AttorneyMentoring.com Alternative Careers for Lawyers

From There to Here, How?
By Jim Kelly, Former CEO & General Counsel of Carl Zeiss, Inc.
Copyright 2006.

[Jim started off his career as a lawyer in a firm and subsequently held
various legal and senior executive positions, including General Counsel,
VP of a Business Unit, VP of Marketing, VP of Human Resources &
Development among other titles culminating in CEO.]

I am often asked the question, “ so how did you get from being a lawyer
to a business executive?” In the past, I was surprised by the question
since I always thought it was a natural progression. I have learned much
from the adventure which I would like to share with you here.

Early in my career, I was working as a junior associate doing everything
from wills and estates to tax and corporate law, contract drafting and
commercial litigation. I wanted to be a corporate executive, helping to
run a business, preferably one which contributes somehow to making a
positive difference in peoples lives. Lawyers can do that. Many have and
so I thought could I. You can do that as well if you want to grow in that
direction. Let me now pretend to be your mentor for a few moments.
Much of what I am going to share may seem obvious but, for your
personal career development, needs your focus, just as does most
everything that is important in life.

BASIC ELEMENTS
You, as a trained lawyer, already have almost all of the essential basic
elements and qualifications which you need to become a corporate
executive. So, your journey will require you, to acknowledge and develop
these (I) Basic Elements, to pick up some (II) Additional Ingredients and
to get (III) a Navigator/Mentor on board.

Belief and Vision. To quote one of my favorite all time baseball players,
who helped bring a championship to the NY Mets, the late Tug McGraw,
always said “you gotta believe.” I believe, and you must as well, that the
very elements required which make you a good lawyer are the same
required for you to steer to a career as a good business executive, if you
have the personal vision to go there. Lawyers are trained to, listen
carefully, think logically, communicate clearly, solve difficult cases,
understand complex facts and connect dots and, most of all, win cases
or negotiating points! Now, let us discuss how each of these elements
can be utilized by you to develop into corporate management.

Listen. When my contracts professor spoke, we all listened because we
knew he was going to ask some scary crazy questions and woe be the
poor chap (usually sitting in the back) who could not provide the answer.
Advice: Always listen to your client carefully and be upfront and
conspicuous. To listen is much more important than our lawyer-like
urge to show how smart we are. Use every opportunity possible to “go
broad”: Gather even more information than you may need to know to
provide adequate legal advice. Your client will welcome your interest and
you will begin to compile your own personal business data bank. For
maximum impact, try and work with as many business clients as
possible in as many different commercial matters as possible. Ask
about the markets, distribution, applications and competitive influences
and take copious notes about everything.

Learn Context. As lawyers, in order to brief a case, we often had to learn
about the context on which an opinion was written. This would require
an understanding of not only the facts but often the underlying business
or technology which was in issue. Advice: As you listen and ask
questions, try and put yourself into the shoes of your business clients.
Get into their heads and practice how they see their challenges. Pick up
as much context information as you can about their world. They will
enjoy to share it with you. You will discover that the more bits and bytes
you assimilate, your business acumen will expand exponentially with
each client you encounter.

Logic. As lawyers, we learn to break down the case logically and
categorize the facts by relevancy and significance. In our legal practice,
we realize quickly that this also helps us better to recall the information
as needed. Advice: Keep in mind that the business model or problem
presented by the client proceeds from some logic basis even if not
automatically appreciated upon first hearing. Try to discern the logic in
each and every business model or case. It will help you develop an even
broader appreciation of context and will be far more memorable for you
as well.

Communication. Lawyers, more than in any other profession, are
required to communicate clearly and forcefully. From our first day at law
school, we are pitching to our professors in class, crafting persuasive
briefs or trying to publish for law review. We know that one day we may
have to stand before a judge or advocate on behalf of our client in some
forum and we had better be clear, concise and convincing in our
communications. Advice: In business, we will make an impression with
our business colleagues by doing exactly the same thing. First, we need
to let them know clearly that we understand their business and the
challenges for which our advice is sought. As you do this, you should try
to expand your advice, not by providing a mini lecture on the legal
theories involved, but by suggesting business alternatives which might
even better accomplish the objective than the model for which your
advice was sought initially. Do this as often as you can and slowly, your
reputation will spread in the ranks of business management and even
more opportunities will come your way

Click here to continue

Have you considered a change?

Do you feel stuck in your current legal practice
and wonder what possessed you to go to law
school? If you have considered a career
change, there are many options for a JD-
carrying professional. We have seen friends
and colleagues successfully leave their law
practice for diverse careers and passions.
Among our acquaintances, a lawyer has
successfully started a local newspaper, several
have transitioned to investment banking and
finance positions, a few have become CEOs,
more than a few have become writers and
artists, several teach, others head non-profits,
or have become legal recruiters, many have
started their own businesses, and the list
continues to grow. There is life after a legal
career and even if you do enjoy your job, it never
hurts to evaluate your options every so often.

Some suggestions

Identify what aspects of your present
employment you do and don't enjoy.

Be honest about your motivation to
change careers. Could you better
achieve your goals by merely changing
some aspect of your job or your
employer?

Are family or other outside pressures
motivating you? Are you genuinely
dissatisfied with your career or is your
dissatisfaction related to personal
issues (maybe too much time at the
office or lack of free time)?

Have you developed any skills toward
this new career you dream of? Could
you take a class or volunteer in your
target field to see whether it really
appeals to you after spending time
working in it on a real time basis? How
about contacting someone in that field to
see how they secured their position and
find out what skills they believe are
necessary for the role.

Focus on what makes you happy, not on
the apparent obstacles between here
and there. The more you focus and
spend increasing amounts of time
developing a plan and researching your
target career, the more you will develop
useful connections that help you make a
smoother transition. Some motivational
speaker once said, if you want to go to
California, you have to start facing in that
direction.

Take an inventory of your skill sets and
see which ones can translate into your
ideal career or job.

At some point, you just have to go for it.
One thing is certain, time will pass and
you will be in the same position next
year, still wondering whether you should
have taken that opportunity when it
presented itself. Figure out what
attachments may be blocking you and
determine as honestly as possible
whether they are meaningful or merely
based on your fear of change.

If you still aren't sure, try seeking out a
professional career counselor. (Check
out our Coaching Resources section or
log in to our Bulleting Board.) At a
minimum, seek out the advice of a good
friend or colleague. If you are
comparing several career options,
check out our Career Option
Comparative Tool.