Books, Career Alternatives

alt.legal: Conscious Uncoupling . . . With Your Law Firm

How can you make a successful transition out of law while leaving the door open for a future return, just in case?

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The best plan for leaving your law firm is to fire off that good-bye memo telling that partner what you really think of him and run like a bat out of hell, right?

Not so fast, says former BigLaw attorney-turned-author Amy Impellizzeri. In response to the widespread problem of former lawyers struggling after leaving law without a game plan, Impellizzeri penned Lawyer Interrupted (affiliate link), a practical road map for a successful transition out of law that leaves the door open for a future return.

After thirteen years in practice, Impellizzeri left Skadden Arps in 2009 as part of its “Sidebar Plus” program, which allowed attorneys to take a one-year leave of absence. During that time, she started to write her first novel, Lemongrass Hope (affiliate link), and took on consulting work with women’s advocacy groups. She did not go back to her firm, but made a career as a full-time writer. An article she wrote for the ABA’s Law Practice Today about her experience with Sidebar Plus turned into Lawyer Interrupted.

A kind of “leaving law for dummies,” Lawyer Interrupted presents research and advice from career counselors and recruiting professionals, as well as stories of lawyers who have gone on to other fields or taken a break from law and later transitioned back into practice.

The book is a must-read for anyone considering taking time off from law, be it for three months or forever. And while many former attorneys forge new professions and never look back, Impellizzeri teaches painless ways to leave that trail of breadcrumbs back to your legal career – just in case.

I chatted with Impellizzeri about Lawyer Interrupted and essential advice for attorneys finding their way out of law.

What inspired you to write Lawyer Interrupted?

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I didn’t leave Skadden to write this book or my novel. But that’s what happened. And during my time away, I realized that so many lawyers leave at a point of tremendous burnout and don’t necessarily craft a plan.  I thought there is a real need for this. Fifty percent of lawyers leave the law and probably more than that want to. Yet they are still not really cognizant of the versatility and value of their law degree and that there are other options.

A lot of lawyers, myself included, fantasize about “the other” career, not even knowing what that is. We have this idea that anything will be better than working at a law firm, so we don’t plan as we should.

I agree. The fantasy of running out the door with no plan in place sounds really wonderful and sexy at first, but I see so many people floundering. The identity issues set in and people realize that research of what you want to do should have been more at the beginning of the process.

In your book, you talk about your first year out of practice as the time to explore without worrying about how it’s going to look on your résumé.

One year is not going to harm your career or earning potential or seniority. So one year is the freebie. You can do a lot in a year and make it very productive. It’s not easy, but it’s not unheard of in the law to take a sabbatical of six months to a year. But if you don’t have that luxury, then you need to plan for what comes after that year.

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 Do you think law firm culture is changing to accommodate the reality that not every lawyer is on a straight linear path of working at their firm continuously for their entire career?

In the last decade sabbaticals, leaves of absence for childcare or other reasons have evolved in the business world — see, e.g., Netflix — and they are also evolving in the law firm world, but at a slower pace. I hope this discussion trickles into law firms because the same rules apply. Law firms are not immune to the difficulties in making people adhere to the linear approach. And there are already many attorneys who want to go back to work after hiatuses, so you see lawyers using programs like iRelaunch, the Pace Law School New Directions program, or the OnRamp Fellowship program.

What do you say to lawyers who claim they don’t have time to plan for next steps while working law firm jobs?

Unfortunately, there is a paralysis that sets in while you’re an unhappy practicing lawyer. The good news is there are many resources to research alternative careers. There are now blogs that didn’t exist even a few years ago where you can easily read stories of people who have left and do some informational interviewing, like J.D. Careers Out There, like Liz Brown’s blog – like Above the Law! Practicing lawyers are extremely busy, but there is always time. ‘I have no time’ is really code for ‘I’m paralyzed.’ You need to break out of the paralysis and get some momentum by taking active steps by exploring your interests, reading stories of people who’ve left and seeing what resonates with you.

What advice do you have for someone trying to leave law?

I would tell anyone thinking of leaving to plan. I would ask if it is possible to take a six-month or one-year leave. And if not, then be patient and make a long-term plan. A lot of lawyers get tied up on the financial piece, thinking they can’t leave because of money. Lawyers need to ask not ‘how can I replace my law firm salary?’ but ‘what do I really need to make?’ and stop associating their own worth with their billable rate. If you take a hard look at your finances and leaving in the next year or two is possible, then very deliberately start to explore your interests on the side and have an end game. It’s always easier when you have an end game.

Thanks for your insights, Amy! Readers, to learn more about Amy Impellizzeri and Lawyer Interrupted, please visit www.amyimpellizzeri.com.

Lawyer Interrupted [Amazon (affiliate link)]
Lemongrass Hope [Amazon (affiliate link)]

Leigh McMullan Abramson is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in numerous publications including The New York Times, The Atlantic, Town & Country, Real Simple, and Tablet Magazine. She attended Penn Law before working for several years in Biglaw and clerking in the Southern District of New York. Leigh is currently toiling away on a novel set in — you guessed it — a law firm. She can be reached at [email protected].

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