Word: firming
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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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...
...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...
...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...
...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...
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...