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Bar News - December 15, 2000 Dissatisfied Attorneys Leaving Practice for Other Pursuits By: Lisa Sandford A RECENT ABA survey found that four out of five young lawyers working in large law firms would at least consider changing jobs. In a recent poll in California Lawyer Magazine, 70 percent of lawyers surveyed said they'd start a new career if they could. It's an attitude shared by many attorneys who find themselves dissatisfied with the practice of law and leaving to pursue other endeavors - some completely unrelated to the legal profession. Thirty percent of respondents to the "Career Satisfaction Survey" of the ABA's Young Lawyers Division (composed of ABA members younger than 36 or who have been practicing law for fewer than five years) reported that they would strongly consider leaving their current firms or organizations within the next two years. Private practitioners in large firms identified themselves to be more likely to consider such a move than those in smaller firms. General job dissatisfaction was most often cited as the primary motivator behind a desire to change jobs. Those attorneys who become dissatisfied with the profession often cite work-related stress, the inability to balance their professional and personal lives, the adversarial nature of the profession and failure to contribute to social good as the aspects of law practice that have sapped their enthusiasm. "Lawyers have the highest depression rates, highest pressure, lowest popularity ratings and the longest hours of almost any profession that exists," states author Hillary Mantis in her book Alternative Careers for Lawyers. According to John E. Tobin Jr. - the executive director of New Hampshire Legal Assistance, an employer of 21attorneys statewide - these are aspects of the profession that law school doesn't teach. "Law school doesn't give you any clues as to what daily life as an attorney is like - the stress, the adversarial tone of the profession," said Tobin. "The law profession isn't for everyone." Tobin is also chair of the Bar's Lawyers Assistance Committee, which provides free and confidential assistance for attorneys with substance abuse or mental health issues (see sidebar). He said that the committee sometimes deals with lawyers who have "come to the end of the line in terms of job-related stress." "The pressures of the profession have been there a while and are definitely not diminishing, but in the last 15 to 20 years, there has been a heightened dissatisfaction with the legal profession as a whole," Tobin said. "The stress, long hours, extreme adversarialness of it gets to be grating. And the impact on family life," he said. "More attorneys are saying, 'The stress and hours aren't worth it.' They're being more open about being unhappy in practice," Tobin said. He added that fewer lawyers feel "locked in" to a job as in the past and more are willing to make career changes. "Fewer feel that since they've been to law school, they've made a lifetime commitment," he said. The NH Women's Bar recently sponsored a seminar that explored alternative careers for lawyers,"given the interest of our members and non-members," said Women's Bar President Jennifer L. Parent. The seminar was conducted by Hillary Mantis. Putting legal skills to new use Rather than leaving the law profession completely, many dissatisfied attorneys instead opt to find ways to use their legal skills other than in private practice. "Many end up doing law in a different way - something else where they can use their skills, but not in the hurly-burly of litigation," said Tobin. Some attorneys leave to teach law, some go into the business world, others go into legal services. Tobin has spent his entire legal career in public interest law and says that he has always found it to be a very rewarding way to practice. "People in legal services may be some of the happiest people in the profession," he said. "Helping people gives you a sense of meaning and purpose." Tobin recognizes the financial sacrifice lawyers must make to go into public interest law as opposed to taking a high-paying position with a law firm. The lure of a higher income to help pay off law school loans is often what pulls young attorneys into private practice, even if their interests lie elsewhere. Tobin said that programs like the NH Bar Foundation's Law School Loan Forgiveness Program (available to attorneys of NHLA, LARC and Pro Bono) should help encourage more young attorneys to pursue a career in legal services. Finding a business use for a law degree Glen M. Secor is one attorney who never went into private practice, but has put his law degree to good use. Secor attended and earned a degree from Suffolk University Law School in the evenings while working as CFO of Yankee Book Peddler (YBP), a Contoocook-based book distribution company that his father started. He was admitted to the NH Bar in 1994 and opted to use his law degree to continue working for the family business, in his role as CFO and as the company's attorney. He said he entertained thoughts of private practice when he first entered law school, but not for long. His interests were in publishing and teaching, he said. Secor orchestrated acquisitions, helped set up a publishing company in the UK, arranged various financial and software deals and used his background in employment law as YBP's attorney. Secor's father sold the company in 1999, and Secor has since become involved in two law-related Internet startups: Yankee Rights Management, an online licensing and permissions system for publishers started as a division of YBP, and LearningLaw, an online legal publishing company he started with three Franklin Pierce Law Center graduates. He also began teaching courses - mainly in copyright law - on an adjunct basis at FPLC five years ago. Secor said that because FPLC isn't the kind of law school that "pumps students out to be associates at law firms," he sees a lot more students leaning toward the path he has chosen - putting a law degree to use in a specific industry, either as in-house counsel or in a general management position. Particularly in many of today's technology-based industries, a law degree can be very valuable in the business world. "It helps keep the legal perspective on the table for the business, as opposed to the business making a decision, then consulting someone on the legal ramifications of it," Secor said. He added that the analytical, reasoning, negotiation and writing skills that law students learn can also be invaluable in a corporate environment. Secor believes that "all the factors that you hear about - the hours, competitive nature of law practice, perception of limited partnership" are what lead to attorney dissatisfaction. But he said that many disillusioned lawyers who make the transition out of private practice to the corporate world are happy with the change. "You're exposed to more areas of the law than you typically are in private practice - commercial law, intellectual property law, employment law. There's a bit more variety," he said. Secor said he is happy with the path he has chosen in his legal career and encourages dissatisfied attorneys to continue using their legal skills, but in a corporate or other environment. "I don't think it's necessary to abandon the law altogether," he said. About-face James L. Kruse, however, is an example of an attorney who has left the profession in pursuit of a completely different career. Kruse left the Concord law firm Gallagher, Callahan & Gartrell in the summer of 1999 to become a middle- or high-school teacher. Kruse had a lengthy and diverse legal career. He received his law degree in 1972 from SUNY-Buffalo and went to work for the FCC in Washington, DC, where he worked on applications for telecommunications licenses. He was admitted to the NY Bar in 1973 and to the NH Bar in 1975. In 1974, Kruse came to NH and got a job in the criminal division of the attorney general's office. He worked there for three years. From 1977 to 1978, Kruse was county attorney for Merrimack County, which was a part-time position then. He also started a small general practice in Franklin with Roger G. Burlingame during that time. Kruse wanted to return to Concord, so in 1980 he joined the Sulloway & Hollis firm, where he practiced primarily insurance defense litigation. He joined the Gallagher firm in 1983, where he practiced mainly construction-related litigation. During these years, Kruse also served as a special prosecutor on a contract basis for the state Board of Registration in Medicine, did Rule 170 mediation for the Superior Court and served on the lawyers' panel for the Worker's Comp. Appeals Board. Although he had enjoyed an illustrious and varied career, Kruse decided he wanted a change. After graduating from college, he had taken a job teaching in Colombia, but had to give it up because the law school he had applied to wouldn't defer his admission. "At that point I had to decide which to go for first, and I chose law," he said. "But I had been thinking about teaching for a long time," he said. Kruse spent a year getting his NH certification to teach social studies and doing a full-time teaching internship. This September he went to India as a volunteer English teacher and he is currently working as a substitute teacher at Rundlett Middle School in Concord, "until the right teaching opportunity comes along," he said. Kruse said he enjoyed different aspects of practicing law at different points in his career - including criminal trials in the AG's office and mediation. He said that what he didn't enjoy was the business management side of practice and the adversarial nature of the profession. "As far as the adversarial aspect, I never lost faith in that part of the system, but I tired of having to work in it," said Kruse. "The focus in my career was almost exclusively on the adversarial system - that's what it got down to me wanting a change from," he said. The profession also became more business-oriented, Kruse believes, which he didn't enjoy. Twenty years ago, attorneys and judges all knew each other and there were more long-term, "institutional" clients, he said. Today, Kruse sees a greater emphasis on being competitive - bringing in business, especially high-paying clients. Kruse said that he has considered staying involved in law on a part-time or contract basis, perhaps as a mediator. But for now, he is happy with the new endeavor he is pursuing. His advice for attorneys no longer satisfied with their career: "save as much money as you can and try to allow yourself to make a change." "I'm happy with my decision," Kruse said. Future of the profession Tobin, Secor and Kruse agree that the profession of practicing law will continue to change with the times, perhaps to the disappointment of many attorneys. Client expectations of instant responses, law firm expectations of high billable hours and the demand for attorneys to be expert in a specialized area of practice will create more stress for lawyers. To keep from becoming discontented and leaving the profession, Tobin said, attorneys have to work to balance their professional and family lives, perhaps by working out some kind of flexible schedule with their firm; set limits; and explore different ways to use their skills outside of private practice. It's possible that more new attorneys will opt out of private practice and into legal services, the business world, or other less adversarial areas of practice. Secor said that in his classes over the last five years, he has seen more students interested in pursuing a legal career in industry rather than private practice. "There will always be a need for skillful advocates in the legal system, but I think that lawyers are going to have to adapt to keep from becoming discontented," said Tobin.
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