The Unhappy Lawyer: A Roadmap to Finding Meaningful Work Outside of the Law

The Unhappy Lawyer: A Roadmap to Finding Meaningful Work Outside of the Law

Product Type: Book

Product Price: $14.95

Manufacturer: Sphinx Publishing

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Description

"Parker has done an outstanding job of demystifying how any lawyer can make the transition into a new career that offers more potential for success and more importantly, personal satisfaction."
- Don E. Hutcheson, Author, Don't Waste Your Talent: The 8 Critical Steps to Discovering What You Do Best

The Unhappy Lawyer will help you uncover exciting alternative careers with a unique step-by-step program that will make you feel like you have your very own career coach. With chapters containing real letters from lawyers who are desperate to leave the practice of law, tales from lawyers who have shut the door on their legal careers, and powerful exercises, The Unhappy Lawyer provides a witty, no-nonsense roadmap for finding and pursuing engaging work outside of the law.

The Unhappy Lawyer will show you, step-by-step, how to:

The Unhappy Lawyer provides you with the escape route you are seeking. This book helps you ask and answer the hard questions about what you really want from your work and life and will help you successfully pursue your career goals.

Reviews

Rating: 5 / 5
Date: 2010-01-27
Summary: "If you want inspiration . . ."

Monica Parker's incredible book, The (Un)happy Lawyer, truly changed my life. Reading this book gave me the necessary tools to rediscover my innate talents, life goals and career aspirations. I took diligent notes while reading, followed every single recommendation, and have referred back to the book for inspiration on several occasions. If you are ready to break away from the constraints that are keeping you from living your best possible life, this book will be your guide.

Rating: 1 / 5
Date: 2009-10-18
Summary: "Just the Very Worst Sort of Tony Robbins Fare"

First, the author writes in a horrible, informal style that smacks of just the very worst sort of Tony Robbins fare. And the best part is that she, despite being a Harvard law alumnus with protected minority status, could NOT actually make the transition out of law, at least not the first time. She fessed up (at the end of the book) that she made an attempt before, and failed. She went back to law--albeit biglaw that pays $200,000 or more, something arguably much more benign than most can expect in this legal market--before starting a life coach enterprise counseling others on how to do precisely what she failed to do sometime before. The bulk of the book is comprised of "inspirational" stories that bear little scrutiny. One was a Harvard or Yale law alumnus who decided he wanted to be an actor, and now stars in Miami CSI, or whatever the name that show kids are watching now (the last phrase delivered a la Rex Harrison or Stewie Griffn, please). That is about as absurd as the proposition that, because Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in a game, therefore NBA players--let alone people who like to play basketball, but are not professional caliber-- can generailly aspire to do so. Another "inspirational story" was a married woman who took a liking to baking after taking classes at the learning annex. and decided sometime thereafter to open her own bakery. How convenient that, if I recall correctly, her husband was a professional who made at least as much as she did during her heyday in biglaw, so that if the business stalls--or more likely fails--disaster is conveniently averted.
Juxtapose that fluff with the dearth of actual useful information that would assist someone in making a REALISTIC career change. There is NO useful information whatsoever on how to transition into law enforcement or teaching, for example, which as far as I can tell, are the two most popular, realsitc career changes that JDs do make--ones that entail significant financial sacrifice, and have their own serious drawbacks too great to enumerate here. Nor is there any real information on how one might make a transition into journalism--not that that is entirely realistic in this day and age when newspapers large and small are going bankrupt.
So, I am left after this book and other token inquiries into what else what one can do with a juris doctor, completely at a loss at what realistic career opportunities are made available with a juris doctor. Sadly I fear the answer is not many, if any at all, outside of the law. This is all the more damning because the profession is dying. Thousands have been laid off. Even more hopeful law students--even thoses hailing from top 14 law schools--may be forced to make such a decision, if only it were possible.
I will say the book may have some value to blueblood or other biglaw sorts who secretly want to leave the law, but are not able to articulate that desire explicitly, or simply cower from the pressure from friends and family. The central thesis seems to be, it is ok if you do not want to be a lawyer. Well I for one already know that. I do not need the "I am okay you are okay" take on being "lawlorn," and I imagine most do not either, as lawyers tend to be at least somewhat intelligent, independent-minded folk. What I do need, and what this book utterly fails to deliver, is REALISTIC, PRAGMATIC information on how one can reasonably do so. Whether opening a bakery (even when one is married to a professional who rakes in six figures also) is a wise, prudent career change is arguable at best given the failure rate of such ventures. Propping up a successful actor who has beaten odds mirroring that of a lottery as either a realistic option or even inspiration is both laughable and absurd. For this reason, any small attributes of this trite little book are rightly eclipsed by ridicule and scorn, as signified by a one star rating.

F.W.

Rating: 1 / 5
Date: 2009-06-28
Summary: "What a shame!"

It was hard for me to believe that I was reading the same book that others had praised.

I thought this book was poorly organized, and devoid of much insightful information. The book seemed to consist largely of regurgitated information from any number of other self-help books, along with "case studies" which were added at the end of each chapter.

However, in some instances these "case studies" seemed as long as, or longer than, the substantive sections of each chapter they were supposed to supplement. Also, it appeared to me that many of the "case studies" came from law students or lawyers who were young enough or wealthy enough (or both) to make the leap the author encourages all unhappy lawyers to make. In addition, the first supposedly genuine case study that came at the end of the first chapter was from one of the author's business colleagues. As a result, my faith in the author's integrity was lost after the first chapter.

The book would have been much more useful if the author gave much more attention to what I suppose are the thousands of unhappy lawyers, like me, who simply cannot afford to jump free of their "golden handcuffs."

Rating: 5 / 5
Date: 2009-05-25
Summary: "Encouraging and inspirational"

I have only just begun reading The Unhappy Lawyer, but right off the bat I could really relate. For the first time ever I knew that someone (actually, many others) knows exactly what I am going through. Not only is that reassuring, but also encouraging. There are a lot of career-change books out there, and while many concepts may be universal, leaving the law seems to have its own unique set of issues/challenges. I'm glad to have found a resource written by an attorney for attorneys.

Rating: 4 / 5
Date: 2009-03-20
Summary: "excellent book- makes you realize you are not alone"

I thought this book was great, not so much for the help it may give but mainly for showing me that I am not alone in this seemingly interminable struggle to leave the law. I actually was reading parts of it to my friend to show him, "See! I am not the only one who feels this way!"

I felt that some of the interviews with people who have left law could have been a little more useful but I really enjoyed the part where the author went through all of her career ideas and what she thought as she explored each one. I highly recommend this book for anyone who feels like they are the only one they know who ever felt this way.