Feeling stuck in your legal career doesn’t necessarily mean you need to find a new job. And it certainly doesn’t mean you need to stop practicing law.
But it probably does mean that something needs to change.
Over the years, I’ve coached many lawyers who know they aren’t satisfied professionally but aren’t sure why. Some are unhappy with their firm or organization. Some no longer enjoy their practice area. Some want more control over their time. Some want to go in-house, start their own firm, or do something entirely different with their law degree.
And some discover that they don’t actually need to leave at all.
The challenge is figuring out what is making you unhappy before deciding what to do about it.
Start by Figuring Out What Isn’t Working
Lawyers are trained to solve problems. So when something isn’t working in our careers, it is tempting to jump immediately to a solution:
- I need to change firms.
- I want to go in-house.
- I should start my own practice.
- I don’t want to be a lawyer anymore.
Those may turn out to be the right answers. But they aren’t necessarily the best place to start.
Instead, ask yourself some more fundamental questions.
What parts of your work do you enjoy? What parts drain you? Do you like the substance of your practice but dislike your work environment? Do you want greater autonomy? More meaningful work? More interaction with people? Less pressure to generate business? More opportunity to lead? Better compensation? More control over your schedule?
And what do you want your professional life to look like three, five, or ten years from now?
The answers can point you in very different directions.
The Fulfillment Formula: Take a Closer Look at Your Career
One resource I recommend starting with is The Fulfillment Formula, a 30-minute program I presented through the ABA Career Center on assessing your legal career.
The program is designed to get you thinking more systematically about what is and isn’t working and what might need to change.
Watch The Fulfillment Formula: A 30-Minute Guide to Assessing Your Legal Career
You don’t need to know exactly where you want to go before beginning this process. The first objective is simply to get clearer about where you are.
Maybe You Need a Different Legal Job
Sometimes the problem isn’t practicing law. It’s where or how you’re practicing it.
A different firm may offer a better culture, stronger platform, more interesting work, a different compensation structure, or greater opportunities for advancement.
For other lawyers, moving in-house can be appealing. But going in-house isn’t automatically an escape from the pressures of law-firm practice. The work, environment, hours and expectations can vary enormously from one organization to another.
I recently wrote Going In-House: What Lawyers Need to Know Before Making the Move, which looks at the questions lawyers should consider before pursuing an in-house career.
And in Episode 178 of the Counsel to Counsel podcast, I spoke with Matt Miller, whose career has included BigLaw, smaller-firm practice, running his own firm, partnership, several in-house positions, entrepreneurship and legal recruiting. One of Matt’s observations is particularly relevant to lawyers who feel stuck: lawyers are often so busy doing the work in front of them that they don’t spend enough time thinking about where their careers are actually headed.
Maybe You Want to Stop Practicing Law
For some lawyers, changing employers isn’t enough.
The good news is that a law degree can lead in many directions.
I’ve interviewed lawyers who have moved into legal recruiting, legal technology, consulting, legal operations, higher education, professional development, nonprofit leadership and other fields.
I recently pulled many of those conversations together in Alternative Legal Careers: What Else Can You Do With a Law Degree?
One theme runs through many of these conversations: don’t focus only on what you want to get away from. Spend time figuring out what you want to move toward.
If you are exploring alternative careers, the Counsel to Counsel episodes collected in that guide can introduce you to lawyers who have actually made these transitions and explain how they did it.
Maybe You Want More Control
For some lawyers, the issue isn’t practicing law at all. It’s wanting more autonomy.
That can lead to starting a firm.
But before asking how to launch a practice, ask whether owning a law firm is actually a good fit for you. You aren’t simply changing jobs. You are becoming a business owner.
I’ve explored different pieces of that decision on Counsel to Counsel, including:
- Creating a Blueprint to Launch Your Solo Law Practice
- Thinking About Starting Your Own Law Firm? Avoid These Ethical Mistakes
- Legal Marketing for New Law Firm Launches
Together, those conversations provide different perspectives on planning, ethics, marketing and business development for lawyers considering going out on their own.
Maybe Your Job Isn’t the Entire Problem
This is one of the harder possibilities to consider.
Sometimes changing jobs is the right solution. But a new job doesn’t automatically resolve every source of professional dissatisfaction.
You may need to become better at setting boundaries. You may need to develop greater resilience. You may need to understand yourself better. Or your definition of professional success may have changed.
I’ve explored these subjects with a number of guests on Counsel to Counsel, including episodes on Self Awareness for Lawyers, Setting Proper Boundaries With Clients and Colleagues, and developing resilience.
These aren’t arguments for staying in a bad situation. They are reasons to understand the problem before assuming that changing employers will solve it.
Maybe You’re Simply at a Different Stage
What you wanted from your career at 30 may not be what you want at 45, 55 or 65.
For more senior lawyers, feeling stuck can take a different form. You may still enjoy practicing but want to work less. You may want to spend more time mentoring, teaching or serving on boards. You may want to transition client relationships while continuing to practice. Or you may simply want greater control over how you spend your time.
A career doesn’t have to end abruptly with retirement. There are many ways to reshape it.
Don’t Start With the Answer
When you’re dissatisfied professionally, it’s natural to want to do something about it immediately.
But before updating your resume, calling a recruiter, starting a firm, or deciding to leave law, spend some time diagnosing the problem.
- What isn’t working?
- What do you want more of?
- What do you want less of?
- What would a more satisfying professional life actually look like?
You don’t have to have all the answers. In fact, most lawyers who come to me for career coaching don’t.
That’s part of the process.
I’ve spent much of my career working with lawyers who are trying to determine whether they should move up, move out, or make changes right where they are. Sometimes the answer is a new firm. Sometimes it’s going in-house. Sometimes it’s an alternative legal career or starting a practice. And sometimes the answer is making changes without leaving at all.
If you’re feeling stuck and aren’t sure what needs to change, you don’t have to figure it out entirely on your own. You can learn more about my career transition coaching and schedule a free consultation.