Have Law Degree, Will Travel

By Andrea Sachs

After three grueling years of law school, Darren Walker stepped into a plum job: a position as an associate with the prestigious Wall Street firm Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton. But what started out as a young lawyer's dream soon turned into a bleary round of long days and stressful nights. "I knew the end was near for me when I woke up on the floor of someone's office one morning and didn't know where I was," says Walker, 30. Having clean underwear and shirts delivered to the office by messenger too many times finally convinced him that he should make a switch. Now, as an institutional bond salesman with UBS Securities, he makes more money and has the time to enjoy it.

The decision to leave law is becoming a more common one, especially in urban firms. "Compared with five years ago, there are a significantly greater number of lawyers today who are not practicing law for a living," says Ward Bower, a partner at the legal consulting firm Altman & Weil in Ardmore, Pa. Experts estimate that nearly 40,000 lawyers a year are leaving the profession, almost as many people as are entering law school annually. A Maryland State Bar Association survey last December found that 35% of the lawyers who responded were not sure they wished to continue practicing law.

Why the mass dissatisfaction? A major increase in working hours, coupled with a corresponding rise in stress, has led to an erosion in the quality of life for many lawyers. Law firms often require that each year attorneys do 2,000 to 2,500 hours of work that can be billed to clients, almost a third more than a decade ago. That frequently translates into twelve-hour-plus workdays and busy weekends as well.

The strain on lawyers has become so bad that two books have recently been written to warn the unwary. "Most law students don't know what they are getting into when they start law school," says Susan Bell, editor of Full Disclosure: Do You Really Want to Be a Lawyer? (Peterson's Guides; $11.95). "Practice is not L.A. Law. For all of the financial rewards, the toll is tremendous." Deborah Arron, author of Running from the Law: Why Good Lawyers Are Getting Out of the Legal Profession (Niche Press; $12.95), agrees. Says she: "Law has become all consuming."

Not surprisingly, an industry has sprung up in the past few years to counsel lawyers who are less than content with their situation. "We might as well have a sign over our door that reads, 'Some of the most unhappy souls in the world come through these portals,' " says Larry Richard, president of Lawgistics, a Philadelphia career-counseling firm for attorneys. "I see lawyers who range from merely curious about their alternatives to those who are seriously depressed and even suicidal." Branches of Lawyers in Transition, a support group that offers seminars and workshops for attorneys who are looking for job alternatives, have proliferated, primarily on the West Coast. Such services, which often include vocational information and testing, range widely in price, from $130 up to $2,000.

Even with assistance, leaving the law is harder than it sounds. Well-meaning family and friends may not understand why someone would walk away from a profession that offers status and financial security. And many lawyers may be uncertain about leaving the cocoon of practice. "It's hard to rip the label off and say, 'I'm no longer a lawyer,' " observes Leona Vogt, president of Vogt Associates, a consulting firm for attorneys in Cambridge, Mass.

Despite big-city law salaries that typically start at $55,000 to $80,000, the desire for a change of pace may be stronger than the craving for financial rewards. Faith Childs, now a literary agent with the Charlotte Sheedy agency in New York City, gladly left her job as a labor lawyer for a FORTUNE 500 company. "Notwithstanding the fact that I was making a lot of money, the rewards weren't there," says Childs, 38. "It wasn't intellectually challenging. Here, the creative possibilities are limitless."

Defecting from law doesn't necessarily mean a depleted bank account. Howard Tullman, 44, left the Chicago firm Levy & Ehrens in 1981 because his busy travel schedule kept him constantly away from his family. The company he then founded, CCC Information Services, which provides data to the insurance industry, today has 1,000 employees and $105 million in revenues. "You can't become wealthy selling your time," says Tullman, now a multimillionaire. "There just aren't enough hours in the day."

Legal expatriates often find their training helpful in consulting, banking, accounting and many other fields. Attorney Donald Carano and a partner acquired eight vineyards in Sonoma County, Calif., in 1985. Says Carano, now the general manager of the Ferrari-Carano Winery: "Law provides the grounds for a natural evolution to business."

Then there are those who take a long jump into more creative endeavors. After becoming a partner at one of Minnesota's largest firms, Greg Howard left law to become a cartoonist. His Sally Forth strip is syndicated in 300 papers nationwide. "My writing skills as a lawyer have been helpful in cartooning, but certainly I have to use a lot fewer words," says Howard, 45. "I used to get 50 pages for a brief. Now I get 50 words for a comic strip."

With reporting by Barbara Dolan/Chicago and Nancy A. Williams/ New York