Posting on behalf of Walter Stahr, the critically acclaimed, bestselling biographer (with his consent, including permission to name him):
"Dear David, excellent article today about leaving law. I would have added one more point: if you can do so, leave the law gradually.
I did not leave all at once. I started work on a book on nights and weekends (just like you recommend) and then I went part-time for a while, then back to full-time, then part-time again. All of that really really helped with the finances. There was never really a moment when I said this is it and I am never going to bill another hour for legal work again."
Depending on the writer's practice area, they might want to look into going in-house. Years ago (decades really!) I made that transition after deciding that I just couldn't write yet another summary judgment motion or do the mind-numbing work on wage and hour class actions. In-house, you wear many hats - you are still a lawyer of course, but learn a ton about business and whatever industry your company sits in. And once in-house, there are usually opportunities to move over to the business side.
If this is at all interesting to you, try to specialize in an area that lends itself to in-house work, such as employment, securities, patent, trademark, or privacy law, to name a few. Most big companies don't have in-house litigators, so commercial litigation is a dead-end.
This is excellent advice! The experience of being in-house can be very different from being at a firm. You might not need to leave the law; you might just need to leave Biglaw.
I also think practicing in-house is a good way of figuring out whether you are really ready to leave the law for, say, a business-side role. As an in-house lawyer, you straddle both worlds—and you might decide that you get the best of both worlds being in-house. So you don't have to leave the practice of law after all; you just need to find a job within the law that's a better fit.
One other piece of advice I'd offer to folks who think they eventually want to go in-house: in addition to specialty, try to figure out if the firm you're thinking about going to has a strong track record of sending people in-house.
Some firms are better at this than others. Firms that have ongoing, general-counsel-type relationships with their clients—e.g., tech firms like Cooley, Wilson Sonsini, Fenwick, etc.—might be better at getting you in-house than firms where you have these one-off interactions. If you have this ongoing relationship with a client, you get to know them better, and you get a better sense of the broad range of issues that in-house lawyers face.
Sometimes these clients then hire you. But even if they don't, you learn more about their business and different areas of law, and that can help you go in-house at a different company.
Luckily for that associate or partner with THAT feeling today, there are a multitude of resources available.
For #womenlawyers you have @elenadeutsch at #WILL (women interested in leaving law) . She has a fantastic site and organization! Do not be shy! Head on over!
Also @sarahcottrell has a site dedicated to helping women leaving the law.
A new site that will help you assess what you are interested in doing and then provide you with a job board of fabulous jobs where no JD is required, but having one will sure put you at the front of the line is www.exjudicata.com
Also, many #executivecoaches can help you transition out of law, just ask them
So you see, @davidlat, All is NOT lost
PS... you will note that I, too, left the FT practice of law. I "retired" in 1993 to become a legal recruiter
Thanks for these great resources, Wendy! You are another wonderful example of a lawyer who has found tremendous success outside practice but in a law-related field!
Posting on behalf of Walter Stahr, the critically acclaimed, bestselling biographer (with his consent, including permission to name him):
"Dear David, excellent article today about leaving law. I would have added one more point: if you can do so, leave the law gradually.
I did not leave all at once. I started work on a book on nights and weekends (just like you recommend) and then I went part-time for a while, then back to full-time, then part-time again. All of that really really helped with the finances. There was never really a moment when I said this is it and I am never going to bill another hour for legal work again."
Depending on the writer's practice area, they might want to look into going in-house. Years ago (decades really!) I made that transition after deciding that I just couldn't write yet another summary judgment motion or do the mind-numbing work on wage and hour class actions. In-house, you wear many hats - you are still a lawyer of course, but learn a ton about business and whatever industry your company sits in. And once in-house, there are usually opportunities to move over to the business side.
If this is at all interesting to you, try to specialize in an area that lends itself to in-house work, such as employment, securities, patent, trademark, or privacy law, to name a few. Most big companies don't have in-house litigators, so commercial litigation is a dead-end.
This is excellent advice! The experience of being in-house can be very different from being at a firm. You might not need to leave the law; you might just need to leave Biglaw.
I also think practicing in-house is a good way of figuring out whether you are really ready to leave the law for, say, a business-side role. As an in-house lawyer, you straddle both worlds—and you might decide that you get the best of both worlds being in-house. So you don't have to leave the practice of law after all; you just need to find a job within the law that's a better fit.
One other piece of advice I'd offer to folks who think they eventually want to go in-house: in addition to specialty, try to figure out if the firm you're thinking about going to has a strong track record of sending people in-house.
Some firms are better at this than others. Firms that have ongoing, general-counsel-type relationships with their clients—e.g., tech firms like Cooley, Wilson Sonsini, Fenwick, etc.—might be better at getting you in-house than firms where you have these one-off interactions. If you have this ongoing relationship with a client, you get to know them better, and you get a better sense of the broad range of issues that in-house lawyers face.
Sometimes these clients then hire you. But even if they don't, you learn more about their business and different areas of law, and that can help you go in-house at a different company.
@david lat
This is always a timely subject.
Luckily for that associate or partner with THAT feeling today, there are a multitude of resources available.
For #womenlawyers you have @elenadeutsch at #WILL (women interested in leaving law) . She has a fantastic site and organization! Do not be shy! Head on over!
Also @sarahcottrell has a site dedicated to helping women leaving the law.
A new site that will help you assess what you are interested in doing and then provide you with a job board of fabulous jobs where no JD is required, but having one will sure put you at the front of the line is www.exjudicata.com
Also, many #executivecoaches can help you transition out of law, just ask them
So you see, @davidlat, All is NOT lost
PS... you will note that I, too, left the FT practice of law. I "retired" in 1993 to become a legal recruiter
Thanks for these great resources, Wendy! You are another wonderful example of a lawyer who has found tremendous success outside practice but in a law-related field!
This is all sound advice, well presented. But my very favorite part, and perhaps the most useful overall, is that implied by the footnote:
Having worked so hard to get that license, by all means keep it.