I’ve been practicing for 4 years and I’m miserable but don’t know what I’d like to do instead. Would really appreciate some ideas or insight as to what other careers capture some of the same skills.

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Check out the Former Lawyer Podcast. The host is a former attorney who interviews lawyers who have moved to different professions.

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I think you’re asking the wrong question. I went the through the same thing a couple years back. I realized that “what can I do as a lawyer?” placed my law degree as the focal point of my career search rather than my interests, skills, and personality. Instead, I started trying to figure out what I wanted to do. Obviously, the law degree is a valuable asset. But don’t let it drive your search.

FWIW, I left the law and started a completely unrelated business. But now I’m back to practicing and working on developing an estate planning and business formation practice. I’m much more sanguine about being in the law now that I’ve had some time away and I’m more in control, even though I’m still mostly ambivalent about the actual practice of law.

likehelpful

I made the jump from practice to recruiting (attorneys only) 8 years ago and can’t imagine loving my career more. Happy to chat more about it. There’s so many options out there!

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Are you at a firm? Maybe in-house would suit you. I transitioned in-house from practicing as a litigation/employment partner and it’s made all the difference. I loved my firm and colleagues but started to hate the work. Now I love the work again.

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Thanks AA3 and iCIMS 1, was feeling discouraged. Most of the roles I'm applying to are advertised as litigation roles as well.

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Also check out Legally Blissed (if you’re a woman it’s more applicable) podcast. She interviews female lawyers (myself included, I’m biased) who love what they’re doing. Some still practice and some don’t. It’s super interesting.

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Thank you, will do!

I thought and felt the same. I went from private practice to in-house as a last ditch effort before I decide if law is for me. I love it where I am - I’m using my legal skills to help the business, I’m learning a lot and the culture / team is really great. I think where you are makes a big difference too. Definitely don’t do what I did and went down the rabbit hole of “I’m not good enough for law”.

likehelpful

I’m right there with you.

Have a friend who went to work at a large bank doing contract review/negation, and they love it because it’s generally 9-5 for the most part.

Another friend went to work at a property management company helping the legal team with tenant issues.

Depending on your practice area, it seems the best move is to go somewhere that has a general legal need to review sort of basic contracts/agreements like leases, form agreements. How you find those… I dunno.

You could try to go into HR, but you’d likely need to work your way up and it would be a long time until you’re making a good salary unless you have background.

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