Leaving your law career behind

Nov 08, 2018

Written By Levi Sunner

When considering leaving your law career, the decision must be treated with care. Here we cover some of the key points to consider, including reasons for leaving and what to do next.

The key questions

If you’re considering a career change, it’s important to be pragmatic in your approach. Consider your reasons for leaving law behind:

- What’s law not providing that you believe another career would?

- How will this affect your life?

- How do you go about your new career?

If you’re considering a new career path, make sure you research it thoroughly rather than making a snap decision! Reach out to individuals within your new field of choice to learn more about the reality of it. Consider gaining some insight through volunteering on a project or attending talks and events.

Law gives you many transferrable skills that are valuable in an array of work environments. If you’re unsure about what to do next, here are some options:

Academia/ teaching
Academia may require further training, but it can also be rewarding. Attend open days, research the institution and look into the types of courses offered.

Paralegal/Legal Executive
These roles might stand you in good stead if you’re not fully committed to leaving law and need time to gain perspective. Without billable hours, working as a paralegal or legal executive is a different, less stressful way to experience the business.

Recruitment
If you have an understanding of what your industry needs, you can shift this knowledge into scouting for talent. Many firms have in-house graduate-recruitment teams. There are also numerous recruitment agencies and firms to investigate.

Project manager
Over the course of your law career, you will have developed a lot of management skills. You can transfer these to any sector that requires a project manager, such as charities, smaller companies and larger organisations.

Finance
As you will know by now, law and finance go hand in hand. If law has inspired you to explore the finance sector, it’s likely that you could combine what you already know with new training and skills development.

Regulatory investigations
This allows you to flex those research skills, as well as ensuring that standards are being maintained within the industry, and could provide an alternative type of law career.

Switching Careers