Brainstorming a career change for an attorney
May 10, 2011 2:15 PM Subscribe
I'm an attorney who feels stuck in a dead-end situation that I created through my own dumb decisions. Help me find a career that's a better fit for me.
I am in my late thirties. I have a B.A. in Economics, but have not done anything with it since undergrad days. I went to a non-prestigious state law school and my class rank was roughly the middle of my class.
I have previous experience as an associate at a small firm in estate planning/small business formation. I didn't like the work much, and I don't feel like I gained much in the way of useful transferable skills. Mostly it was drawing up wills or business documents from a template.
I currently do document review for a large firm in a large city. I'm a contractor, so when they have a project for me, I have work. When they don't have projects, I get sent home. My bosses like me a lot and I actually enjoy a lot of the work I currently do, but I don't think this is a job that I can do for the rest of my life. There are no opportunities for advancement at the firm through my current position. I have a recurring nightmare of being out of a job in my fifties, with no experience that is transferable over to any other job.
I think I need to make a career change, and given the hyper-competitive job market and my crappy grades/work experience, I think it needs to be outside of the legal field. I have no idea what kind of work outside the legal profession that I might be qualified for and enjoy. I've read a few books about career changes for attorneys, but they seem geared for people who love the client contact and hate the paperwork, and I'm totally the other way around. I would appreciate any and all suggestions for a potential new career to research. I don't think I put in enough thought/planning in the legal career, and I want to do things right this time.
Here are things I have enjoyed doing at work (at doc review and associate position):
1. Preparing an appellate brief that brought together federal/state laws/regulations, and case law and applying them to the facts of a case. I liked bringing in a bunch of seemingly non-related elements, and putting them together into a coherent and seamless argument for a client.
2. Creating and maintaining a glossary of code names, slang, and technical terms for a case I was working on. I'm pretty good at figuring out stuff through context and research, and I enjoy it a lot.
3. Writing privilege descriptions and creating a privilege log (for non-lawyers, this involves some making some painstaking, nitpicky categorizing decisions about documents.)
Here are things that I have disliked about work:
1. For the estate planning/business position: going to endless meetings/events to network/schmooze for clients. I'm fine with talking with people when there is a specific purpose to our discussion, but "making connections" and "building rapport" are too nebulous for me, and I'm terrible at it. I know that a certain amount of networking is necessary to obtain a job; I would rather it not be the most important part of my job.
2. For the doc review position: the feast or famine aspect of the work. Some weeks or even months, there isn't any work; sometimes they want me work 12+ hours every day for weeks.
Ideally, I would be doing something that involves a fair amount of reading, analysis and document creation and is light on networking/promoting myself with other people.
Also, if it is at all possible, I would like to avoid having to go to back to school for another four year degree. I do not have any student loan debt right now and I would rather not create any. A career change that involves community college or other affordable educational options would be fine.
I am in my late thirties. I have a B.A. in Economics, but have not done anything with it since undergrad days. I went to a non-prestigious state law school and my class rank was roughly the middle of my class.
I have previous experience as an associate at a small firm in estate planning/small business formation. I didn't like the work much, and I don't feel like I gained much in the way of useful transferable skills. Mostly it was drawing up wills or business documents from a template.
I currently do document review for a large firm in a large city. I'm a contractor, so when they have a project for me, I have work. When they don't have projects, I get sent home. My bosses like me a lot and I actually enjoy a lot of the work I currently do, but I don't think this is a job that I can do for the rest of my life. There are no opportunities for advancement at the firm through my current position. I have a recurring nightmare of being out of a job in my fifties, with no experience that is transferable over to any other job.
I think I need to make a career change, and given the hyper-competitive job market and my crappy grades/work experience, I think it needs to be outside of the legal field. I have no idea what kind of work outside the legal profession that I might be qualified for and enjoy. I've read a few books about career changes for attorneys, but they seem geared for people who love the client contact and hate the paperwork, and I'm totally the other way around. I would appreciate any and all suggestions for a potential new career to research. I don't think I put in enough thought/planning in the legal career, and I want to do things right this time.
Here are things I have enjoyed doing at work (at doc review and associate position):
1. Preparing an appellate brief that brought together federal/state laws/regulations, and case law and applying them to the facts of a case. I liked bringing in a bunch of seemingly non-related elements, and putting them together into a coherent and seamless argument for a client.
2. Creating and maintaining a glossary of code names, slang, and technical terms for a case I was working on. I'm pretty good at figuring out stuff through context and research, and I enjoy it a lot.
3. Writing privilege descriptions and creating a privilege log (for non-lawyers, this involves some making some painstaking, nitpicky categorizing decisions about documents.)
Here are things that I have disliked about work:
1. For the estate planning/business position: going to endless meetings/events to network/schmooze for clients. I'm fine with talking with people when there is a specific purpose to our discussion, but "making connections" and "building rapport" are too nebulous for me, and I'm terrible at it. I know that a certain amount of networking is necessary to obtain a job; I would rather it not be the most important part of my job.
2. For the doc review position: the feast or famine aspect of the work. Some weeks or even months, there isn't any work; sometimes they want me work 12+ hours every day for weeks.
Ideally, I would be doing something that involves a fair amount of reading, analysis and document creation and is light on networking/promoting myself with other people.
Also, if it is at all possible, I would like to avoid having to go to back to school for another four year degree. I do not have any student loan debt right now and I would rather not create any. A career change that involves community college or other affordable educational options would be fine.
1. Join the Army - if you are under 37. You will get a commission as a captain, if I am not mistaken. You may be sent to interesting places.
2. Look for a position in a prosecutor's office.
posted by megatherium at 2:39 PM on May 10, 2011 [1 favorite]
2. Look for a position in a prosecutor's office.
posted by megatherium at 2:39 PM on May 10, 2011 [1 favorite]
-Maybe a position in export control? Lots of picky details to keep track of.
-Government jobs (state or federal)?
-Look for more law firms who will contract with you to do what you are doing now but more hours (and you can turn down a project if you overloaded at the time) It will involve networking to get it set up but hopefully would keep flowing once you got it started.
-Grant writing for nonprofit organziations
posted by metahawk at 2:50 PM on May 10, 2011
-Government jobs (state or federal)?
-Look for more law firms who will contract with you to do what you are doing now but more hours (and you can turn down a project if you overloaded at the time) It will involve networking to get it set up but hopefully would keep flowing once you got it started.
-Grant writing for nonprofit organziations
posted by metahawk at 2:50 PM on May 10, 2011
Best answer: a couple of things to maybe look into:
Information architecture for websites
"Ontology" - building category schemes for computer based knowledge systems
posted by LobsterMitten at 2:57 PM on May 10, 2011
Information architecture for websites
"Ontology" - building category schemes for computer based knowledge systems
posted by LobsterMitten at 2:57 PM on May 10, 2011
Best answer: If your econ degree is relevant or you have any knowledge about financial stuff, I see repeated job openings for people who can write and edit financial documents, prospectuses, investment newsletters, and that sort of thing. Could also look at the websites of big investment and financial services companies and see if they have any writing or content creation jobs. (even analyst jobs maybe, if you have good quantitative skills)
posted by LobsterMitten at 3:00 PM on May 10, 2011
posted by LobsterMitten at 3:00 PM on May 10, 2011
What about getting a job with a company that specifically does doc reviews/e-discovery for various law firms? I happen to know about this one in San Francisco but I'm sure your large city will have similar firms.
posted by grapesaresour at 3:15 PM on May 10, 2011
posted by grapesaresour at 3:15 PM on May 10, 2011
You mention your bosses like you - could you tell them you need a bit more reliable work in order to stay in the business (mention you're considering joining the Army, that should be a good one to tell them you're serious about finding more work or changing careers) and ask if THEY can recommend your document review services to other firms in your area.
If they like you and your work enough, they probably will be willing to put a little time into making sure you're still available to do this.
If you go this route before bringing this up with your bosses, create a small, basic website and get business cards so that your bosses can recommend you in whatever way they feel most comfortable, either via email "check out SockISalmon, his document review services are awesome, www.sockIsalmon.com" or in person "here's his business card"
posted by arnicae at 3:27 PM on May 10, 2011
If they like you and your work enough, they probably will be willing to put a little time into making sure you're still available to do this.
If you go this route before bringing this up with your bosses, create a small, basic website and get business cards so that your bosses can recommend you in whatever way they feel most comfortable, either via email "check out SockISalmon, his document review services are awesome, www.sockIsalmon.com" or in person "here's his business card"
posted by arnicae at 3:27 PM on May 10, 2011
Best answer: There are a lot of government jobs where a JD is an asset, and you have to do a lot of administrative and nitpicky type stuff, but it's not "lawyer work." A lot of the deputy commissioners and other admin types where I work have JDs. They help draw up proposed legislation and oversee operations.
posted by dortmunder at 3:36 PM on May 10, 2011
posted by dortmunder at 3:36 PM on May 10, 2011
Best answer: Following on dortmunder's comment, a JD is also a huge asset in the advocacy (aka lobbying) departments of larger nonprofits. For any major social issue you can think of (drunk driving, quitting smoking, abortion, adoption, gay rights, retired people, you name it) and many major industry membership associations (psychologists, auto manufacturers, nurses etc) there are nonprofits that have an interest in influencing state and federal legislation and thus require lots of research and writing of position papers and proposed legislation. Lots of these positions have no face time and concentrate mainly on writing.
posted by ImproviseOrDie at 3:56 PM on May 10, 2011
posted by ImproviseOrDie at 3:56 PM on May 10, 2011
What about going into business for yourself? You need a bit of capital of course, but you can decline to take probate / estate cases, focus on appellate work (my state has court appointed rosters for appellants as a place to get started), and set the work pace to your comfort level.
posted by motsque at 3:58 PM on May 10, 2011
posted by motsque at 3:58 PM on May 10, 2011
Best answer: I wonder if there are any jobs doing editing for legal textbooks or casebooks. It seems that your interest in working on documents, creating glossaries, etc., could be really valuable there.
posted by maxim0512 at 5:04 PM on May 10, 2011
posted by maxim0512 at 5:04 PM on May 10, 2011
From the things you like and dislike, my first thought is "government attorney." State attorney general's office or something could be perfect.
posted by J. Wilson at 5:16 PM on May 10, 2011
posted by J. Wilson at 5:16 PM on May 10, 2011
Best answer: yes, work for Thomson West. Based on what you like, it maybe a good fit for you.
posted by wocka wocka wocka at 5:22 PM on May 10, 2011
posted by wocka wocka wocka at 5:22 PM on May 10, 2011
Best answer: I also came in here to suggest some sort of legal indexing career. It fits in with the building ontologies work also suggested above. This person talks about indexing with a specialty in legal indexing due to their J.D. So take a look at the major legal publishers (as wocka wocka wocka helpfully links). This job is unfortunately in Australia, but maybe it gives a sense of the career.
posted by lillygog at 6:45 PM on May 10, 2011
posted by lillygog at 6:45 PM on May 10, 2011
ImproviseOrDie has an excellent suggestion. Many people think of lobbyists as slimy imps paid to subvert the electorate, but many work for good issues and make sure legislators move on them. I know lobbyists who work on issues as diverse as marriage equality, water use, zoning law, and education reform. It is a great way to take an issue you are passionate about and work for it.
Getting into it isn't very difficult if you know people, which you may from your schooling and career. But having the degree you do is a huge asset.
posted by munchingzombie at 7:24 PM on May 10, 2011
Getting into it isn't very difficult if you know people, which you may from your schooling and career. But having the degree you do is a huge asset.
posted by munchingzombie at 7:24 PM on May 10, 2011
Best answer: How much do you actually like dealing with the legal code?
You like systematic thought and analysis. If you are fairly comfortable with technology, and don't particularly like learning and implementing law-related stuff, you may want to consider a career in quality assurance (testing). You find all the loopholes and unexpected side effects and edge cases and write reports about them. You can get started by finding a random open source project via OpenHatch -- a desktop-based application that you can run on your own computer, like Miro, would be best -- and following their testing instructions and filing "bug reports". Later in their career, testers devise larger testing plans that require research and writing.
Good testers are rare and valuable. And if you have software testing skills and a JD, the legal technology industry will love you.
posted by brainwane at 7:34 AM on May 11, 2011
You like systematic thought and analysis. If you are fairly comfortable with technology, and don't particularly like learning and implementing law-related stuff, you may want to consider a career in quality assurance (testing). You find all the loopholes and unexpected side effects and edge cases and write reports about them. You can get started by finding a random open source project via OpenHatch -- a desktop-based application that you can run on your own computer, like Miro, would be best -- and following their testing instructions and filing "bug reports". Later in their career, testers devise larger testing plans that require research and writing.
Good testers are rare and valuable. And if you have software testing skills and a JD, the legal technology industry will love you.
posted by brainwane at 7:34 AM on May 11, 2011
Best answer: What about doing some sort of consulting that combines your economics background (even if it's been in the back seat for a while) with legal issues -- for example, consulting on damage models for employment law cases, business disputes, antitrust disputes, etc? There are, to my knowledge, lots of firms that do this kind of work and they might appreciate being able to bring on a JD/economics BA.
Honestly, you also sound like you might enjoy litigation. (You would also probably enjoy appellate work, but that's harder to get into than litigation).
posted by seventyfour at 12:48 PM on May 11, 2011
Honestly, you also sound like you might enjoy litigation. (You would also probably enjoy appellate work, but that's harder to get into than litigation).
posted by seventyfour at 12:48 PM on May 11, 2011
Response by poster: Thanks to everyone who replied. I've got a lot to think about now, which is much, much better than feeling stuck and out of ideas. I've marked some best answers for the things that sounded most interesting to me, but I appreciate everyone who took the time to reply.
I'm marking this resolved because I now have a lot of great ideas, but if someone should stumble upon this question later and has another suggestion, more responses are welcome.
posted by SockISalmon at 11:01 AM on May 13, 2011
I'm marking this resolved because I now have a lot of great ideas, but if someone should stumble upon this question later and has another suggestion, more responses are welcome.
posted by SockISalmon at 11:01 AM on May 13, 2011
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