Life After Big Law?

[Mentos]

I recently was discussing a common problem, and I thought it might make for a decent discussion. Several of my friends are midlevel associates, mostly in litigation (some corporate) at big firms in Manhattan and DC. They want to leave, but have no idea what to do next.

As a group, they're well qualified and open to all ideas, so I was wondering if you might share some of the more interesting or successful out-of-firm jumps you've made or observed. One decent example is a friend of mine who went from big firm to foreign service.

 

[RJman]

Originally Posted by Mentos

I was wondering if you might share some of the more interesting or successful out-of-firm jumps...
Hopefully not literally. Please do share.

 

[Joffrey]

http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/DSAD/SAC/escape.gif

 

[zjpj83]

So many damn lawyers on this forum

Seriously, though, the sky's the limit. Why go work for someone else? If they're willing to take a risk, they should start their own endeavor. Invest in something, or start their own company, do something a little wacky. Do some residential real estate, open a pizza shop - whatever they can dream up, they can do.

 

[lawyerdad]

Originally Posted by zjpj83

So many damn lawyers on this forum

Seriously, though, the sky's the limit. Why go work for someone else? If they're willing to take a risk, they should start their own endeavor. Invest in something, or start their own company, do something a little wacky. Do some residential real estate, open a pizza shop - whatever they can dream up, they can do.
Yeah, I was thinking that there's no way to give useful advice without knowing people's individual personalities, interests, true financial needs, etc. If your friends need assurance that there's life outside BigLaw, there certainly is. As zip suggests, what can't they do?
They guys who started California Pizza Kitchen were lawyers (albeit federal prosecutors rather than BigLaw associates) before becoming restauranteurs. I learned on this forum that Duncan what-his-name jumped from law to fashion. People I've known have moved to smaller firms (well, actually that's me), hung out their own shingle, taken government or public interest jobs, become screenwriters, become professional photographers, opened a dog-walking business, take a job with Amnesty International in Africa, become real estate agents, taken jobs as non-legal business executives, gone into academia, become fiction writers or journalists, become stay-at-home parents, become financial advisors, etc. You get the idea.

 

[Mentos]

Originally Posted by zjpj83

So many damn lawyers on this forum

Ain't that the truth?

Originally Posted by zjpj83

Seriously, though, the sky's the limit. Why go work for someone else? If they're willing to take a risk, they should start their own endeavor. Invest in something, or start their own company, do something a little wacky. Do some residential real estate, open a pizza shop - whatever they can dream up, they can do.

Of course, a smart person who can raise a little money in theory has a world of options open, but I'm thinking more of real-life tales. More what people have done, rather than what they could do in theory.

I know a few people in DC who went into residential real estate a few years ago, but it might not be the best time for that. Maybe once prices really bottom out. . .

 

[Mentos]

Originally Posted by lawyerdad

Yeah, I was thinking that there's no way to give useful advice without knowing people's individual personalities, interests, true financial needs, etc.

No doubt it's difficult, but I was trying to create a general query--throw a few ideas at people--all those you listed are good, but I guess the usefulness of such general lists is limited.

 

[GreyFlannelMan]

Duncan Quinn didn't jump -- he's doing both at the same time!

I left BigLaw earlier this year to do restructuring consulting. I love it!

 

[Ambulance Chaser]

If you are a big-firm lawyer, you are, by definition, risk-averse. There are not going to be many interesting stories of moves from BigLaw. I would recommend trying to find a better legal job, better being defined as more humane hours, more interesting work, more responsibility, etc.

 

[Mentos]

Originally Posted by GreyFlannelMan

Duncan Quinn didn't jump -- he's doing both at the same time! I left BigLaw earlier this year to do restructuring consulting. I love it!
I saw your post on leaving law in another thread--combined with a recent associate ***** session, that's what led me to this post. Was it a logical jump from your practice area?

 

[GreyFlannelMan]

Originally Posted by Mentos

I saw your post on leaving law in another thread--combined with a recent associate ***** session, that's what led me to this post. Was it a logical jump from your practice area?

It was-- I did bankruptcy law for almost 10 years.

 

[Bic Pentameter]

I know this fellow: http://www.craniosacral-therapy.net/facilitator.htm

He got an LLM at Yale and was a litigation/arbitration associate at a big firm in New York. I met him in Tokyo when he was a legal recruiter. Now he is a craniosacral therapist registered with the American CranioSacral Therapy Association. I don't know how well he is doing, but he seems to be happy.

Bic

 

[dirk diggler]

go in-house to one of the firm clients, work hard for a few years, and then fire your old firm and hire someone else.

In-house practice is a BLAST compared to the salt mines of the firm. And this from somone who billed 2700 hrs a year! It wasn't the work, it was the dick-head partners.

 

[BigHandMan]

What about a career change? What about working for a not-for-profit organization?

I'm a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) but I work professionally as a fundraiser/gift planner for a major charity. While it's not as financially rewarding as, say, being an actual financial planner - or a big firm lawyer - there are other rewards in it that more than compensate for making a bit less money.

Despite what some others on this forum might think about donating to charity(see the thread on the charitable giving article in the WSJ), the U.S. would a vastly different and likely worse-off country were it not for the non-profit community.

Additionally it's a big industry with many opportunities for employment which span a variety of causes, from healthcare and hospitals to human service organizations to educational institutions.

And, in closing, at the top levels one can earn a living that's far better than decent. Having been in the field for about 9 years now, I have no complaints.

For more info:

http://philanthropy.org
www.ncpg.org
et cetera

 

[ghostdeini]

as someone still in college doing political science, and hoping to jump into law in the graduate school years, would you recommend any particular moves I make now to avoid a lifetime of dullness? I'm not necessarily looking for a career that's tied into government, it just seemed like a good liberal arts degree to pair up with law...