Career change - no longer want to be a lawyer

[Skylark3921]

I'm a solicitor (predominantly litigation, not corporate or commercial) looking for a new career away from law. I've found law stressful, in particular the need to get things constantly 'right' feeds my perfectionism and OCD/anxiety tendencies. I need something 'lighter' that allows me to switch off a bit more, particularly as I have primary aged children that I want to be present for. I have some research experience but its not recent. I am not currently working but need to and want to. Part time would be ideal but seems unlikely.

What can I do instead of law and how can I make the transition into it?

Historically I've liked work to have a human interest and be detail focussed, but I'm open to change if these are the things that are contributing to my stress. My self confidence is currently quite low and I need to build it up again.

If anyone has any ideas, is be really grateful to hear from you.

Have you done a career aptitude assessment? I just found one online and did it for fun after I saw your post.

https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk

I know someone who went from law into lecturing in law - apparently you just need a law degree to do so. They're so much happier... huge pay cut though.

Need to future proof whatever you do and ensure it is AI fit

@backtoworkback2reality A lot of regional solicitors are not that well paid. I am not sure lecturing at a university is going to work with OP’s qualifications - if they are standard ones! A degree would be ok for a college of FE though and she could do a teaching course. Or have a look at local government. Slow moving and dull at times but part time often available. What about HR? What about working in a school? They have admin jobs and good working hours for family life.

I understand exactly what you mean.

I would look for administrator jobs in local government/universities as a starting point. These could be process focussed, but also things like welfare coordination which may appeal due to the human aspect.

You can also consider teaching/teaching support roles and there are part time options there.

Patient advocacy or SEN support roles may also work for you.

Analysis jobs in industry may work for you (or in government) and it’s more about watching trends and predicting the next steps than being perfectly ‘right’ - and if tue subject matter interests you it’s less of a ‘job’.

Does becoming a mediator appeal?

Where people often go wrong when considering a career change is to start looking for jobs when what you actually need to do is to first reflect on yourself - what are your skills, your values, your personality and interests. There are tests online to help you explore each of those - but don't rush through them! Instead, really stop and take the time to reflect on who you are.

Once you have a clear understanding of yourself, you will then make much better career decisions. For your next task, create a list of 4-5 distinct career areas and then spend time reaching out to people working in those roles (LinkedIn is a great tool for this). Ask them what their typical activities are, what a good day and a bad day look like, if they feel valued by their employer etc and create a spreadsheet of your findings. Treat this like a project at work and be rigorous.

You may find one (or more) of these roles is interesting and you can start to narrow down, or you might go back to the drawing board and check out a second list of possible options.

Then, once you have some ideas that you feel will really suit you, look in detail at entry routes - will you need to requalify? What are the typical salaries/hours and do they match your needs? Can you progress quickly if you take an initial cut?

The person I know has a law degree as their highest qualification, no formal teacher training and now lecturing on a law masters course. So yes, a law degree less some practising experience is enough.

A lawyer I know has stepped down to be an Ombudsman.

@backtoworkback2reality That sounds low academically and teaching above their own academic qualification seems off to me. So I assume it’s a very work based module.

Aren't the solicitor qualifications at master's level (level 7) though?

You could look at something like fundraising (also called Development/Advancement) for a university or charity. Salaries can be can be quite a bit higher than average for other areas of the third and HE sectors, it’s very people focussed and always involves lots of detail work.

Ex-lawyers often specifically go into legacy admin if they have experience in that area already, but loads of different options ranging from face to face philanthropy to database operations.

I work for a large public body. We have in house solicitors - all of them come from private practice, looking for less demanding work hours & expectations. They helobus work within the very particular areas of law that apply to us operationally (Reservoirs Act, Water Resources Act, Flood& Water Management Act, all sorts of pollution ones), and assist in prosecutions (although we get in external counsel for these). Maybe public sector work might appeal?

I work in a big City corporate law firm (I’m not a lawyer). We have a lot of ex-lawyers working for us in non-legal roles now such as HR, compliance, knowledge & information, legal project management etc. does your firm have non legal roles you could try to move into?

I have just had an opportunity to read through all of these comments and I am so grateful to each of you for your advice and suggestions. It has made me realise that there is lots out there and that I have a lot of research to do.

Thanks so much for your suggestions which are all really helpful. Analysis jobs are definitely of interest but are unfamiliar to me. Do you have any idea of the job titles (or companies) I might search for on Linkedin? I'd like to find out a bit more about the work people do in this area.

@IAxolotlQuestions this is definitely where I have gone wrong in the past and I really appreciate your step by step instructions as the task otherwise feels overwhelming. Are there are any specific online tools you would recommend for helping to reflect on personal skills, values etc.?

@IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads public sector legal work may well appeal so long as the subject matter is less emotionally weighty than I've experienced so far in my career. I'm also going to look into policy work. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.