In 1998 and 1999 I was wrestling with my role at my job. I felt that I wanted to help people, but I was working at a job where I was helping a billion dollar company create billions more. I wasn't sure if I was having an impact on anything that really mattered to me or that I valued. It felt like corporations competing with corporations over a market to make more money.
Maybe you feel the same way at your firm where you're helping large corporations outmaneuver others, or finding ways to protect their profits while wondering if you are hurting people - the average person- the person who doesn't have the protections the large corporations have.
It took me some time to make a change, but I left my company not exactly knowing what I was going to do. I felt that I could make an impact. It was a tough decision, as it will be for you.
Why would you leave a good job, making decent money, to put yourself and family at financial risk?
Maybe your values conflict with what the firm is asking you to do.
Maybe, like me, you want to spend more time with your family or your children at a critical time in their lives (for me, it was when one was in junior high and the other was just starting high school).
Just like the decision to start having children, there's never a good time to start out on your own or take a leap without a safety net. Even I had a small safety net - I had 6 to 9 months worth of savings that I could use to get things rolling. You might have a good client who allows you to make some money when you take the leap.
This is why I encourage you to build your client list as early as possible. The bigger the list, the lower the risk.
Unless you are on a certain track to partner at a firm where your values match theirs, there may come a time when you need to make a break. You could go to another firm hoping that your values match, but in your heart you know that might not happen. Maybe no firm will be a match - or match the reason why you became a lawyer. Maybe you won’t find one that won't ask you to do things that feel uncomfortable.
But the prudent thing would be to be prepared to take the leap and go out on your own, or with a very small firm that cannot support you if you do not bring clients with you. The larger the list of clients, the lower the risk, and the larger the safety net.
I went out on my own with a small safety net. I changed industries without a list of anyone who could help me. I spent tens of thousands of dollars to get started with certifications and learning how to grow a business in this new market. If you make the leap, it will be less dramatic. It will be in your current area of expertise, but it will feel just as scary.
There will come a day when you will question where you're headed. Prepare yourself today to take control over your career, and give yourself more options for the future: build your client list, build your contact list, build your safety net.