For fun / thought experiment: help me pick my second career

[Anonymous]

I’m (almost) 35 and a lawyer, but I’ve only worked part time since having my first son 5 years ago. My younger son will be in school full time in two years, and I’m starting to think about the future and what I want to do.

Some basics: I went to a good law school and did well, then to a small firm, then a corporate attorney position, then stayed home for about 6 months before starting my own LLC and doing PT legal work from home. I’ve worked consistently, but only part time, since then. What I’m doing is not particularly glamorous or complex, and I’m not sure how/if I’d be able to transition back into a full time legal position eventually…or if I really want to. I honestly kind of stumbled into law school (graduated college in 2009) and maybe there is a niche for me but if so I don’t know what it is.

I want to find something that has a decent work/life balance but also feels interesting to me. In every position I’ve ever had, I’m repeatedly told I’m a great writer. When in college I wanted to be a journalist but was advised against it (…probably not bad advice; I’m just offering that as insight). I have thought about nursing/PA school as well; obviously the latter being a much bigger time investment. I suppose - like everyone - I want to feel like I’m doing something that has some sort of purpose. The work I’ve done as a lawyer has not felt that way (…although it’s provided me with the opportunity to make decent money while also being there for my kids’ early childhood so obviously it has been a perfect fit for this stage.)

Money is obviously a factor but not necessarily the main one. My loans are paid off, we have saved/invested basically everything I’ve made over the past 5 years, and my husband makes good money. I am…reluctantly willing(?) to go back to school if I find something that feels like the right fit.

I’m not particularly aggressive or insanely ambitious, and I don’t handle extreme stress well. I don’t need (or want) to be the top dog, I just want to find something that feels tolerable (or dare I wish, sometimes enjoyable?Stimulating?!) for the next few decades.

Anyone see a little of themselves in that description and in a field you’d recommend? Hit me with any thoughts you have, please!

[Anonymous]

What about grant writing? Also, at my mid-sized law firm, we had a corporate attorney take like a decade off to mom full time and then she came back as a director of professional development. So she's basically like the HR to the associates - she arranges new hire orientation, partner and associate guides (mentors) for new hires, check-ins, work flow, etc.

So she's got no clients, no billable hours, just a solid 9-5 job, which she wouldn't be able to do without her prior experience as an attorney. (I know so much bc I sat next to her before the pandemic.)

[Anonymous]

No.

[Anonymous]

OP, I say this gently, you seem to have blinders about what's entailed in the other fields you're interested in. Journalism is not a field for someone who wants good work/life balance - in this economy, you have to hustle incredibly hard to find a niche that pays anything at all. Different story for nursing/PA work, but do you really think that's an easier, less stressful career than being a lawyer?

[Anonymous]

I went back to school in the fall for a masters in social work. Lots of good schools in this area if you want to go in person, but also tons of online options. You can do it in as few as 16 months full-time or three years part-time. I plan to become a therapist in private practice, but you can do a lot of things. They money is not going to be as good as law, obviously, but once established a LCSW in this area can charge $150-$200/hour, set your own schedule, etc.

[Anonymous]

This isn’t a thought experiment.

[Anonymous]

- journalist focusing on law-related topics
- compliance officer
- law librarian
- college counselor
- product manager
- law/political science professor
- high school teacher (political science, economics, history)
- proposal writer for companies bidding on contracts
- deputy attorney general
- real estate agent
- commercial real estate agent

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:- journalist focusing on law-related topics
- compliance officer
- law librarian
- college counselor
- product manager
- law/political science professor
- high school teacher (political science, economics, history)
- proposal writer for companies bidding on contracts
- deputy attorney general
- real estate agent
- commercial real estate agent

Some of these are absurd.

Do you know how difficult a law professorship is to get? Or a poli sci professorship for anyone, let alone a lawyer?

Legal journalism jobs are also very hard to get.

Law librarians typically have a master's degree in library science. Same with any librarian.

[Anonymous]

Speech therapy

[Anonymous]

Staff attorney/legal policy expert at a nonprofit. You spend your time writing policy, reports, sign-on letters, etc.

[Anonymous]

You have a law degree and experience. You aren't interested in being ambitious and maximizing a different degree. There's no reason to abandon the law. Keep developing your practice. Move in house. Look for a government or policy role. There are lots of options if you keep looking.

[Anonymous]

Criminal investigations/law enforcement, if you can reconcile your desire for low stress with a profession which is indubitably sometimes stressful. If you want meaningful, impactful work in a career field where a law degree is a significant professional advantage, with job security and a government pension, it's worth considering.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You have a law degree and experience. You aren't interested in being ambitious and maximizing a different degree. There's no reason to abandon the law. Keep developing your practice. Move in house. Look for a government or policy role. There are lots of options if you keep looking.

+1. I’ve known some policy analysts at federal agencies that have a law degree but are not in “attorney” positions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You have a law degree and experience. You aren't interested in being ambitious and maximizing a different degree. There's no reason to abandon the law. Keep developing your practice. Move in house. Look for a government or policy role. There are lots of options if you keep looking.

This exactly, but as a 40 year old lawyer I just want to say I don't know a single lawyer who didn't spend some portion of their 30s wondering why they didn't go into medicine "where at least I would feel like I was helping people." So I vote that OP keeps doing her simple, uninteresting but profitable job and get some experience in immigration or foster adoption or something on the side through training CLEs so that she can pick up pro bono cases. Doing an asylum case every year or two will keep you feeling invigorated and like you have purpose, without throwing your family into chaos by going back to school and changing careers entirely.

[Anonymous]

Learn as much about special education as you can. Maybe get a degree in SPED and then represent families who need help getting their kids the services they need.