The Former Lawyer Podcast
Finding an Influential Career in Coaching After Being Let Down by Biglaw
Feb 10, 2020
Season 1
Episode 27
Sarah Cottrell
In Episode 027 of The Former Lawyer Podcast, Sarah talks with Erin Conlon. Erin graduated from law school and landed her dream job with a plaintiff-side class action firm, only to lose her job as a result of the recession in the late 2000s. She worked on a political campaign, started performing comedy, and ultimately landed in biglaw doing electronic discovery work. She spent almost a decade as Discovery Counsel before making the leap to life and executive coaching. Erin describes herself as a warrior for possibility.
In this conversation, Erin shares about:
- Being told as a kid that she should become a lawyer and just sort of ending up on that path;
- Getting admitted to a highly ranked school and following the path of least resistance there;
- How generational expectations regarding children’s career success drove her decision-making (and drives many of us);
- Why she disagrees with the idea that “you can do anything with a law degree;”
- How she got started in comedy;
- How she dealt with the disappointment of ending up in electronic discovery after losing her litigation job as a result of the recession;
- Why she thinks it was a mistake to keep trying to get back to the kind of lawyer job that she thought she wanted;
- The moment when she realized she needed to leave the law;
- Struggling with her identity as a lawyer;
- What most high achievers actually end up working on when they start working on their career satisfaction;
- and much more!
Show Notes: