The Former Lawyer Podcast

In this episode, Sarah interviews a former lawyer, Karen Gulde. After 22 years as a lawyer, she decided to transition into counseling and help drive home the importance of mental health and self-care. Sarah and Karen talk about what factors led to her making the career switch, and what advice she has for others who might be considered the same. See show notes at formerlawyer.com/167   I'm clo...

This podcast episode is all about therapy for lawyers. Sarah covers the importance of finding a therapist that fits your needs and the five tips to help you find the right person.  There aren’t therapists for lawyers specifically, but there are a few tools you can utilize to help you find someone that works best for you. Sarah has been very open about how therapy has helped her and wants to share...

In this episode, Sarah interviews Mike Whelan, the author of Lawyer Forward . They chat about his work helping solo attorneys, breaking out of the task-oriented law world, and moving towards a system that allows people to thrive and succeed. You’ll hear about his experience starting law school in his 30s right as the recession hit and find out how that impacted his choice to start his own firm aft...

This episode features Cary Simowitz. Cary met Sarah by email in the summer of 2020 while he was still working as a lawyer. Before then, he had done a detour and bagged a MFA degree in California, right out of law school. Now, Cary works as the head of legal marketing at a law firm in the Midwest.  His story is proof that taking a detour as a lawyer is not necessarily a death knell like most people...

As you know, my podcast and membership, the Collaborative, is all about helping lawyers who feel they want to leave the law determine what they want to do instead, and how to do it.  Usually, I share the stories of guests who have left the law already or want to leave the law, they are other “former lawyers” who are ready to share their stories. Now, we’re kicking off a new series of episodes wher...

This episode is a follow-up to Sarah’s previous conversation with Jamie Spannhake . Jamie is a Former Lawyer Collaborative member who left the law in October 2021 after 17 years of practice. In this episode, Jamie talks about what she's done over the last 12 months since leaving the law and some of the lessons that she has continued to learn. If you want to experience the same thing, Sarah wi...

This episode features Marquel Stuedemann, who joined the Former Lawyer Collaborative in the Fall 2021 cohort of Guided Track.  Marquel discusses her experiences before and after joining The Collaborative. In this episode, you will see what being in The Collaborative looks like and how the support can help you leave the law by identifying an alternative career that is a great fit for you.  If you w...

In this episode, Sarah discusses starting 2023 with a new podcast series that features previous clients in the Former Lawyer Collaborative. People who listen to the new series will hear the inspiring stories of former lawyers who quit their soul-sucking jobs by following Sarah's tried-and-true advice and strategies. These former lawyers are now in careers they love and are enjoying the life t...

Loly Orozco is a former financial restructuring lawyer who went from Biglaw to running a creative business. Her stationery design company, Little Postage House , sells curated vintage postage stamps and designs and prints all types of paper items from birth announcements to wedding invitations to save the dates.  On this episode of the podcast, Loly shares how she took something that she loved, cr...

Today’s episode picks up from the last bit of Sarah’s discussion with Sarah Rutledge Fischer.   In the  first half of the conversation , Sarah talked about her journey through the legal track and into a Biglaw firm. She also spoke about seeking therapy and being pregnant while practicing law.  In the final part of this conversation, you’ll read about her journey out of the law and into the art wor...

This week, I’m sharing my conversation with Dr. Jan Newman. Jan moved from Biglaw associate to clinical psychologist and executive coach who works with multi-passionate high achievers who want to level up their lives.  She is a published author, researcher, and frequent speaker on emotional intelligence, interpersonal effectiveness, and psychological flexibility. In her former life, she was a prac...

The episode is an installment in The After series that focuses on showing lawyers that the after is really better than before . This episode features Janelle Christian, who successfully transitioned from big law to life coaching. In this conversation, Janelle talks to Sarah about being bored in the legal profession and building a side hustle as a lawyer. She talked about how some harmful lies told...

Kicking off a new podcast series, The After Series .  The new series will help unhappy lawyers who are hesitant to quit their soul-sucking jobs for fear of what comes next or because of uncertainty see that quitting to follow their passion makes things better than before.  Why the After Series is Important Sarah notes that a common trait among her clients, especially those in Biglaw, is disbelief...

This episode features Greg Jacobs, who has successfully transitioned from the law into the technology industry as a data scientist after 14 years of practice.  In this conversation, Sarah talks to Greg about the approach he used to move into a job that many lawyers are potentially thinking about without fully returning to school. You should listen to this if you want to start a fulfilling career i...

In this episode, Sarah talks about lawyers and former lawyers struggling with the decision to transition out of the law for fear of missing out or underachieving in their new field. These lawyers think that those who are practicing are more “successful.” Here, you will learn how to overcome the fear of failing and how joining the Former Lawyer Collaborative can help you to ditch regret and fear ....

First things first. You are totally justified in thinking coaching is a scam. Why is that? Because in the great big online world, there are a ton of “coaches” and coaching programs out there that are straight-up scams.  That certainly doesn’t mean that all coaching is a scam. However, many people who present themselves as coaches are not legit. They engage in questionable practices and frankly do...

On the latest episode of the Former Lawyer Podcast, Sarah took a break from interviewing former lawyers to share something important for anyone in a toxic workplace. She talked about how being in a toxic workplace makes it harder to figure out what you want to do when you eventually move on.  Toxic workplaces trigger all sorts of responses from the nervous systems that make it almost impossible to...

Laura Evans went to law school wanting to be an environmental lawyer. She focused on that all the way to actually practicing environmental law, which is pretty uncommon in the legal world.  When she eventually left, she didn’t have a plan, but she did still have the passion to make a change for the environment. Now, she works as an environmental planner, still in the environmental space but doing...

Are you crying because of your job as a lawyer? Hang tight for some advice! This is by far the most popular episode that has been released on The Former Lawyer Podcast. The title is ‘Your Job Should Not Make You Cry’.  In this article, you’ll talk a little bit more about why that is true and what it means for you if this is your experience working in the law. So, let’s get started! See show notes...

Sarah shares something she has observed in her clients who have worked in the law for a long time. Many of these lawyers fear being the only one with that level of tenure who has ever left the law.  Today, you’re going to learn why that couldn’t be further from the truth and how the Former Lawyer Collaborative can help any lawyers who are struggling with that fear.  See show notes at formerlawyer....

For this episode of the Former Lawyer Podcast, Sarah chatted with Heather Moulder. Heather worked in Biglaw and even made partners. But in the end, she left to inspire and impact people as a success coach for lawyers.  In this conversation, you’ll learn about Heather’s career in Biglaw and how she discovered coaching. You’ll also get to read how a huge life event and her values helped her make the...

Today, we’re going to talk about something that comes up for almost anyone who decides to leave the law to do something else, especially those who started in Biglaw. That is the experience of grieving your legal career. Now, that may sound sad, but don't worry. This article won’t be super heavy. But it’s something we need to speak about because grieving your career is something that isn’t tha...

Mary Adkins followed her dream of becoming an author after leaving the law. And she knew the law wasn’t for her by the second day. Today she's joining Sarah Cottrell to share her story of leaving Biglaw to become an author and writing coach. There are so many lawyers out there with dreams of being a writer, but they don’t know how or where to begin. If that’s you, you’ll want to stay tuned to...

This particular piece of advice is generally garbage advice for lawyers. The advice in question is, “do what you love.” or “When you do what you love, you'll never work a day in your life.”  There are so many things that are problematic about this advice, especially for lawyers. Keep reading to learn more about why “do what you love” is garbage advice for lawyers. See show notes at formerlawy...

Are you sick of your job as a lawyer and want to find an alternative career? Have you been searching for a coaching program for lawyers that can support you in that process? If you've been thinking about investing in a coaching program for lawyers or even working with a career coach, then today’s blog post will be helpful.  Today I am talking about what to expect in the Guided Track, my upcom...