Hey, Lawyer, If You're Unhappy, Move!

As I’ve learned in government, always start with the recommendations because your reader often won’t peruse past the first couple of paragraphs. So, here we go:

There are a bazillion ways to practice law. If you’re not happy with what you’re doing now, don’t suffer in silence, don’t self-medicate, don’t get to the point where you quit the practice out of frustration, find a way to practice law that makes sense for you.

Now that you’ve read my recommendation, I will say two things. First, my recommendation is easier said than done. Change is scary.

Second, I hope you’ll read the rest of the post…

Still here? I was called to the Ontario Bar in 2003. I’m getting to the stage of my career where I’ve done a little bit of a whole bunch of things. I’ve worked in a big firm, a smaller firm, my own firm, private in-house and, currently, in the public service.

Additionally, I used to be a legal recruiter. In that role, as you can imagine, I met a loooottttttt of unhappy lawyers. Lawyers who felt stuck and, hence, wanted to make a move. More on that in a minute. But, first…

…let’s take a step back. There are tons of ways to practice law: big firm, medium firm, small firm. You can work in-house essentially as the sole lawyer or as a cog in a large legal department. You can work in government or as a law librarian or as a professor. You can be a criminal lawyer or a corporate lawyer or a litigator or an environmental lawyer, and on and on…

The combinations are endless, but I would suggest to you that being a Bay Street Corporate/M&A partner at, for example, Stikeman Elliott, is a vastly different experience than being a solo criminal lawyer. They have different rewards, different demands and different difficulties. Some personalities are better suited to Bay Street. Some personalities are better suited to criminal defense work.

From my time in recruiting, I consistently found three (often interlocking) unhappy lawyer themes:

1.????? Unhappy lawyers do not like (or maybe, trust, is a better word) the other lawyers they work with;

2.????? Unhappy lawyers feel like they’re working in the wrong environment; and/or

3.????? Unhappy lawyers feel like they “chose” the wrong practice area.

A quick snippet on each:

Unhappy with other lawyers. Imagine being a young associate, being tied at the hip to one or more senior partners from whom you receive all your work. Your future at the firm depends on pleasing these senior partners. Then you realize they don’t actually give a crap about your mental health, your personal development or your home situation? They just want their work finished on time and without mistakes. If that means cancelling Saturday night plans to see your cousin who just flew in from Brisbane, hey, that’s what you signed up for.

Unhappy with the environment. ?Imagine you wake up one day early in your career and realize that being in a big firm is not conducive to your personality or the lifestyle you want to live. Perhaps, for example, you need lots of time on the weekends to recharge your batteries, but the relentless pace of Biglaw does not provide you with enough downtime? You always feel exhausted.

Unhappy with the practice area. I think the non-lawyer public believes the myth that young associates, given their incredible and expensive legal training, have tons of options or can pick their career path from the start. Two factors kill that myth. First off, most young lawyers don’t exactly know what areas they want to practice in or what will make them happy. Second, the system in Ontario is such that a large number of lawyers flock to big firms on Bay Street and get sucked into the maw. They often have huge student loans. After the completion of articling, when a firm says, we have a position for you in the litigation department, the young lawyer will most often snap this up even if they’re pretty sure they don’t want to be a litigator. It’s an “I’ll try it for a couple of years while I pay off student debt” attitude. But, what frequently happens is the young lawyer wakes up two years into their career and hates being a litigator.

Let’s create a fictional young associate, Tim (he/him/his). Tim is a second-year lawyer who works for mega-firm Blakes as a litigator.?Tim doesn’t trust the partners he works with; he feels like they only care about themselves and getting their work done. He needs lots of downtime to recharge and hates having his weekends eaten up by endless statements of claim, affidavits, etc. Additionally, he entered law school looking to make a difference. He wakes up every day wondering how protecting huge corporations from lawsuits (which, in his opinion, they deserve) can satisfy his soul.

On the other hand, Tim has tens of thousands in student loan debt and would like to buy a condo at some point. Bay Street salaries are pretty sexy compared to the rest of the industry.

Websters Dictionary defines “dilemma” as “A difficult or doubtful choice; a state of things in which evils or obstacles present themselves on every side...”

Wow, that’s a bit dramatic—“evils”—but we’ll go with it. Tim is the very definition of dilemma. What is he supposed to do?

I don’t have the answer for him, or you, but I do have some random, moderately connected thoughts:

1.????? Make the practice of law fit your lifestyle (or the lifestyle you want) and personality, rather than make your personality and lifestyle fit the practice of law. Yes, it’s always tricky finding the right work/life balance, but, start with “What do I want for my life?” and “Who am I?” then figure how to practice law in a way that supports the lifestyle you want and the personality you have.

2.????? You’ve got a big brain. You use it to solve your clients’ problems all the time. If a client came to you and said she wanted to move to a new role, how would you help her? I know that’s not legal work, per se, but your client is looking to you as a problem-solver. So, you want to make a move to another role? Treat yourself as the client who needs a solution. How do you solve your client’s problem? What research do you need to do? Who do you need to meet (e.g. recruiters)? If a job change will entail a reduction in compensation, what can your client do at home to reduce household spending?

3.????? Start now. If you’re unhappy in your role, waiting six more months to make a move will not likely make things better. It takes time to find something new (especially moving in-house). Begin with baby steps. Get your resume and deal sheet (or litigation matters sheet) updated. Research possible roles that might interest you. Talk to your lawyer friends about the pros and cons of their roles. Meet with one or more recruiters.

Making a change is difficult, but I have seen many, many people do it successfully. Just as a general rule of thumb, I think the most successful changes occur when a lawyer goes to something pretty different, like from Biglaw to in-house. I find those lawyers that swap one firm for another similar firm don’t necessarily solve their problems. They just get either more of the same, or different problems that are equally difficult to handle. Thus, if you’re a struggling litigation associate at Blakes, taking the same role at McCarthys is not necessarily going to work out well. However, moving to a litigation role in a smaller firm might really unlock your potential.

I leave you with one more thought. Our parents taught us as follows:

Work hard, then Success, then Happiness

I would suggest the correct formulation is as follows:

Happiness = Success

What’s happiness? To paraphrase U.S. Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, who was opining on something much spicier: I can’t define happiness, but I know it when I see it.

Thus, you might not know what will make you happy. However, you do know that your current job makes you unhappy.

Make a change. Don’t be afraid of it.

It’s cliché, but life is too short. Find a way to practice law that excites your soul or, at the very least, doesn’t crush it.

Thanks for reading. Hope it’s helpful. And, if you’re thinking about making a move, get off your ass and get moving.

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