Share your experience regarding non traditional legal careers. My wife (a lawyer), got fired today for poor job performance related to her inability to focus as a result of ADHD/Depression. Though first time she been fired, she’s quit some firms for the same reason, in hopes of finding a better fit. Now she thinks traditional law practice isn’t right for her. Any stories or suggestions for non traditional legal careers? Open to all ideas/suggestions.

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Practice isn’t for everyone - why not consider academic roles or teaching? Legal Consultant to companies

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Check out consultant jobs like primeclerk, alixpartnera, kcc or compliance. She could also do doc review. Also just a thought is it possible it was the wrong firm fit?

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The projects sometimes last for 1-2 weeks or shorter period of time I always thought there was flexibility too on completing the workload.

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Has she considered consulting with a labor and employment attorney about her termination? It’s sad that many employers do not consider adhd/depression to be real medical issues that warrant and deserve reasonable accommodation.

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Sad that attorneys will often fail to take their own advice to clients and apply it to their own internal practices.

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This is my Fear.

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Virtual law office as a solo attorney? It’s slow to start and won’t be a lot of pay but the freedom and control is probably better. Overhead can be as low as $4,000 a year.

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If you need help let me know, happy to answer questions in a direct message. I don’t make much due to COVID and a slow market in my field and location, but it’s better than outright unemployment. A lot of “guides” out there assume you have a big savings and will be building a brick and mortar practice which is more difficult.

Not related to non traditional careers, but a suggestion to find an ADHD coach who works with attorneys. Even if your wife doesn't want to seek pharmacological treatment, an ADHD coach can be super helpful and may also be able to help her identify her strengths and find a job that is suited to both her talents and challenges. My ADHD coach changed my life and I'm now thriving in big law. I deal with ADHD, anxiety, and depression and agree with Partner 1 that her best first step would be getting to a good place with her mental health before reinventing her career.

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Could you recommend your coach?

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The marketing director at our firm is a lawyer, she says she’s really happy she switched. I’m sure the pay is far less though.

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Consulting, recruiting, government?

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A lawyer friend had employment as an editor for a publisher of legal books a while back. The work was good at first, but she eventually grew tired of it. Idk if that is a good fit for your wife.

Working in professional development leadership or as a conflicted attorney can still yield a strong salary and bonus with a better work/life balance.

for a while, i did legal recruiting, and i enjoyed it. back in law now. being an attorney adds some clout to conversations with potential candidates and the hiring firms. the upside was the job itself, but the downside was the fact that, generally, recruiting is a commission-based income that takes a little while to earn and can be stressful if one does not have any sort of safety net (i.e. savings or second income )

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