I made a CAREER MISTAKE... Where do I go from here? Forum

[Anonymous User]

I'll try to make this the short version of my situation:

I just graduated in May (cum laude so top 1/3). I got a job in the corporate fiduciary area right after graduation (I was convinced this would be an interesting area for me and that I had no interest in practicing) so I decided not to take the bar and focus on that instead.

I regret my decision. The pay is okay (about $60k... I have a spouse who makes better money than me so we're okay financially and I don't have insurmountable debt), the job is fairly easy and stress-free, but I wonder every day why I went to law school for this. I don't mean for that to sound pretentious or entitled. I just miss the intellectual challenge of law and actually using my brain instead of doing simple and minor tasks all day long.

I didn't think I'd want to practice law because of the long hours, stress and going to court has always scared me more than its excited me (but I can get over that for the right position). The trouble is that I don't know much about where my interests lie in practicing law... trusts/estates and employment law were most interesting to me in school. Most likely I'd want to work at a small firm... basically anywhere but a big law firm (which I realize isn't possible given my position).

Here's where my head is at: I want to take the bar in February so that it doesn't look terribly obvious to future legal employers that I didn't want to be a lawyer. I plan to work full-time, start studying in November, take the bar in February, hopefully pass it and then look for legal jobs.

Does anyone have advice on how I should move forward? Does my plan sound feasible? I'd have to come up with a convincing reason to employers as to why I didn't take the bar immediately after graduation.

[Please spare me from reminding me of how dumb my choice was not to take the bar in July... I remind myself of that every day lol. I'm trying to remind myself that this isn't the end of the world.]

[totesTheGoat]

I just miss the intellectual challenge of law and actually using my brain instead of doing simple and minor tasks all day long.

LOL. Sorry, I don't want to make too much light of your situation, but this is fairly universal. In law school, you spend the entire time studying the 1 or 2% of cases that are challenging gray area cases. In practice, you spend almost all of your time on the other 98% of case, if not on the 99%+ of issues that will never see the courtroom.

Is there a way that you could become the person who reads and analyzes the latest cases in your area of practice? That may give you some outlet for your need for intellectual challenge. Once or twice a month, toss together an email with a list of the latest cases and a paragraph or two on their impact on your practice area and send it out to your group.

Also, make sure you're giving yourself enough time during the week to keep up on the latest legal issues. I find that my job is 10x more boring when I'm nose to the grindstone than when I have time to read the latest cases and law review articles. The work itself may not be any more stimulating, but at least something is making you think.

[QContinuum]

I didn't think I'd want to practice law because of the long hours, stress and going to court has always scared me more than its excited me (but I can get over that for the right position).

You do realize not all lawyers are litigators, just as not all doctors are surgeons? Transactional law. Patent prosecution. Tax work. The list goes on.

That said, if you plan/want to be a general practitioner at a tiny shop, then it's likely you will have to litigate. But even then, most litigation isn't like what you see on TV - most litigators aren't Johnnie Cochran. The vast majority of cases settle before trial, so litigation is way more negotiation than delivering opening statements or cross-examining witnesses.

[Anonymous User]

I just miss the intellectual challenge of law and actually using my brain instead of doing simple and minor tasks all day long.

LOL. Sorry, I don't want to make too much light of your situation, but this is fairly universal. In law school, you spend the entire time studying the 1 or 2% of cases that are challenging gray area cases. In practice, you spend almost all of your time on the other 98% of case, if not on the 99%+ of issues that will never see the courtroom.

Is there a way that you could become the person who reads and analyzes the latest cases in your area of practice? That may give you some outlet for your need for intellectual challenge. Once or twice a month, toss together an email with a list of the latest cases and a paragraph or two on their impact on your practice area and send it out to your group.

Also, make sure you're giving yourself enough time during the week to keep up on the latest legal issues. I find that my job is 10x more boring when I'm nose to the grindstone than when I have time to read the latest cases and law review articles. The work itself may not be any more stimulating, but at least something is making you think.

It's okay I LOL at myself all the time

But in all seriousness this sounds like great advice, but I don't see how it would really work in my position. I'm in a very administrative role that doesn't require even people above me to analyze any case law. You might even call me a glorified assistant to the fiduciary department. When I say I "don't use my brain" I mean my job is VERY easy. There's unfortunately very little room to utilize the skills I gained in law school (researching, writing, etc.). The only writing I do consists of short emails. I think if I can make my way into the actual practice of law I won't be so bored. I enjoyed a lot of the work I did at the firm I was at last summer (unfortunately the people at the firm made it an undesirable place).

Thanks for your advice though. I think I'll try to do something like this or at least keep up on the latest legal issues for my own intellectual curiosity.

[Anonymous User]

I didn't think I'd want to practice law because of the long hours, stress and going to court has always scared me more than its excited me (but I can get over that for the right position).

You do realize not all lawyers are litigators, just as not all doctors are surgeons? Transactional law. Patent prosecution. Tax work. The list goes on.

That said, if you plan/want to be a general practitioner at a tiny shop, then it's likely you will have to litigate. But even then, most litigation isn't like what you see on TV - most litigators aren't Johnnie Cochran. The vast majority of cases settle before trial, so litigation is way more negotiation than delivering opening statements or cross-examining witnesses.

I do, but to be honest I didn't do a great job during law school trying to figure out what those other positions are. I always felt like the odd one out of my classmates because everyone else seemed to have a focus (becoming a prosecutor, going to a big law firm, trial attorney and so on...). I equated the depression I had during law school with being miserable as an attorney so I kind of dismissed the idea of practicing law early on. I was more focused on seeking and learning about JD Advantage opportunities.

I used to think transactional law would interest me, but I've heard those jobs are difficult to find outside of big firms. I think I've just got to do a lot of my own research. If I could have ANY legal job, I would be a law librarian--no joke (and of course I know you don't need the bar for that lol). Law librarians get to deal with the aspects I enjoyed of law school minus the stuff I didn't enjoy. Since that's not a feasible option, I shall move onward figuring out other options. Thank you for your reply!