Leaving the law: Utilising skills in other sectors

A profession in law is often seen as a long-term career with many opportunities for progression, but traditionally only within a law firm or a legal role. Despite what people might think, there are many skills that a lawyer and other legal professionals have that can be transferred to other sectors and industries, making them useful and talented employees to have working with you. Legal professionals are often determined and strategic in their approach to working life, skills that are useful within most businesses in the working world today.

The top reasons for leaving the law

There are many reasons why people choose to leave the law. The most reoccurring would be to seek out a better work/life balance – as the hours in law firms are notoriously long. Often, legal professionals think that when they land their dream job in a law firm they will be immediately defending people in courtrooms and speaking at a trial. However, working within the law is also heavily administrative. There is a lot of research, drafting letters and documents, and working alone that is involved in a legal career. Therefore, it is often the case that people leave to find a role with more human interaction, which provides a more dynamic environment. This isn’t always leaving the law entirely, it can also mean moving from a law firm to an in-house legal team.

Another main reason for leaving the law is a lack of progression in their current firm. Paralegals who aren’t able to secure a training contract sometimes go in search of a career that utilises their legal background, but provides them a new career path to strive for progression. 

The key transferrable skills

Transferrable skills are key when looking to change career or hire someone from a different background. These skills will make a difference when they first join the company and are learning their new role.

• The study that they would have undertaken to become a legal professional would have been extensive, this shows a keen willingness and desire to learn.
• Legal knowledge and experience in legal practice.
• The ability to communicate effectively, and adapt their communicative skills to fit the case or person they are speaking with.
• Ability to prioritise and work to tight deadlines through working on multiple cases at once.
• Meticulous attention to detail.

The type of roles a legal professional could transfer into

The obvious move, depending on the motivations behind leaving the law, would be to take on a slightly different role using the skills developed during their employment, which can require further study. Some legal professionals choose to move away from the law entirely, but are still able to use their networks and legal knowledge by moving to legal recruitment roles, or more niche sales roles for legal software. Some move into human resources or learning and development roles in firms or companies, using their knowledge and experience to help others grow or progress in their legal careers.

If you want to offer advice to someone considering moving out of a legal professional, be sure to urge them to take time to consider what it is they feel is lacking from their career. Also, suggest they speak to friends and colleagues who have also left the legal profession to see how their experience was. 

Enhancing your team for retention

Retention is crucial in today’s candidate-led market. It has never been more important for businesses to develop their employees so that they see potential and a future within your organisation. The legal sector can be seen as rigid by professionals, so if they have lost their passion to practice law then changing their roles in-house can help them to feel satisfied at work and also help you to keep your best people within the business.  

If you want to learn more about the skills gap in the legal sector, read our informative article today. If you are interested in hiring top legal professionals to your organisation, please get in touch with one of our specialist recruitment consultants. Alternatively, create a MyPage account to make the most of our job match tool to explore the opportunities best suited to your skill set.

Rebekah Brown
Consultant, Page Personnel Legal