After 30+ years of practicing law, I sometimes forget that I didn’t always follow a traditional professional path. A year after joining a national law firm as a first year associate, I wasn’t sure I had made the right choice. My interest in government and politics, which had initially spurred me to attend law school, was not the focus of my job. Instead, I was practicing real estate law and litigation, and although I enjoyed it, I didn’t feel fulfilled. I decided that while I was figuring out what type of law would satisfy my desire to work with the public sector, I would switch to a position as a technical writer and editor with a consulting firm that provided third party review of government documents, including environmental reports.
Although I eventually went back to a more traditional law practice, albeit one that focused on public law and redevelopment, my time with the consulting firm demonstrated that there are many other professional options available to an individual with a law degree besides being a practicing attorney.
Examples of Non-Traditional Legal Paths
One of my close friends in law school chose a non-traditional path from the outset. After completing her JD, she realized (a) she was too exhausted to take on the stress of preparing for and taking the bar exam; (b) she wasn’t really interested in becoming a practicing attorney anyway; and (c) with the country in a recession, there weren’t a lot of jobs being offered at traditional law firms. After researching fields that would be a good match with a law degree, she decided to apply for roles in human resources. It appealed to her because she knew her legal knowledge would be helpful, and the field had a variety of pathways within it, including labor/employee relations, benefits, recruiting, payroll, compensation, HRIS, and more. “My law degree has been an asset to me throughout my career and has provided me with opportunities to take on leadership roles within several organizations,” she notes. In the time since our graduation, she has been elevated to a position as vice president of human resources for a major university in Southern California.
Another industry colleague parlayed his legal expertise in finance into an executive position in the solar field. He enjoyed the “deal making” aspects of his Big Law job, but the papering of deals, the endless reviews of disclosures, left him cold. After several years, he became the CEO of a solar financing company and hasn’t looked back since. He kept the part of his law job he loved but was able to delegate the parts he hated to outside counsel and other professionals.
Another close friend from high school (and truly one of the smartest people I have ever known) found her calling as a professor of law and social responsibility at an undergraduate college. She always knew she wanted to teach at the college level; on the advice of a mentor, she focused on writing and publishing articles while in law school. This helped her land a job in academia after graduating with her JD. She also practiced law part-time for a while to increase her credibility with students. “Eventually,” she says, “I stopped practicing law but partnered with a nationally known civil rights attorney, which enabled us to present our ideas to an academic audience. That partnership worked for both of us.” In addition to teaching, she has expanded her role into peer-to-peer mentoring, administrative responsibilities, and charity work, and continues to author numerous scholarly articles and co-author textbooks.
Some Considerations
Before you make the decision to pursue an alternative career out of law school, or jettison your current law practice, take some time to reflect on this choice. Jodi Ettenberg, a former practicing attorney who now hosts a website on alternative careers for lawyers called “Thrillable Hours,” recommends conducting a life audit. What is a life audit? Ettenberg quotes Author Ximena Vengoechea, who defines it as “an exercise in self-reflection that helps you clear the cobwebs of noisy, external goals and current distractions, and revisit or uncover the real themes & core values that drive & inspire you. Also known as: spring-cleaning for the soul.” It involves a lot of post-it notes, some serious introspective exercises, and ultimately the development of an action plan. The most important part of the process is determining what you really enjoy and want to spend your life (or the next decade or so at least) doing. Additionally, for those of us who only feel grounded when there’s a plan in place, this exercise can bring a quantum of comfort to the decision to pivot from the law.
Another recommendation from Ettenberg is to think about your worst case scenario if your alternative work plan fails. “A personal risk assessment helps give voice to the nebulous fears many people have, allowing them to be countered, minimized, or even dismissed,” she explains. “Once we have a handle on our worst case scenarios and have ways to manage them, they become more manageable and less of a threat.” In my experience, fear of the unknown is one of the biggest obstacles to taking a chance on a new career or, for that matter, any major life decision. Delving into those fears and facing them head on can bring some much needed calmness to the decision process.
If you’re already a practicing attorney, a “job audit” can also be helpful in your decision-making process. It may very well be that transitioning to a different area of law practice, or a different employment scenario, can bring you much closer to fulfilling your goals and finding happiness as a law practitioner. For me, this was definitely true. My temporary absence from legal practice as a land use consultant helped me see that I could find real happiness in my work as a lawyer if I could focus more on public law, land use, and construction. Additionally, moving to a smaller market (from Los Angeles to suburban Orange County) gave me a better work/life balance, which helped my happiness quotient tremendously.
Conclusion
There are countless resources on the internet to help you think about alternatives to practicing law, and just as many on the general topic of finding a career that fulfills. I’ve curated a list below of websites and articles I have found helpful, but I would encourage anyone considering a non-lawyer career to dive as deeply as necessary to feel confident and inspired about such an important decision. Just remember, a law degree is always an asset, whether you decide to follow a traditional or alternative career path. Let that accomplishment be your cornerstone, your foundation for your career development and growth, and from there, the sky’s the limit!
Resources
Alternative Careers For Lawyers: What To Do When You Want To Quit Law In 2025 (With 100+ Options!)
Alternative Careers for Lawyers: How to Explore Your Options
As a veteran of thirty years of legal practice, Melanie Houk welcomes the opportunity to look back on a career nearer to completion than commencement. A graduate of Loyola Law School, Melanie initially took a nontraditional direction, leaving a first-year position at Whitman Breed Abbott & Morgan to take a job as a consultant. Eventually returning to private practice, Melanie spent nearly a decade developing further public law expertise with redevelopment agencies and municipalities before gravitating to an in-house position at Lennar Corporation, where a markedly convoluted path led her to a promotion to Deputy General Counsel, a position she has held for close to fifteen years.
