In more than 30 years of coaching lawyers, I’ve met many attorneys who have found great career satisfaction practicing law. Sometimes getting to that point requires making a change: moving to a new practice area, finding a better firm or platform, figuring out comfortable ways to build a practice, going in-house, or taking on a different role within a corporate legal department.
I’ve coached many lawyers through these kinds of transitions.
But sometimes the answer is something different.
There is much more you can do with a law degree than practice law. Over the years, I’ve also worked with many lawyers who have decided to explore alternative legal careers—roles where their legal training and experience remain valuable, but practicing law is no longer the primary focus of their work.
The possibilities are broader than many lawyers realize.
What Can You Do With a Law Degree Besides Practice Law?
Lawyers move into a wide range of careers, including legal recruiting, consulting, compliance, higher education, law school administration, nonprofit leadership, government, legal technology, entrepreneurship, coaching and other business roles. The best alternatives depend on the skills you’ve developed, the parts of legal practice you enjoy, and what you want more—or less—of in your next career.
My Own Alternative Legal Career
I’ve had several alternative legal careers myself.
After practicing briefly early in my career, I spent seven years working in continuing legal education. I later became a legal recruiter, a role I held for more than two decades. Coaching lawyers has been a thread throughout much of my career and eventually became my full-time focus.
Each transition allowed me to use skills I developed as a lawyer without following a conventional legal career path.
I’ve written more about my own career evolution in Looking for an Attorney Coach? Thinking of Becoming a Coach? (this is an article in the January/February issue of the ABA’s GPSolo Magazine which contains a number of excellent articles on alternative legal careers-ABA membership required but contact me if you’d like a copy) and The New Succession Planning: Winding Down Your Career Without Leaving the Law Entirely.
Alternative Legal Careers: Learning From Lawyers Who Have Made the Move
One of the best ways to explore an alternative career is to learn from people who have already made a transition.
Over the years, I’ve interviewed many lawyers on the Counsel to Counsel Podcast who have taken their legal training in different directions. Their experiences illustrate both the range of possibilities and the fact that there is rarely a single prescribed path from practicing law to something else.
If you are wondering what else you can do with a law degree, here are some conversations worth exploring:
Mission-Driven Work, Higher Education and Nonprofit Leadership
In Episode 179: A Mission-Driven Legal Career with Tony Waller, Tony talks about a career that has included private practice, recruiting and human resources, law school career development, higher education administration, and nonprofit leadership.
His career is a good illustration of how skills lawyers sometimes take for granted—problem solving, communication, leadership, judgment, and getting things done—can translate into very different professional settings.
Legal Recruiting
In Episode 178: Becoming a Legal Recruiter: Navigating an Alternative Legal Career with Matt Miller, Matt Miller and I discuss his move into legal recruiting and the skills lawyers can bring to the profession.
As someone who spent more than two decades as a legal recruiter myself, this is an alternative legal career I know particularly well.
Legal Operations
As AI continues to have a tremendous impact on the practice of law, legal operations has become an increasingly visible career option for lawyers who enjoy improving processes, working with technology, managing projects, and helping legal departments operate more effectively.
In Episode 171-Legal Operations: Fastest Growing Alternative Career Path for Lawyers, we explore this expanding field and why it can be a natural fit for some lawyers.
In Episode 183: From Practicing Law to Consulting With Law Firms on Strategy, Operations, and Growth a former biglaw litigator talks about how she transitioned to a career in business consulting for professional services firm.
Leaving the Practice of Law
Sometimes lawyers know they want to stop practicing, but they have no idea what should come next.
In Episode 157: Planning Your Exit From the Law, we discuss how lawyers can evaluate non-legal careers, identify their transferable skills, and approach a career change thoughtfully.
One of the important lessons is that leaving law shouldn’t simply be about escaping something you dislike. You need to spend time figuring out what you are moving toward.
Legal Technology
Technology companies serving the legal profession need people who understand lawyers, law firms, and the way legal services are delivered.
In Episode 155: From Lawyering to Legal Tech with Ben Chiriboga, Ben discusses his journey from practicing law into the legal technology world.
For lawyers who enjoy technology, innovation, sales, client relationships, or improving how legal services are delivered, legal tech can open up a wide range of possibilities.
In-House Operations
You don’t necessarily have to leave the legal environment entirely to move away from traditional legal work.
In Episode 119: From Law Firm Associate to In-House Operations with Shawn Hoyt, we discuss a move from practicing at a law firm into an operations role inside a corporate legal department.
This kind of transition can be particularly appealing to lawyers who like strategy, project management, and organizational problem solving more than traditional legal practice.
Investigations
Investigations are another area where legal skills can transfer particularly well.
In Episode 88: Frank Rudewicz—The Investigator, Frank discusses his career in investigations and the ways that legal training, interviewing skills, analytical thinking, and judgment can translate into investigative work.
Professional Development and Career Services
Law firms themselves employ lawyers in a growing number of roles that don’t involve representing clients.
In Episode 105-Career Services at Latham & Watkins-How One Law Firm is Creating New Models for Success (Part 2), we explore how law firms are creating internal career development and professional development roles to support their lawyers.
For attorneys who enjoy mentoring, coaching, professional development, and talent management, these roles can provide another way to remain connected to the profession without practicing law.
Don’t Assume You Have to Leave Law
If you are unhappy in your current role, it is easy to conclude that you need to leave the practice of law altogether.
Sometimes that’s the right conclusion. Sometimes it isn’t.
Before deciding that you need an alternative legal career, try to identify what is actually making you dissatisfied. Is it the substance of the work? Your practice area? Billable hours? Your firm’s culture? Your boss? Lack of autonomy? The adversarial nature of your work? The pressure to develop business? Or do you simply want to use a different set of skills?
The answers matter.
You may discover that you would be happier at another firm, in-house, in government, in a different practice area, or in a role that combines legal and business responsibilities. Or you may conclude that you really do want to stop practicing law.
Either way, getting clear about the problem before choosing the solution can help you avoid making a change that simply recreates the same dissatisfaction somewhere else.
Networking Is an Essential Part of Exploring Alternative Legal Careers
If you are considering an alternative legal career, don’t limit your research to job postings and internet searches. Networking is one of the best ways to gather information about your alternatives.
Once you identify a few possibilities, find people who are already doing that work. Ask how they got there. Find out what they like and dislike about the role, what skills matter, how hiring works, and what they would recommend to a lawyer trying to make a similar transition.
At this stage, networking isn’t primarily about asking for a job. It’s about learning. A conversation with someone who has already made the transition can tell you things you won’t find in a job description.
And as you build relationships in a new field, those relationships may eventually lead to introductions and opportunities.
Networking Resources for Lawyers
Because networking is such an important part of making a successful career transition, these resources may also be helpful:
- Stop Networking the Wrong Way
- How Lawyers Can Overcome a Fear of Networking
- Networking Tips for Introverts
- Networking for Lawyers: Don’t Just Show Your Interest, Be Interesting
Exploring Your Next Career Move
A law degree can lead in many directions. The challenge isn’t simply generating a list of jobs that lawyers can do. It’s figuring out which alternatives fit you—your strengths, interests, values, financial needs, personality, and the kind of professional life you want to build.
That process usually involves some combination of self-assessment, research, networking, and experimentation. You don’t need to know the final destination before you start exploring.
A coach can also be helpful in navigating career change. A good coaching process can help you clarify what you want, determine whether leaving practice is really the right move, identify realistic alternatives, develop a networking strategy, and create a plan for moving forward.
If you’re considering an alternative legal career—or simply wondering whether there might be a better fit for you—visit my Career Transitions Coaching page. You can learn more about how I work with lawyers navigating career change and sign up there for a free consultation.