I probably should have started with this....

So friends there is some news. I have tried to personally notify my clients before posting so this is a bit of delay. I have reached the end of work at Capell & Howard, P.C. (formerly known as "Capell, Howard, Knabe, & Cobbs"). This is my second time quitting this firm to work for the federal government, which my coworkers consider a bad habit. The siren song of a pension and benefits is too sweet to resist. So my weekend has been full of trying to pack up years of stuff I brought to the office to make it comfortable. I started at the firm in August of 1996. I left in 2002 when expecting our first child. I returned in October of 2011. It has been a place of learning and growth. It has changed. I have changed. I have had the honor of representing some amazing people and working with some bright and creative lawyers.

When COVID came and my litigation practice fizzled to nothing, I had some serious time to think about my purpose. What was it? Did my practice reflect my principles? Did I still love being a lawyer? I have struggled with depression on and off. Is that normal? Or was it a sign that I had lost my way? Therapy, self-reflection, and searching slowly illuminated some things. I love helping people. I am good at this job of being a lawyer. I really like trials and preparing for trials. I still really get fired up and glow when I talk about trial practice. So I am not done with lawyering. On the other hand, small business ownership is not my happy place. It is hard. I worry far too much about what I cannot control. It corrodes me. I dabbled in art and acting. That helped some. It felt refreshing and renewing and lighter, but I was still increasingly feeling the pinch of a shoe that didn't quite fit anymore or a button digging into new flesh.

Then the most amazing thing happened. The perfect position fell into my lap. I wasn't looking. My dear friend Deborah Mann sent me a posting for a Trial Counsel position at the District Office of the EEOC in Birmingham where she had recently begun working. That I even know Deborah is an odd story of coincidence and the power of connection through openness on social media. Another friend, Gina Pearson worked at the office two. Both encouraged me. I checked in with the amazing Temple Trueblood and Heather Leonard to ask if they thought I could switch sides and be a plaintiff's attorney in employment cases. They both laughed and immediately said the same thing: "You are already one of us." Then it was a matter of more research about feasibility, and I checked in with people work worked at the EEOC and left to get their perspective as well. Every question had an answer. Every impediment fell away. It felt like a calling.

It was scary to apply for a job for which the obviousness of my interest was not readily apparent. I am 56. I have practiced 20 years as a defense attorney. I worked 10 years for two judges very Republican presidents placed on the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama. I don't look like your typical EEOC lawyer. Yet, I screwed my courage to the sticking place and tried. The interview went well. They seemed genuinely eager for me to join them. I was excited about law practice in a whole new way.

It will be a new adventure come June 5 as I will be joining the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s Birmingham District Office as one of several Trial Counsel. I am beyond excited. I am taking a bit of time off in between jobs. Crazy, I know. I will be working two days a week in Birmingham and three days by telework from home in Montgomery.

We aren’t moving just yet, and we may never move. Montgomery is home. My 16 year old would not be happy to change high schools. So, I will make it work with telework and a commute a couple days a week and see what comes.

If you need me, you can find me on social media.

Be happy for me. This is a really joyful thing. It feels like the thing to which my whole life has been directing my path.

#Namaste #NewBeginning #BravenewBarbara #whynotstartagain #maybethisisamidlifecrisis