I finally “made it” in-house in my 8th year of practice. Before this, I was thinking of leaving the law and thought I’d give it one more shot. It’s objectively a great job..but I just don’t think the corporate world is for me. I have no debt and no kids…but feel like an idiot for giving up on a good thing after less than a year. Anyone else struggle with this?

Awesome. Corporate world was blech for me too. I do family defense practice now and love it. We have some corporate people! Couple of people jumped from BigLaw. I myself came from a mid law corporate firm. You seem like a talented lawyer and the indigent could really use your help!

My yoga teacher was inspired by her recent trip to Sequoia National Park, and was encouraging us to dream big because if a big sequoia tree came from a tiny seed, we can do big things too. Without highlighting the logical errors in that statement, she inspired me to finally do what I went to law school to do after many years in big law. I’m starting my new job in about three weeks, and it’s a glorious feeling. I have multiple kids, and my spouse’s income is lumpy, but I have a healthy amount of savings and a plan to open my practice after getting some experience under my belt. When people say the sky is the limit, I think they mean “your” sky — the limit you set for yourself. I realized that I’ve been too scared and stubborn in my own thinking. Big law provides a comfortable lifestyle, no doubt about that, but it took away a lot of quality time from my family and myself when my kids were little. I can never get those years back, but I can start trying to make up for lost time and regain control over my life.

What would you do if you weren’t in the corporate world?

Y’all would really lose your minds if you found out my brother is supporting a family of 4 on less than $70k a year 😳

Have you considered any public interest roles? Family defense practice, public defender’s office, appellate work for the indigent?

I think the biggest concern is that if your financial circumstances/requirements change, it will be very hard to come back to a career in law. Your expenses may be super low right now, but life isn’t linear and people lose their jobs that provide them with healthcare, healthcare scares happen and can be very expensive, household repairs and issues can snowball and get very expensive… you name it.

That said, if you’re both ok with a very low spend and the resulting QOL, and with the potential risks that the switch comes with, then do it. I would love to be a part time librarian and just work whenever but I also love international family trips and sending my kids to private school, so I made my choice lol

I would also make sure there’s a life insurance policy for each of you and that you both have wills. It’s morbid, but sounds like you’re a same sex couple and unfortunately I’ve seen things get messy when one spouse dies and the other tries to collect. Also have seen bad outcomes when divorce happens and the parties aren’t financially ready to separate/live on their own after they’ve made sacrifices assuming a life together (as in lowering income/career potential to live a simpler life)

If you are in a LCOL area, no loans, wife supports you… I say go for it. How is it any different than the women on here who leave the law to become SAHMs?

No. There are too many wonderful things to do in life that are expensive—travel, treating others to nice things, food, wine—I would never leave a good job that gave me the flexibility to enjoy all that life has to offer.