Career change ideas?

June 29, 2019 4:17 PM

I’m a lawyer at a corporate law firm, and I need help figuring out what to do with my career. I’ve recently given birth and have six months to figure out whether to go back to the firm. I don’t want to quit without my next steps planned out, but I have no idea what I want to do—help me figure it out!

About me: I’m in my late twenties and graduated from a top law school that people from other fields recognize as an excellent school (mentioned because this might make transitioning to another field more probable). Practicing law is not my passion, and I’m ready to leave law if I can make that work. Being able to spend time with my kid is a major priority, but my family is not in a position for me to quit working altogether.

What have I considered? Working in-house at a company seems like an obvious answer, but I'd like to transition into something that feels more meaningful. I tried public interest law but found the salaries too low to offset the high stress and long hours. I don't love travel and would really like to stay put in NYC, especially with a baby in the mix.

Below is a list of what I want from my work and what I offer, but I'm not sure if this is really the right way to go about this. Would welcome thoughts on how to figure out what I want to do if you have any suggestions. I’ve tried What Color Is Your Parachute but didn’t walk away with a clear sense of what I want to do.

Here’s what I’m looking for in my work:
- to feel that I’m working for a meaningful purpose, which for me means that I’m helping people achieve things they might have thought were beyond their capacity
- to connect directly with the people I’m helping
- to be part of a team that’s striving towards the same goal(s)
- to be in an environment where growth mindset is the norm
- to be surrounded by smart people
- doesn’t require me to be “on” outside of work hours so I can be present for my kid
- limits work to 8 hours a day and doesn’t spill over into weekends
- autonomy and stability
- to make at least $100k—preferably around $140k (because my husband and I both have massive student loan debt and live in NYC)
- to be based in NYC or to work remotely

Here’s what I offer:
- Ability to teach and present well
- Strong analytical skills
- Great attention to detail
- Hard worker
- Fast learner
- Good people skills

posted by saltypup to Work & Money (14 answers total)

Would you consider working as a general counsel at a university? It might fit your do good with your skills while working reasonable hours and making more than you would at a non-profit. I had a friend who made the transition from a firm to a university a few years ago when she had her child and she loves it.
posted by shesbookish at 4:25 PM on June 29, 2019 [5 favorites]

You sound like you’d be a good fit for the Staff Attorneys at one of the two Appellate Divisions in the City. The position hits most of your requirements, save one or two. Feel free to MeMail me if you’d like; I have a bit of knowledge about the position. Even if you wouldn’t like, keep an eye on the New York Uniform Court System website for job postings.
posted by holborne at 5:00 PM on June 29, 2019 [2 favorites]

8 hours, six figures, and meaningful work is a tough combo to find, but consider state government. In a strong union state like New York, the unions fight having anyone in management work more than 8 hours because it contributes to hourly expectation creep for them. My husband transitioned to state government and made a comparable salary to what he made as a litigator in the private sector, with better benefits, and it was excellent for home life. 7.5 hours of work per day (30 min for lunch) and he was DONE and the rare times when he had to work evenings or weekends (for board meetings or state legislative sessions involving his agency), his contract required him to take that many hours off as comp time in exchange. He worked for the state historic preservation agency and really enjoyed the work. Department of Nature Resources, state EPA, etc., were similarly filled with happy, mission-driven employees. We also knew happy folks at economic development, the attorney general, and the treasurer's office, but those wouldn't have been good fits for my husband, for whom environmentalism, history, and museums were motivated but economic development was eh.

Try to avoid agencies that are rife with patronage hires -- even if the work of the agency itself is interesting, the internal politics are miserable, especially if you're the ethics investigation point person (lawyers typically are) and you've got all these people on the payroll who don't work but can't be fired.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 5:08 PM on June 29, 2019 [4 favorites]

Have you thought about the NY OAG? We’re a nice place to work, not super high pressure, but a certain amount of saving the world. If you have questions, message me.
posted by LizardBreath at 5:08 PM on June 29, 2019 [2 favorites]

I was like you—top school, top white shoe firms, law not necessarily my passion and looking for an alternative. My trigger point was getting married, rather than having a child (I’m a man), but otherwise we share a number of commonalities.

I went in house, and it was life changing. You don’t mention what you actually practice, so I can’t venture what opportunities await you, but in NYC, I generally think of there being an in-house role for every niche. The matters I’ve worked on, and the colleagues I’ve worked with, have been on par with what I had in private practice, and my hours were generally 9-5.

Shesbookish has a good suggestion, as well—museums and universities can be pretty good places to work, though not especially remunerative, not necessarily 9-5, and often not the best colleagues (having worked in a university and non profit setting myself). I have a friend from school who went that route, and have even worked with partners who went to universities to general legal work (not exempt orgs lawyers, financial services lawyers who took a break and are doing general legal work from contracts to slip and falls).

Personally, I’d come back on the “mommy track” for a bit, work on a reduced schedule (a mere 40-50 hours a week) and make my move from there. There’s no need to quit/formulate your exit on maternity leave; take that time to be with your kid!

Also, partners can be a good resource—not always, for sure, but if you have a partner you like, they may be able to give you a foot in the door with a firm client. Firms love it when associates go in house at the client, because it solidifies the relationship.

Being in house has made me really enjoy being a lawyer. Feel free to memail.
posted by Admiral Haddock at 5:17 PM on June 29, 2019 [5 favorites]

I was in your position about three years ago now. I was in private practice and seriously unimpressed with it. I veered hard left and left my job to pursue a certification in teaching K-12. This was eye-opening for numerous reasons perhaps the most relevant being that I am not cut out for being a teacher AT ALL. It did ultimately cement to me what was absolutely critical for me to have for my sanity: an ability to practice law without the hassle of clients, billable hours, and to able to do so on my own without a lot of supervision.

I ended up serendipitously finding a position with the Social Security Administration writing decisions for ALJs. It fits all of my boxes - and it lets me spend more time with my kids because I have set work hours. I get to work with a variety of people and there is always a challenge even when the cases may seem to be the same. I work with a lot of dedicated professional people.

Best of all, I have a life outside of work. A REAL life. I am prohibited from working on the weekends or checking email. It was a pay cut, but my quality of life has improved exponentially. Feel free to memail me if you want more info.
posted by tafetta, darling! at 6:56 PM on June 29, 2019 [5 favorites]

You don't mention whether you're litigation or corporate, which will have a significant effect on where you can go (generally easier to go in-house if you're corporate).

8 hours, six figures, and meaningful work is a tough combo to find, but consider state government. In a strong union state like New York, the unions fight having anyone in management work more than 8 hours because it contributes to hourly expectation creep for them.

Just FYI, unlike, I believe, a number of other state agencies mentioned here, NYAG lawyers (probably the most opportunities if you're a litigator) are across-the-board not unionized, and there are no particularly strong institutional constraints on the hours. The salary is also not vaguely comparable to the private sector's.

But you'd be surprised at the number of state and city government legal jobs there are floating around.
posted by praemunire at 8:10 PM on June 29, 2019 [1 favorite]

(FYI, Appellate Division lawyer’s are unionized. AFL-CIO, Local 010. Union yes!)
posted by holborne at 8:20 PM on June 29, 2019 [1 favorite]

AFAICT the previous posts give suggested routes, but nothing on the overall strategy you should adopt. I'd suggest you look at CareerShifters - https://www.careershifters.org/blog - for examples of how other people have changed careers, and for good advice on the general techniques, i.e. how to meet and question people in your preferred destinations so you can improve your chances of making the best decision first time around.
posted by DancingYear at 3:36 AM on June 30, 2019 [1 favorite]

I know quite a few law school grads/former lawyers who now work in planned giving for higher ed fundraising and development. I'm not sure about the salary in your area, though.
posted by sm1tten at 9:17 AM on June 30, 2019 [1 favorite]

It seem unlikely to me that you will obtain your salary goal in any job that is not law-related. But as some of the previous replies suggest, not all law jobs come with the pressures of Big Law.

My sister practiced patent law. She was in-house both at drug firms and with a university. I never heard that she was under huge pressure.
posted by SemiSalt at 11:53 AM on June 30, 2019

Another good place to ask this question would be the daily threads at corporettemoms.com (no affiliation), which are full of attorney moms discussing this issue at least once per week.
posted by synchronia at 6:10 PM on June 30, 2019 [1 favorite]

I ended up serendipitously finding a position with the Social Security Administration writing decisions for ALJs. It fits all of my boxes

But not the OP's. This job doesn't pay close to 140k.
posted by Jahaza at 9:55 PM on June 30, 2019

Nor will it pay 100k starting out.
posted by Jahaza at 9:56 PM on June 30, 2019