Are you looking to change career path in the legal sector? Where do you start and what other legal careers are there?
In this blog, Carbon Law Partners provides guidance on career change for lawyers.
Changing career direction in the legal sector
A legal career and to work as a qualified lawyer were something you always wanted.
But recently, you’ve not been feeling it.
Deadlines, billing pressures, client demands, long hours, trying to keep up with endless changes in legislation…you’ve started to wonder, is there more to life than being a lawyer?
Is there life after law?
What else can you do with a law degree?
The good news is that today’s legal sector is brimming with opportunities for qualified lawyers and solicitors looking for a career change, to work in a variety of roles which leverage their legal training but allow a side-step. We had a chat with some of our community at Carbon Law Partners for their ideas and the types of career changes for lawyers.
In-house legal
Moving from a law firm to become a lawyer in industry. The role of the in-house lawyer is continually evolving and in-house is the fastest growing sector in the legal profession. Working in a business directly provides a new challenge whilst getting to know one client inside out.
Legal operations
A growing function within the legal industry both in-house and in law firms, legal operations means running legal like a business. Legal operations focuses on financial management, analytics and service design to make legal efficient, effective and fit for the modern business.
Legal technology
With technology and software continually disrupting the traditional legal market, there are untold opportunities for qualified lawyers to move over to this fast-moving world. We love Alex Su’s story of how he moved from BigLaw to LegalTech becoming a social media influencer on the way!
Start-up founder / CEO
Many innovative businesses changing the way legal services are delivered have been founded by lawyers themselves looking to change the status quo – Carbon Law Partners is one of these. This is our founder’s story.
Legal consultancy
Carbon Law Partners along with other alternative legal services businesses, offers a career change for lawyers. Qualified lawyers have a new way to practice law, and grow their own practice with freedom and flexibility and all the support they need.
Business development
If you have always preferred the more commercial aspects of being a lawyer, a career in legal business development could be for you. This gives you the chance to pursue strategic opportunities for your law firm, build new relationships and identify revenue streams and sales opportunities.
Legal content writer
Reporting on recent developments in the legal industry, writing content for websites, copywriting and blogging. In a world where content is king, great copywriters for legal content are in demand!
Advice on going through a career change for lawyers
Do your research and talk to other lawyers and professionals
So, one of these alternative jobs for solicitors has grabbed your attention.
Now you need to invest time in speaking with other lawyers who have done similar and can offer advice. Get in touch with specialist legal recruiters and search online for information on different roles and career changes for lawyers. It’s also worth getting help from a career coach who can help you set goals and create a plan for changing the direction of your career. They can also provide support and guidance throughout the process.
Build your profile and put yourself out there
As part of this process and with your new role in mind, you will need to put yourself out there as the legal professional you aspire to be.
Start with LinkedIn – how will you promote yourself on there to ensure people see you for what you want to do? Consider your headline and rewrite your profile to show how your skills and interests transfer over to the new role you are seeking.
It goes without saying if you want to secure a new role, people need to know how you are. So, get out there, online and offline, virtual networking and real-life networking and be in conversations and events and get on the radar.
Be prepared for the challenges
The big life changes always come with an element of risk. A career change from being a high earning lawyer could come with a number of risks; from financial insecurity to the stress of finding that new role to often finding that the grass is not always greener on the other side. The stakes are always higher when starting your own business too.
But if the biggest challenge you face right now as a lawyer is inertia, it’s time to take action, and start planning.
Carbon Law Partners – redefining law firm partnership
One of the reasons we created Carbon Law Partners back in 2014 was to provide lawyers with a new route to law firm partnership. Over the years our community has grown with many lawyers who were looking for a new legal career on their terms. If you would like to explore how this could work for you, get in touch for a chat.
You can find out more about Carbon Law Partners and the benefits of joining the platform on our Join Carbon page.