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The Three Main Mistakes You Want to Avoid In Order To Leave The Law

I’ve noticed three main mistakes that people make that oftentimes slows down their goal of leaving.

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At Leave Law Behind, I work with many attorneys who are unhappy with being a lawyer and want to leave the law behind and do something else. They want to change their life and their work and their focus with the goal to be more satisfied, more confident and happier.

But I’ve noticed three main mistakes that people make that oftentimes slows down their goal of leaving. So if you’re thinking of finding a way out of the law, be wise and avoid the falling pitfalls:

Mistake #1 – Not Spending Enough Time Exploring Our Unique Genius

Our Unique Genius is made up of those skills and strengths that come so naturally to us, so effortlessly to us, that we don’t even think of them as a skill. It is upon these skills that we do so well that we will begin to base our alternative, “non-law” job search and career. It is with these strengths at which we excel that we will begin to create a life of confidence and self-worth.

But, admittedly, we are not that used to looking for our Unique Genius. It is tough for us to critically look inward. For most of us, we have planned our life based on what was considered “right” by others: society, our parents, our teachers, television.

We did not spend much time considering what was “right” for each of us.

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And so we chose graduate school and career paths based not on what would best align with our skills … but rather based on what we thought was important to accomplish in our society: salary, stature, security.

But what we oftentimes forgot to consider was whether our career path connected with what we liked and were good at.

When we flip our priorities around, and focus on our Unique Genius, we put our skills in the forefront, and identify jobs that require and want and desire our skills.

But here’s the rub: If we do not spend time really understanding our Unique Genius, we may never know what we truly are good at, and which alternative, “non-law” job out there is sincerely meant for us.

Mistake #2 – Remaining a Perfectionist

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As lawyers, we want (and need) everything in our work to be perfect, or as close to perfect, as possible: As part of our job, we need to make sure our work product represents our clients and our firms in the best and most accurate way.

And on top of that, as individuals we are often perfectionists: We are compelled to review and double check and triple check and quadruple check and make sure we have it (whatever that is, at work or in our personal life) right and correct before we do anything next.

But when we explore leaving the law behind, we don’t need to be perfect. We actually don’t need to be anywhere near it. What we do need to be is flexible and open and courageous and honest and receptive to change. But we do not need to be perfect.

And really, to properly leave law behind, it can backfire on us to be, or aspire to be, perfect. When all we seek is perfection, when all we seek is for a guarantee, this often means that, in reality, we end up not doing anything at all, or anything different. We do not start. We do not take a baby-step. We do not experiment. We do not consider. We do not network. We do not risk being wrong. The risk and hard work required to take that first step are often perceived as too high a hurdle. I can’t leave law, I won’t be any good at it, so why should I try, or It’s really just so hard to leave the law, or I know what I want to do in my dreams, but I only want to try it if I know I’ll succeed at it. So we keep doing what we’re doing, and we keep getting what we’re getting.

Those of us that seek perfection seek completeness and flawlessness. This is a mistake that will keep us from making any progress.

When we properly leave law behind, we, rather, aim to incrementally and gradually and sincerely build self-confidence and self-worth and meaningful relationships and growing income and passionate lifestyles and happiness.

Mistake #3 – Not trusting in the power of the “babystep”

Even with all of the support, guidance and structure we provide at Leave Law Behind, actually leaving the law can be daunting.

That’s because leaving the law takes internal exploration, courageous action, and consistent follow up.  It involves battling self-doubt, experimenting with ideas and creating opportunities.  It takes a lot of time.  It can be overwhelming. The path seems murky. It becomes a second job.

And all we want to do is to just build some momentum, any momentum. We just need to move forward and see some results. We just need some way to get started.

That is where baby steps come in. The “baby step” is the basis of leaving law behind.

The baby step is a simple, easy-to-do action or task one can take to begin this process.  It makes the overwhelming less daunting.  It makes the scary less fearsome.  It makes the opaque more tangible.  It builds confidence and shows quick results and grows our courage.

Baby steps take many shapes and sizes:

  • Volunteering in an industry or space we’re interested in possibly transitioning to
  • Doing informational interviews
  • Beginning to explore our Unique Genius
  • Getting our finances in order
  • Writing about what we like on a blog or social media
  • Start doing something we like consistently, for free
  • Meditating and being inspired, daily

The baby step is how we build courage (I can do this). It is how we build motivation (I can do this again and again). And it is how we experiment and try things and successfully fail (Ugh, I actually can’t do this part, but I can easily pick my self back up and try again).

Baby steps. Small, non-sexy, but nonetheless formative baby steps.

But unfortunately, too many of us unhappy lawyers want to get to the end of the journey before we’re ready. We unhappy lawyers often won’t move forward until we know how it will all play out. We unhappy lawyers want a guarantee that we’ll be alright.

That’s understandable. But it’s a big mistake if we want to leave the law.

Leaving the law requires faith in the babystep. We can’t wait for the path to be completely clear before moving forward; in fact, we need to take that first baby step in order to manifest the path.

Casey Berman (University of California, Hastings College of the Law ’99), management consultant and former investment banker and in-house counsel based in San Francisco, is the founder of Leave Law Behind, a blog and community that focuses on helping unhappy attorneys leave the law.

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