There's an interesting Law.com article entitled "Jumping off the law firm track" which offers examples of non-traditional legal career paths. It gives hope to those of us who went to law school but always intended to do "something else" with our degree.
From the article:
Everyone, including Spencer Baretz, thought his law career was off to a flying start when he accepted a job as clerk to U.S. District Judge I. Leo Glasser in the Eastern District of New York...
In 2002, after three years in the corporate practice at what is now Katten Muchin Rosenman, Baretz left the firm to launch Hellerman Baretz, a communications consulting firm specializing in law firm marketing.
"I really enjoyed the law, but until your fifth or sixth year you are a paper pusher,'' Baretz said. "It's not that intellectually stimulating. Here, I'm running a business, negotiating deals, pitching business.''...
Jonathan Levitt was clearly not giving much weight to job security when he launched Outside GC in late 2001...
Outside GC now employs 20 attorneys who handle day-to-day legal work for as many as 10 companies, working a total of 25 to 50 hours per week, depending upon their preferences.
"I wanted to work for myself, and I was always thinking more about growing a business than being a lawyer in the usual sense," Levitt said. "It is a difficult slog trying to make partner. I don't talk to a lot of law firm lawyers who are really happy."...
David Galbenski had been a commercial litigator for just four months at Timmis & Inman in Detroit when his frustration from looking for staff to perform document reviews gave him the idea for a law firm staffing company.
In December 1993, he put a phone line in his basement and spent the next year practicing law and nurturing the business that has grown into Lumen Legal, with offices in 17 cities nationwide.
Galbenski is the CEO but also incoming president of the Entrepreneurs' Organization, with 7,000 members in 33 countries. He is completing a book on entrepreneurship reshaping the legal services industry.
"I didn't dislike practicing law; it was just that I always had this entrepreneur bug," said Galbenski. "A lot of people go to law school not really understanding what it means to practice law and how that impacts your life. The societal trend around the globe is a greater interest in entrepreneurship. I find more and more people interested in transforming legal services through entrepreneurship, and they don't see doing that inside a large law firm.''...
"Going to law school at [New York University] opened a new city and way of thinking to me. I put a lot of work into the law, and I learned a lot, but when I found something interesting, I moved."
Broumand said the opportunity was obvious to him. He knows how to have a good time, but a lot of people need some pointers.
"Initially, it was a big hit to the bottom line. I was doing extremely well at the law firm and not half as well at UrbanDaddy, but when you love what you do and do it well, the money comes," Broumand said.
"My understanding of being a lawyer came from TV and movies. It didn't turn out to be so sexy. It was a challenge for me to sit behind a desk, thinking, 'Should I use a semicolon or a comma?'"
Am I the only person who finds this very interesting? So many persons who are trained in the law seem to search for alternative jobs for lawyers.
Thanks for making me aware of this article.
Posted by: Dee | Jun 02, 2008 at 10:32 PM