How To Leave Biglaw For Good

Lose the golden handcuffs in the new year.

So many people working in Biglaw hate Biglaw. While the paycheck is nice, and acts as golden handcuffs keeping folks tied to a job that otherwise makes them miserable, some people yearn for work that doesn’t tie them to their office for 2,200 hours a year. But trying to figure out exactly how to extricate yourself from a job that comprises the majority of your professional experience can be a real challenge.

Enter Elena Deutsch. She’s the founder of a career counseling service call Women Interested in Leaving (big) Law, known as WILL, and the name of the company is pretty descriptive of what it does. Deutsch, who is celebrating the one-year anniversary of WILL, is an expert in helping women navigating major career changes. As one of WILL’s clients, an eighth-year associate in San Francisco, said of the experience:

When I started WILL I had no framework for how to approach the conundrum of whether to stay or leave my firm… and more largely what to do with my career. I had given it a lot of thought, but was stuck. Now, I have more confidence. I decided to leave my firm and I’m coming from a place of clarity and belief in myself.

In this week’s episode of the Jabot podcast, I interview Deutsch to discuss career changes, leaving Biglaw, and how to have a career you enjoy. And if you’re interested in the services WILL offers, they’re holding a private workshop for women in New York City on January 24, 2019, and a seminar on alternative careers at the New York County Lawyers Association on February 6, 2019.

The Jabot podcast is an offshoot of the Above the Law brand focused on the challenges women, people of color, LGBTQIA, and other diverse populations face in the legal industry. Our name comes from none other than the Notorious Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the jabot (decorative collar) she wears when delivering dissents from the bench. It’s a reminder that even when we aren’t winning, we’re still a powerful force to be reckoned with.

Happy listening!


headshotKathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).