More Resources for Interrupted Lawyers
By Amy Impellizzeri • January 07, 2019 •Writers in Residence
I'm officially closing out my year as a Writer-in-Residence for Ms. JD. What an honor it's been. Please do keep in touch via www.amyimpellizzeri.com. But I'm not going anywhere! Let's continue the dialogue here as we all keep trying to live our best lives with our valuable JD degrees! In the meantime, here are some of my trusted friends in the transitioning lawyer space. You might be interested in following, subscribing, and reading what they have to say: Casey Berman: Leave Law Behind Liz Brown: Life After Law Montage Legal Group Bliss Lawyers -Amy
Why Your Law School Might Not Help You Find Your Next Job
By Amy Impellizzeri • December 03, 2018 •Writers in Residence
Most law schools have an enthusiastic and hard-working career counseling office and staff. If you are headed to a law firm, and especially if you are headed to a BIG law firm after graduation, these offices will likely be your best source for recruitment and placement. But what if you want an alternative beyond practicing law after law school? What if you want to use your high level analytical legal thought training in a more creative field? Will your law school career office be of much help? Probably not. To be clear, it's not that your law school doesn't have access to alternative…
Sandra Day O’Connor: Jurist, Pioneer, and Lawyer Interrupted
By Amy Impellizzeri • October 28, 2018 •Writers in Residence
With the news coming last week that Sandra Day O'Connor is stepping away from public life, much has been written about her brilliant legal mind, her momentous career on the Supreme Court, and her robust life following retirement from the Court, including founding of the group, iCivics, which promotes civic education in schools through free, educational online games. Not surprisingly, much of the focus has been on O'Connor's pioneering legacy as the first woman Supreme Court Justice. Suprisingly, however, little has been made of the fact that she is nearly the last Supreme Court Justice mom. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, known affectionately to…
Try It Before You Buy It: Four Ways to “Try Out” a New Career
By Amy Impellizzeri • September 27, 2018 •Writers in Residence
Lawyers are notoriously risk averse. This generalization makes them good at what they do. It also makes them bad at getting out. When I speak to transitioning lawyers, I hear some of the same fears echoed back time and time again. How can I leave without knowing for sure? What if I leave and I'm still unhappy? What else could I possibly do? I always start these conversations as I will here: with four ways to "try it before you buy it." 1) Join a Board. Local non-profits, civic foundations, and even schools are often looking for new Board members.…
Playing Craps with Senator McCain
By Amy Impellizzeri • August 26, 2018 •Writers in Residence
Twenty years ago, I met Senator John McCain - not at a political rally, town hall meeting, or even a D.C. restaurant – but at a Craps table in Vegas. My husband and I were on a holiday from our demanding lives back home – no kids yet, but medical school for him, and a grueling litigation career for me, gave us reasons to escape every now and then. (My law firm salary also gave us a little disposable cash to squander at the casinos just for fun). We were walking through the table section of the then-newly-opened Bellagio Casino and we…
An Investment - In Perspective
By Amy Impellizzeri • July 30, 2018 •Writers in Residence
I speak to a lot of lawyers looking to transition from the practice of law, and recently I’ve realized that the most important message for those transitioning professionals is not that transition is indeed possible, but rather to manage the expectations surrounding the transition. Here are some common responses I hear when I tell my story - now with the perspective of a decade away from the practice of law - nearly a decade since I last worked at Skadden Arps. There’s got to be an easier way to make a living. I just need to find a job where…
Tackling the Hard Stuff First ...
By Amy Impellizzeri • June 28, 2018 •Writers in Residence
When I have a pile of items cluttering my inbox, or a long list of errands littering my To Do list, I often find myself tempted to knock out a bunch of easy items and save the laborious, difficult, thankless items for last. Do you do this? DO NOT DO THIS. And if you are thinking about how you will structure your career over the next 5, 10, or more years, then you really should not do this. To review, my career has been a winding path of 13+ years of corporate litigation, followed by a year in pro bono…
Clearing Two Big Hurdles
By Amy Impellizzeri • May 28, 2018 •Writers in Residence
When I visit Bar Conferences and Lawyers in Transition Committees around the country, I often hear the same two hurdles identified by potentially transitioning lawyers. How will I know who I am if I’m not a lawyer? (a/k/a the Identity Hurdle) How will I be able to afford NOT being a lawyer? (a/k/a the Financial Hurdle) I never dismiss either the Identity Hurdle or the Financial Hurdle. I acknowledge that both are real. But I’ve found that they are sort of tied up in each other and both are definitely surmountable. So, let’s be impolite. Let’s talk about money. Interestingly…
Lawyer Interrupted: Settlement Negotiations
By Amy Impellizzeri • April 27, 2018 •Ms. JD, Writers in Residence
That was yesterday. Today is a new day. I was in the middle of a lengthy telephonic settlement negotiation with my adversary, and he didn’t seem to understand why his position has weakened. New discovery had been produced. Inconsistent fact deposition testimony had been elicited. An expert witness who couldn’t possibly survive a Daubert motion was still on the pre-trial report. I was trying to explain all of this when he asked why old (expired) settlement offers were no longer on the table. When all my reasoned legal analysis seemed lost on him, I succumbed to the “that was then,…