Ex-Solicitors- what are you doing now?

[Lesty1266]

Has anyone successfully managed to escape law? If so, what are you doing now?
After 13 years, I’ve had enough but I don’t know what to do now. The only thing I’m certain about is I want out of law so don’t want to move in-house or do anything related to law.

Following!

how reliant on your current salary are you?

do you want to / can you afford to retrain and start again ?

Why do you dislike it so much? It’s tough out there, jobs / salary-wise. Bit like on dating apps ;)

I'm in a very similar position OP!

I re-trained as a teacher (in Ireland). Best thing I ever did. Better quality of life, more time for my children and generally more fun with the kids in my class. It really worked out for me. I wasn’t on big bucks though, I was a state employed solicitor.

Luckily, I don’t earn a lot as I just work in a high street firm!
I could probably afford to do some sort of retraining for maybe a year or so but not another degree.

I moved out if the corporate world and into the local authority, would recommend.

I thought I hated it, gave up, retrained as a teacher and realised that that was hell. Then went back to law, but in-house and it’s brilliant.

Do you have any ideas of things you might enjoy / be good at instead?

which area of high street law was it?

What type of law do you do?
And what do you hate about it?

(This will help with ideas what you could do instead!)

Would a different area of law not make more sense? High st solicitor sounds like not much fun, I’m in-house in a finance company and it’s great! Exciting, supportive, lovely colleagues, have been brilliant with adaptions due to my health issues (eg letting me go very part time and have time off whenever needed). Would allow for a sideways move into compliance if I wanted etc.

I work part time, fully remotely in the charity sector and I adore my job! Could never return to law.

Have you considered forensic accounting? Will need to retrain but legal background a plus and well paid.

Thanks for replying 😊

Civil service- would recommend and my role needs a v similar skill set to legal work. Might not be enough of a change for you though.

I don’t earn loads. I could afford to earn around £30k in a new job.

I can’t handle the stress of it anymore. I feel like I’m not being a good Solicitor or a good mother.

I feel for you!
What sort of things are you looking at?

I’m a private client Solicitor.
Sadly, I feel like I’m a passionless person. There is nothing I’m good at or interested in really 😞

It won’t be that, it’s because you’ve been so consumed juggling work and family life, when would you have had time to develop a passion or interest in anything else. I feel exactly the same, it’s really hard.

would you ever be interested in becoming a family law coach for places like amicable ?

wealth / financial advisor ? Estate agent ? Legacy manager ? Charitable sector ?

Would you ever think about private tutoring ?

Sounds interesting but I’m not very good with numbers!

What bit or bits cause the stress?

The billing targets? The hours? The complexity/risk of the work? The colleagues? The need to bring in more work? A lack of flexibility?

I know it sounds picky but working that out is the key to working out what career moves will won't work for you.

I do very complex /high value work now, but in l-house with no need to do marketing, no billing targets, and colleagues who are supportive and have similar values to me and I also have flexible working

So it doesn't feel stressful anymore.

But it wouldn't be the job for someone who just doesn't want to practice law at all

CPS are currently recruiting for “mid career returners”. They’re civil service, so good for work life balance, training and benefits. Have a look at Civil Service Jobs (there might be a few other services of interest too).

Interesting. Surely the reason they’re resorting to schemes like this is because it’s such a shitty set up for working parents and they know it?

I’ve found in-house and public sector jobs much better than private practice. Civil service is where I’ve ended up, and find it compares much better than the demands of high street firms. Different people may find it otherwise.

This is still related to law so may not be for you, but I copyedit law books and journals for a legal publishing company. Don't have to deal with people, just words and language, which I love.