expenses are slightly higher after moving from LA to San Francisco. “The biggest change with this pay cut, if anything, is just changing my mindset around money — I realized I had to put a lot of thought into my purchases even when they didn’t seem extravagant.”
“Having that freedom and that balance has been invaluable”
Now, as he approaches his first anniversary at the tech company (which he chose not to name), Hayes says he’s “really happy.”
For Hayes, the $150,000 pay cut wasn’t a sacrifice; it was an investment in his health, his relationships and his future. In the first five years of his legal career, he often struggled with sleep deprivation and stress
“I couldn’t get my mind around it,” she says. “I had trouble sleeping at night and developed persistent jaw pain – but from the moment I left my old job, all those symptoms disappeared… it’s crazy.”
The hardest part of his new gig, he says, has been figuring out how to spend his suddenly free evenings and weekends.
“I spend more time with friends during the week, going to Pilates, taking up new hobbies, I bought a sewing machine,” he says. “Having that freedom and that balance has been invaluable.”
