D.C. Bar Well-Being Summit Addresses Job Loss and Other Challenges
May 27, 2025
Coping with unexpected loss and cultivating resilience were major focal points of the D.C. Bar’s annual Well-Being Summit on May 21, co-presented by the Lawyer Well-Being Community and Lawyer Assistance Program (LAP) under the theme “Meeting You Where You Are.”
In his welcoming remarks to more than 150 attendees, D.C. Bar President Shaun Snyder reflected on his work as former chief operating officer of the American Psychiatric Association and at the D.C. Department of Health. “They gave me insight into the toll that stress and burnout can take, not just professionally but personally,” Snyder said. “And I'll be honest, even with that experience, I still struggle to make space for my own well-being.”
“The summit is a reminder that our well-being isn't a luxury or an afterthought,” he added. “It's a necessity in building a culture where it's okay to ask for help, take a breath, or simply not be okay all the time. It’s one of the most important things we can do for ourselves and for each other.”
Navigating Sudden Transitions
The summit launched into a hot topic affecting many federal government employees in the District, including lawyers — job loss. Yolanda Goettsch, a lawyer coach with Bryce Legal, moderated a discussion with PilieroMazza PLLC associate Sara Ryan and Benita Talati, senior law clerk lead at C2 Alaska, LLC.
Ryan shared her story of losing her dream job as head of labor and employment law at USAID in late January, then landing a position at PilieroMazza in April. “For me, I had really reached sort of what I thought was the pinnacle of my career,” she said. “There was no sort of further career progression that I was necessarily looking at because I just loved my job so much.”
Luckily for Ryan, she had a supportive network of D.C. attorneys who helped with making contacts and checking in on her well-being. In the end, she found her position through a job posting on LinkedIn.
“I never thought that I would be working in a law firm in a million years,” Ryan said. “It turned out that [PilieroMazza] had a lot of government contract clients who had business with USAID. And so, they were very familiar with what was happening with USAID, and they were very sympathetic to me and my experience.”
Ryan admitted that it’s been a “humongous adjustment,” having spent eight years at USAID as deputy assistant general counsel. There, she had a lot of social capital and was leading a team. As a new associate at PilieroMazza, she is working alongside others in her position who may be one or two years out of law school.
In contrast, Talati said that although she has worked in the private sector, she’s always wanted a federal government position. Since graduating from law school in 2009, Talati’s professional life has been “a series of transitions,” including a move from New Jersey to Washington, D.C.
“Paralegal work was kind of a fallback for me,” said Talati, reflecting on her three-year tenure at Lapidus Law Firm, PLLC. “I outlasted every single staff member there. And I picked up some amazing, relevant attorney skills from client development [and] client intake [to] negotiating six-figure settlements [and] case assessment — all those great attorney skills, just by taking a job that ‘quote, unquote’ seemed beneath me.”
After losing that job in 2015, Talati applied for a federal government attorney position. Unfortunately, that was when she experienced identity theft, which destroyed her credit score. And to make matters worse, she was also experiencing health challenges.
“There was no way I could work a regular job,” Talati said. “My credit was destroyed. I wasn't able to get a security clearance. I wasn't hired by a firm, and I wasn't able to really work normal hours because I had so many doctors, treatments, and physical therapy. I had to turn back to contract work.”
Talati returned to reviewing dockets as a contractor, which led to a full-time position as a project attorney at another firm. Those experiences gave her transferable skills in e-discovery and docket review that helped her land a contract position with the federal government.
Managing Stress
In managing all the emotions and stress that come with seeking jobs, Ryan revealed that therapy was a big help for her. “I think it's really important just to know yourself and know sort of what your best stress management techniques are,” Ryan said. “For me, that's exercise and taking walks.”
“[However,] I'm still grieving USAID and how I thought my life was going to go,” Ryan added. “I don't know if that's ever going to go away for me. I hope it will subside, but I feel like this grief of losing USAID and losing my career is something that I will, to some extent, carry with me forever.”
Talati recognized that unemployment can lead to depression. “I have a framework for job seekers, particularly those with chronic pain, chronic illness, or disabilities … that I call ‘BRAACH’: breathe, resources, accessibility, assess needs, consider your options, and head in a new direction,” Talati said.
Ryan said it’s important to get one’s negative emotions out of the way before jumping into the job search. “You need to be able to tackle the job search in a positive mindset and not give off the vibes of anger at job interviews or informational interviews because, frankly, that will just repel you away from people,” Ryan said.
Choosing to Thrive
In another session, Dr. Pamela Brewer, a clinical social worker and therapist, told attendees that “loss is a part of life” and noted that reaching out to friends and colleagues during periods of loss is often easier said than done.
“What we often forget about the losses many of us are dealing with nowadays is that you really can survive,” Brewer said. “It's hard to remember that you can even thrive at some point.”
“You must reach out in order to survive,” Brewer continued. “In order to survive, you also have to decide who you're reaching out to — who’s a healthy reach.”
She suggested acknowledging what loss feels like and then understanding that loss leads to change, either short-term or long-term. How people express change is a choice, and change can lead to a greater sense of agency and resilience and growth, Brewer said.
“Growth really requires you to think about yourself in a different way,” said Brewer. “It requires you to reframe your experiences; it doesn't require you to forget. Your job is to frame differently the ways in which you are thinking about change and its impact on you.”
Building a Resilience Plan
Niki Irish, outreach and education coordinator for the LAP, guided attendees in building a resilience plan to help cope with loss and career transitions. She recommended reflecting on previous life changes and identifying coping strategies that helped.
She outlined the next step of placing names and thoughts into four categories: support one can depend upon, strategies that keep people going and that touch upon coping mechanisms, sagacity or the wisdom and insight that can guide people, and solutions, which involve adopting beneficial behaviors.
“I want to remind you that when [you] slow down, [you] kind of notice things,” Irish said. “Then [you] can change.”
Irish acknowledged that building and following a resilience plan can be daunting and that sometimes it’s better to focus on only one or two parts of the plan each day.
“It can feel like a big plan,” Irish said. “So, take the things that seem the most feasible to start with. Maybe you go through the categories and decide what’s [your] first line of defense. It’s also important to think about things that might be getting in your way, such as fear. And give yourself grace and compassion.”
The Well-Being Summit also included sessions on addiction and meditation.
