The Lawyer Life Podcast

Q/A: How to Know When It’s Time to Quit and Find a New Firm or a New Career

• Autumn Noble • Season 2 • Episode 56

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In this episode of the Lawyer Life Podcast, I dive into the critical question of when it might be time to leave a law firm—or even the legal profession altogether. Through listener Q&As, I explore themes like burnout, job dissatisfaction, and why gaining clarity is so important before making a career change. I also emphasize that it’s never too late to pivot in your career and that you absolutely deserve to find fulfillment and purpose in the work you do. 

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Autumn G Noble (00:00)

You are listening to the Lawyer Life Podcast, episode number 56, how to know when it's time to quit and find a new firm or perhaps a new career.

 

Hey everyone, welcome back to the Lawyer Live podcast where we get real about work, purpose, and what it means to build a career your way.

 

I am your host Autumn Noble and today we are diving into listener Q &A's that touch on one of the most soul stretching questions I get as a coach, a lawyer and a fellow human being. How do you know when it's time to leave your firm or even your whole career?

 

We've got some really powerful and common questions from listeners this week. So if you've ever felt the Sunday scaries that turn into the week long dread, this one's for you.

 

and get into it. Question number one comes from a mid-level associate in New York City. I'm not happy, but I'm not sure if I'm just burned out or if I actually hate my job.

 

This is so common. Burnout can often feel like job hatred, but they're not always the same thing.

 

An easy and simple way to get to the meat of the matter is to ask yourself, if you were to take a three month sabbatical to rest and relax and come back refreshed, would you want to return to the same role?

 

If the thought of returning to your job after a sabbatical makes you cringe, it's probably something more than burnout and you might be in line for a career shift.

 

On the other hand, if you feel a sense of relief and hope when you start imagining your job with better boundaries, maybe some mentorship and some rest sprinkled in there, there's probably something more worth exploring where some simple adjustments, maybe some coaching might get you where you need to be in your current role.

 

Question number two, I've worked hard to make partner, but now that I'm here, I feel totally disconnected. Is it too late to start over? Jay, a partner from a mid-sized firm.

 

Not only is it never too late to make a shift, this is often the time in our legal careers where people really start asking those questions. Is this really it? Do I want this forever? And what I often hear from new partners is it doesn't feel any differently than it was when I was an associate. And it certainly doesn't feel the way I hoped that it would.

 

Simply making it to this important milestone does not mean that you have to stay there forever.

 

At this point, you've already proven that you can set a goal, work hard, and accomplishment.

 

Now the question becomes, I want to keep climbing this ladder or do I not even want to be on this ladder and I'd rather be on a whole different track? The fact of the matter is that all of the skills that you have developed to get to partnership and get to this point, they're portable. And one of the first things that we need to start thinking about is all of the skills, tools and value that we have to offer. When we start looking at ourselves with a bit more of an expansive view,

 

It's easy to take that lens and start exploring what other things might bring you joy or you might be interested in that perhaps the skills that took you to partnership might be a perfect fit for.

 

Question three, everyone tells me my job is so good. Great pay, flexibility, remote work, but I feel like I'm wasting my life. This one comes from T who is an in-house counsel in Texas. And this one I really relate to, and I think a lot of the lawyers that I coach feel the same way. From the outside looking in, we've kind of hit it, right? We've got all the things that a lot of people are striving to achieve, but yet we have them.

 

and we don't feel any differently and we don't feel like we're making difference in the way that we had hoped. Golden handcuffs are real.

 

And sometimes they don't even look like handcuffs. Sometimes they look like a dream job to everybody else.

 

Here's the thing, only you know what a meaningful life will look like for you. Some people are more than happy to make the sacrifices that a high-powered legal career demands of us. For them, the trade-off is worth it. And so for each of us, we simply have to decide, are the pros and cons of this job the types of pros and cons that I want to sign up for? Because every job, every lifestyle,

 

is going to have its own pros and cons. We just have to decide if the challenges are the kind that we're willing to sign up for and if the challenges are an appropriate trade-off for the type of life or meaning that we want.

 

If you find yourself feeling that all of the pros, all the good things, the income, being able to work remote and flexibly, if it's not worth it to you for the work that you're doing, there's no meaning on the other side of it, that tells us that the trade-off is not worth it for you and it's okay to want something more and something different.

 

So when we think about whether or not we're in the right job, we have to think about the trade-offs. What's the good, what's the bad? Is that the mix that makes sense for me instead of just focusing on what the benefits are?

 

Question four, I don't hate law, but I'm so tired of firm politics and client demands. Is it time to pivot or can I just tweak my environment? And this comes from a sixth year associate. This is such a good question because at that level in your career, it's an opportunity to start getting strategic. Not every career shift has to be a full reset.

 

We explore this by asking, is it the what that's bothering me or the how that's bothering me? You might still love the practice of law, but maybe you need a different structure, a different culture, or a different area of practice.

 

Is it possible that a smaller firm, a mission-driven organization or some kind of a legal adjacent job might give you more alignment and more fulfillment?

 

rather than jumping to quitting the legal profession right out of the gate, it's more important for us to sit back and ask, is it possible that there's a better version somewhere else out there? And I promise you, I see it again and again in my coaching business. So many women are fed up with their firm politics or how their firm operates, and they're ready to quit law entirely. And what I see again and again is that if you're willing to try,

 

and see if there's a better environment that exists somewhere, usually you find it. But we have to start believing that where we are is not just like every other place and be open to the possibility that maybe there's something else out there that's a better fit for you and then going after it.

 

So how about a few quick takeaways to go along with the questions from this week? First, clarity before quitting.

 

Sometimes we're not running away from the job, we're running away from exhaustion. So get quiet enough to know the difference and start to understand, am I just tired or do I really hate the job? And the only way you're gonna know that is if you spend some time in quiet reflection to start getting a better understanding of what's really going on with you.

 

to curiosity is truly the first step.

 

Don't pressure yourself to know your next move or where you're gonna be five, 10, 15 years from now. Just allow the question to exist and let that door open and see what it brings you. Just be open to the realization this is not working and I wonder what I should do differently to make it work better or feel better for me and just sit with that curiosity and see what comes.

 

Three, you are allowed to want more. Even if your job and career look really good on paper, even if you're lucky, you deserve to feel alive and connected to your work. And if you're not feeling it, there's something there, there's something out of alignment. The pros and cons are maybe no longer worth it for you and it's a sign that you need to listen to and see where it takes you.

 

What I have found again and again in my own legal practice and in my coaching work is that once we start to feel out of alignment and a little bit jaded with these perfect jobs that we have, that feeling doesn't typically go away. It just gets louder and stronger.

 

Just because your job is good on paper and pays you well and is prestigious, it doesn't mean that you have to stay there forever. And it doesn't mean that leaving it is the wrong decision.

 

Four, you are never behind. Whether your 28 or 58 reinvention isn't failure, it's simply growth and acknowledgement that it's time to move on. If you do a simple Google search of famous people or impactful humans who changed their careers or found wild success in their 40s, 50s or 60s, you will not find a lack of people who are able to do that. You can reinvent yourself at any stage of your life.

 

The biggest mistake I think any of us make is sitting there thinking it's too late or I've missed the opportunity. Don't sell yourself short. If something's not working for you, listen to it and take action.

 

All right, my friends, that is all for today's episode. If this discussion stirred something for you, trust that you're not alone.

 

So many of us were taught to be grateful first and not discerning.

 

but you get to want joy and purpose and peace.

 

If you're feeling stuck in your career and you want a sounding board, sign up for a virtual coffee to get to meet me or an hour long free coaching consultation and we'll really dig into it and see if we can figure out where life is calling you to go next.

 

And if you want to share your story or email me a question, send those to autumn at the lawyer life collective.com.

 

As always, stay curious, stay kind to yourself, and remember, it's never too late to choose again. I'll see you next time.

 

If this episode resonated with you and you are ready to dive in and do the work to truly transform your career and your life, I invite you to check out my six month Fast Track Coaching program or my email program for those of you that don't want a lot of one-on-one coaching, but just want all of the coaching information, teachings and trainings, sign up for my How to Lawyer for Real email series. All of the details relating to either of those programs are available at thelawyerelifecollective.com.

 

Either program is going to teach you all of the tools that I have learned from coaching hundreds of women all over the world to transform their life and their careers. The only question you have to decide is whether you want to spend that time coaching 18 times with me over the course of six months, or maybe you are more of a self-paced person and want to process the information independently

 

as it's trickled into your email over the course of several weeks. Either option is available to you in How to Lawyer for Real Email series or my six month Fast Track Coaching program. Head over to the LawyerLifeCollective.com to check out those options as well as all of my free goodies, downloads and Etsy shop with all of the great Lawyer Life swag. As always, thanks for listening and thanks for sharing with your friends.