to ask for help with a career change - calling former lawyers

[Jobsworthy]

Posting in AIBU for traffic. NC as about to give some potentially outing info. Please help me come up with some options for a career change.

I’m 31, just had my first baby and still on mat leave. I’m a senior associate in disputes in a City law firm and before she was born wanted to make partner. Now she’s here I can’t face the thought of going back to those hours and never seeing her.

I have a double first class English degree from Cambridge (plus law conversion etc) and no other work experience outside law apart from some private tutoring.

I’m also the main breadwinner. DH works a lot of hours in a rewarding career for around £30k, but we need £100k combined to continue to pay our mortgage, childcare in London etc.

I love writing and am very speedy at reading and processing info but otherwise feel I have few actual skills.

Appreciate this is a first world problem but I feel like everything I previously thought has changed and now just at sea. We can’t leave London because of DH’s work otherwise I think that would be the solution.

@Jobsworthy Business intelligence is a good move for someone with your profile. PM me if you like.

I’m in a very similar position. Think the best option is to go in-house. Pay might be less but worth it for the work/life balance imo

Or in house yes.

Another ex-lawyer here. I don’t think part-time is workable in most disputes practices unless it’s predominantly mediation and arbitration, so PSL on a part-time basis seems the easiest thing to move into. Can your DH go down to 4 days a week? If you’re doing 3 and he’s doing 4, you’d only need two days of childcare.

I'm in-house, and compared to law firm it's like a spa.

Just move to a better firm. A lot of high street type firms have 9 to 5 hours that people actually adhere to. Some bigger firms are also actively seeking to dismantle presenteeism culture and are trying to offer more flexible working. Boutique firms are also worth considering. I know a lot of people who are splitting off and start little boutiques because they don’t want to wait until they become partner/want a better lifestyle. They tend to be much more open that established firms without being a big step down. I would also reconsider the London thing. There is no such thing as a job that requires you to live in London.

Marking my place as I'm in the same boat

I have been in the same position - wanting to change career after being a City lawyer. My thoughts are:

• you have just had your first baby. You are bound to think differently about work and everything else for that matter. Do not rush into any decisions now.
• most firms have got a lot better at dealing realistically with flexible working requests. Does anyone in your team work part time, or a day from home?
• how much childcare cover can your DH provide? Can you share drop offs and pick ups from nursery? This could make a big difference if he can take the brunt of this.
• I would only consider other career options after a lot of thought. It would be very difyto return to private practice. I say this as someone who really regrets leaving.

*difficult to

As a lawyer you have options. If your firm isn't interested in flexible working or slowing down, look at other (often smaller) firms or in house roles or see about transferring to a PSL role.

You could also move into the civil service (although money won't be as good) or an NGO. Lawyers have a lot of options. Being on the partner path in a city firm is not the only one.

Also, depending on how you get on with your current firm and clients, there may be options to move in house with a current client. That an often work well and gives you a head start while also maintaining the relationship with your firm.

Thanks so much for all the replies - really helpful and I will PM some of you.

I’m 5pqe (accelerated to SA last year) and don’t have any experience in the financial/regulatory sectors - have mainly been doing general commercial lit and some international arbitration in the energy sector where in house jobs are harder to come by. I’ve never been on secondment either so feel I’d be at a disadvantage for those roles though definitely something to consider.

To those suggesting part time, it’s not really possible in my current firm. Women who have gone down to 4 days have ended up being sidelined, doing 5 days work in 4 for 80% of the salary and ultimately leaving after a few years when it’s clear their career is going nowhere. Luckily (for them) they all seem to have been married to bankers/lawyers and have become SAHMs, which isn’t an option for me.

I’ve looked at public sector but generally doesn’t pay enough - starting salaries in the govt legal service are £48k. Though I should have a look at quangos as I think the pay is better.

Definitely going to consider PSL routes. I’ve discounted those in the past as I genuinely enjoyed the tactical/adversarial side of disputes but my current role just isn’t compatible with family life.

DH is self employed and can do a lot of the leg work re nursery pick ups etc, and will be taking the baby 1 day so she’s only in childcare 4 days. My issue is really that I want to spend time with her!

Have you considered Keystone or another similar Scomo firm? If you can do general commercial lit, it's quite possible you could make sufficient income whilst working from home. I do.

@fozzleyplum I think I’m a little too junior for one of those. Keystone looks excellent but is for 8years+ pqe, Scomo says 5+ so would just scrape in. Definitely something to think about for the future though. One thing I’d worry about though is whether there is a steady stream of work - are there long gaps between projects? We couldn’t afford for me to have long periods not working.

One other thing I’m thinking about is whether to just go for another baby in my current firm and reassess after a second mat leave. Hard to know whether that will make it harder to move later or easier.

Do you have any in house experience? If not frankly on your return I would push for a secondment. The hours are generally better, gives you breathing space and you’ll need relevant in house experienced if you want to go that route.

There are more non traditional models such as Peerpoint, Adaptive, LOD, axiom although you often need in house experience and you’d be at the junior end.

Big 4 - you could easily get that for 3 Dow

If you have experience in the energy sector you could look at in house opportunities at one of the Big 6? The legal team for one of them is generally based out of Staines which may be commutable for you?

I went to a consultancy model at about 16 yrs pqe. I worked at assistant then partner level in a regional firm, and used childcare until then. We also had a cleaner, ordered in prepared or part-prepared food (Hello Fresh and Cook type things) to make life easier. My DCs were 7 and 9 when I went freelance, which, whilst I hadn't planned it that way, turned out to be perfect timing. They were getting too old for holiday clubs, but not old enough to be left by themselves, so it turned out that I was much more available for them when they needed me. I was also qualified enough to get work in, and work completely unsupervised.

In addition, my income meant that we could afford private education, which has really suited our DCs, and which has given us good cover from 8am to 5pm. So we spent a chunk of my income on services which made life easier/better for the family, whilst I gained pqe and experience which I've now been able to capitalise on.

Would you want to move out of London if not for your dh's job?
It's just not reasonable to insist on staying in London for a 30k job, especially if you are then compelled to earn 70k+.

Just to add, I eventually moved into a public sector type role. The hours are very reliable (e.g. leave on the dot at 4pm etc). Please PM if you would like more information on this type of role.

You could try Thompson Reuter’s (sweet and maxwell) or lexisnexis butter worths) writing content for them. Lots of my friends can work from home at least some of the time for them as well.

OK. Few thoughts:

• if you've been accelerated to SA (well done!) your firm may be really keen to keep and promote you. The more senior you are, the easier to manage your hours or at least be really really well paid for them. In most firms this involves you taking the initiative and telling your head of dept that you are keen to talk about your promotion prospects. I know you miss your daughter - but what matters to her is that someone (your DH or nanny or nursery) is there. This "being there" never goes away until your children go away themselves to university - so play the long game.
• if you've got good maternity packages, then the temptation to try for DC2 and then re-consider is pretty strong. Looking to change jobs now is trickier because everyone will assume DC2 is coming along shortly (rightly or wrongly)

As and when you want to change, in-house is really good route. I think litigators make excellent in-housers because it's all about risk management/analysis, plus litigators do proper law (contractual analysis after the fact). That said, large corporates (and their recruiters) are very narrow minded and even pivoting your CV to show how commercial you are they will still read "litigator". Going to a smaller business or one in a disruptive sector is a much better option. Look on Disruptive GC Network website or LinkedIn or Workable where these companies are directly recruiting is a better option.

• Last option if you fancy leaving law, is working for disruptive/scaling companies. This is a good video from a specialist recruiter who places ex-lawyers (I don't work for them - promise!)

craftycounsel.org/video/why-are-lawyers-hot-stuff-in-start-ups

Lawyers have so many options, but our training and conservative surrounds means that we tend to downplay our abilities!

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Just to add: after DC1 I went back full time - like you I massively out-earned DH. It wasn't easy emotionally, but I was basically doing it until DC2.

After DC2, went to 4 days. Not great for all the obvious reasons, but ok because I ring-fenced my time. Ultimately left to go in-house.

DC are now 7 and 9 and they still talk to me! (and don't remember anything about those early days) DH's salary has also increased as we hoped it would in his field.

Thanks so much for the replies - truly grateful to you all for taking the time to respond so helpfully.

If it weren’t for DH’s job then yes I think a move up north would be a great idea. His family are there which would be nice for the baby (and us!). But I have some family in/near London and it would be hard for DH to work anywhere else. He travels a lot for his job (nationally and internationally) and needs the transport links. He also teaches at a couple of HE institutions that are only in London. I’d like to try to make it work here if I can.