People who left the profession after a stint in biglaw... what are you doing now? Forum

[whysooseriousbiglaw]

So did you have technical skills (programming/coding), design skills, or biz skills? Just wondering what skills one can pick up in law school and beyond to even think about trying to pursue a path like this.

I came in with business and legal skills. I had designed pen/paper games (think D&D variants) as a hobby but I never considered it as a serious career. I view legal contracts as the structuring of incentives between parties (typically related to consequences for failure to perform). I view game design as the structuring of incentives for players (typically with variable consequences based on performance). They rhyme with each other in terms of thought process and require similar attention to detail.

I'm going to disappear for the rest of the day. I'll check if there are any questions tonight and then probably disappear for another year. I generally check private messages (since it sends an e-mail) when I get them if you have a follow up.

For game design, do you need to know how to program though? I thought most game developers were CS guys who also did extra studies in graphic design/animation since that is different from regular coding.

[elendinel]

So did you have technical skills (programming/coding), design skills, or biz skills? Just wondering what skills one can pick up in law school and beyond to even think about trying to pursue a path like this.

I came in with business and legal skills. I had designed pen/paper games (think D&D variants) as a hobby but I never considered it as a serious career. I view legal contracts as the structuring of incentives between parties (typically related to consequences for failure to perform). I view game design as the structuring of incentives for players (typically with variable consequences based on performance). They rhyme with each other in terms of thought process and require similar attention to detail.

I'm going to disappear for the rest of the day. I'll check if there are any questions tonight and then probably disappear for another year. I generally check private messages (since it sends an e-mail) when I get them if you have a follow up.

For game design, do you need to know how to program though? I thought most game developers were CS guys who also did extra studies in graphic design/animation since that is different from regular coding.

Game design can mean anything from "I actually made the game" to "I came up with ideas and had a team of people implement them for me." So, it's possible to have done "game design" without having the tools to actually make a game.

[Genius]

I left biglaw after 3 years. Went into video game startups. Eventually became a game designer. Now I run a venture backed startup. 0 regrets.

God bless you, your family, and your career. SRS.

[Genius]

I did this when I entered law after doing a phd and working as a prof. You just deal with it. It's sort of the ultimate sunk costs fallacy - either you want to be a a lawyer or you don't. If you don't it doesn't make a difference how much time and money you put into it in the past, that's all gone already. The upside is that past experience is never wasted; even if you don't do anything connected to law, the things that you learn about yourself and life and so on are useful to you in the future. The experience is part of what makes you who you are.

Also I think it helps that as time goes on you'll see lots of people you know change jobs in all kinds of ways. It's not a failure, it's just changing your mind.

So are you not practicing law anymore? How are you using your Phd and JD now?

[A. Nony Mouse]

No, I am practicing law. I'm not using my PhD. I was responding to the idea of pressing the reset button generally, and dealing with starting over after putting a lot of time/money into something else (which in my case was getting the PhD/working as a prof).