RESEARCH: By Sue Van Der Hout
Are you a lawyer considering going on the lam or do you just need a fresh new box to work from? Personal rhythms no longer jiving with your current cubicle? Want to change of rhythm? Or just alarmed to find that that all your training and planning has led you somewhere you no longer want to be? Fearful of nose to nose conversations? Look at: www.renaissancelawyer.com a non-profit educational organization that supports innovation and transformation in the legal profession. Check out:FindLaw. Remember: «Research is what I´m doing when I don´t know what I´m doing.» Wernher von Braun. There are a lot of great resources out there.
Having flung caution to the winds and abandoned lawyering, it was time to re-invent myself. But when I knocked, no-one was home. So I did what any well trained lawyer does when confronted with a challenge that they’re not ready to address – I did research. Lots of it.
Here are my 2 favourites from the thirty or so books I read and a grander list geared to lawyers from a variety of sites. ONE OF THEM MAY SPEAK TO YOU:
1. The Money is in the Gravy: Finding the Career that Nourishes You, by John Clark (Paperback - Mar 2004) At some point everyone realizes that while we think we’re climbing the Beanstalk/ladder harvesting golden eggs, we’re actually digging a tunnel. How to jump up? For less than $10, you can survey the entire territory with a wonderful guide.
2. Finding your Own North Star, by Martha Beck. Beck is one of the top life coaches in the U.S. and one of Oprah’s favourite advice columnists. If you’ve entirely forgotten who you are because you’ve spent a number of years pleasing everyone but yourself, you’ll find this a very helpful read. Saves you 30 hours with a psychologist or career counselor.
AND:
Work Life Law, a Center of UC Hastings College of the Law
www.renaissancelawyer.com
http://findlaw.com
Deborah Arron’s, What Can You Do With A Law Degree? A Lawyer’s Guide to Career Alternatives Inside, Outside & Around the Law, Deborah Arron, 1999, Niche Press; Running From the Law, 1989, updated in 2001
Dr. David P. Helfand is the Coordinator of Career Counseling in the Northeastern Illinois University Counseling Office in Chicago.
Can I -- should I -- get out of my firm?
How can you start your own legal research and writing company?
Beginning The Pursuit Of A Different Career Path
Six Steps for Creating Greater Work-Life Balance for Lawyers, Jatrine Bentsi-Enchill, J.D., CPCC, Esq. Development Institute, Submitted November, 2004
The Lawyer´s Career Change Handbook: More Than 300 Things You Can Do With A Law Degree , Hindi Greenberg
Should You Really Be a Lawyer?: The Guide to Smart Career Choices Before, During and After Law School, Gary Belsky, Deborah Schneider, Gary Belsky
Nonlegal Careers for Lawyers ,Gary A. Munneke, William D. Henslee, William D. Henslee, Ellen S. Wayne, Ellen S. Wayne
America´s Greatest Places to Work With a Law Degree , Kimm Alayne Walton, Kimm A. Walton
Keeping Good Lawyers: Best Practices to Create Career Satisfaction , M.
Diane Vogt and Lori-Ann Rickard
Alternative Careers for Lawyers , Hillary Mantis, 1997
http://atlanta.thecompletelawyer.com/volume2/issue1/article.php?artid=79
06.11.2007
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