Customer Reviews

The Lawyer's Career Change Handbook: More Than 300 Things You Can Do With a Law Degree, Updated and Revised

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

This book, like the one by Deborrah Aaron, is at first promising, but ends up as mere fluff. One such author spoke at my law school. Her advice was a joke and a waste of my time and money. These authors are all making money doing what? Selling these books and helping the rest of us "find our passion" in life. The law books are no different than any "resume builder book" you can find for 1/10 of the price. SAVE YOUR MONEY!!! These law books all have one thing in common -- they take you through endless ridiculous skills assessments and other "exercises" designed to "identify your passions," "explore your skills," and have you making stupid charts listing all your best and worst qualities, etc., etc. What every lawyer who wants out of the legal profession wants to know is this: What are the viable jobs where having legal experience or a law degree are going to put me above the rest of the applicants? How do I find those jobs? What are the obstacles I am going to face in trying to get my name in front of the key hiring person? What are the ups and downs of each career? And most importantly, how do I go about getting my foot in the right door? I realize knowing your skills is important, but I can do that with a standard resume builder book for much less time and money.

I bought this book hoping for some advice on, as the title suggested, other things I could do with my law degree. Having practiced law for almost three years, I have decided to leave the profession. Therefore, I didn't need advice on whether to leave. However, much of the first half of this book focused on the question of whether you should leave the profession of law (which may be helpful for people who have not yet made this decision.) The remainder of the book was EXTREMELY UNHELPFUL to any reader. When it comes to the "300 things" you can do with a law degree, Ms. Greenberg simply lists other professions that lawyers have held. Very superficial. Don't waste your money.

I found this to be an excellent book which contains a wealth of information and references, excellent resources and lists of relevant Web sites, books, organizations & other sources for career guidance, job placement & assistance. I've been a lawyer for 20 years. I'd been trying to work through self-assessment in the traditional way together with others who are not lawyers, and was making some progress, but somehow not getting as much out of it as I would have liked. Then I discovered Hindi Greenberg's book - and the whole self-assessment process came alive for me! I felt like Hindi had written the book for ME. I really connected with it, and began recommending it to colleagues & others in the profession. I've just purchased a second copy to send to my niece who is considering going to law school. The book is up-to-date and well researched - concise, stays on point, is easy to read, & is not cumbersome - a great tool for lawyers pondering what to do next with their careers or how to improve satisfaction within the practice of law, or for people considering law school or entering law as a profession. This book is a career management guide geared particularly toward lawyers, either seasoned lawyers wanting to explore options for a second or different career or different area of emphasis, or new lawyers just starting out and wondering what direction they would like to pursue within a legal career. The book is complete, takes a thorough look at the entire career development process, recommends that you start with self-assessment to discover your personal skills, values, interests, and personality traits so that you are equipped to choose an area or specialty within the law that most fits with your personal preferences, temperament and skills. Then it shows you how to conduct self-assessment and guides you through the complete self-assessment process by providing a comprehensive set of exercises to help you discover your interests, assess your skills, think through the changes you want to make and to set about achieving those changes in your career. It provides MORE than other general books regarding traditional career management because it is directed specifically toward lawyers and people considering a legal career. This book is for anyone who wants to manage, or take charge of, their legal career, and it provides excellent guidance in self-assessment to lawyers and non-lawyers, alike. I highly recommend this book to anyone considering a legal career, and to lawyers considering a career change.

This is a book like the dozens of other career change ones out there - you can find this information in publications from years ago, and with much better advice. No new information, and would only help lawyers who would lack the imagination to think of "legal publishing" or "in-house counsel" as career options. Truly unhelpul.

I purchased "The Lawyer's Career Change Handbook" along with other books written for people who have (or will soon have) law degrees, but are not sure they want to practice law. This book has been an invaluable tool in helping me realize where I want to go with my life. What I like most about it is that it includes exercises to make its readers think critically about their own skills, interests, and requirements in the workplace. I find that the book is very practical, and although I am just begining my job search, it has been helpful as a tool to prioritize what I'm looking for in an employer.

When considering whether to purchase this book, I read some highly critical reviews, but bought the book anyway. If you are serious about looking for a job which is more suited to you, I would encourage you to buy it too - and read it with a pencil and pad of paper close at hand.

For those of you who, like me, are very frustrated with law - whether you are already practicing or not, I want to share this passage, which summed up everything I feel about my experiences in the field of law. On page 12, Hindi Greenberg writes:

"One of my clients recently wrote a stinging evaluation of law practice, listing the things he dislikes. In his words: 'I disilke (1) the interpersonal nastiness of litigation, (2) the combatitiveness of litigation, (3) the win-at-all-cost attitude of litigation, (4) the crisis mentality of litigation, (5) that my goal is to defeat my opponent and my opponent's goal is to defeat me, (6) the pressure of being expected to do work that my oponent can never criticize - an absolutely unrealistic expectation, (7) that I am always around people who are angry at someone, (8) that I cannot be fair or reasonable, as I see fairness and reason, but have to fight for every advantage I can get out of a situation, (9) that I cannot spend my life working with a group of dedicated people to achieve a common goal but instead must constantly fight other people to achieve success.'"

Particularly with respect to number 7, this has been my experience over two summers of clerking for law firms.

The afternoon before I began reading this book, I went out for coffee with a fellow law student. I tried to explain to her all of the reasons that I am uninterested in a career as a lawyer - but no matter what I said, she was adamant that I will be able to find a fulfilling legal career, telling me, "not all law firms are like the ones you have worked for. There are plenty of areas of law where you never have to fight at all. There are better lawyers to work for. There are better areas of law to practice in." This book made me realize that I'm not being subborn or overly emotional, or closed-minded about career options. I am grateful to Hindi Greenberg for showing me that I am not alone, and that, frankly, there is nothing wrong with me for not wanting to spend the next 30 or 40 years of my life fighting for a living, or trying to do perfect work which can never be criticized.

In addition to giving me much-needed affirmation that I am not being an idiot, because being a lawyer is not for everyone, this book provides many practical tools for developing a job search, and for finding a career which suits my personality.

Another great resource in this book is the resume writing guide. As a first year law student, Career Services held a (mandatory) resume-writing workshop, teaching us how to make legal resumes - which are vastly different from non-legal resumes. On the brink of looking for a non-legal job, I found myself perplexed as to what a non-legal resume was supposed to look like. This book has examples of functional resumes versus legal resumes, as well as interviewing tips which I found to be infinetly more helpful than the tips provided by Career Services over the past few years.

I was very happy with this book, and would highly recommend it to anyone who is unhappy with his or her legal career, and definetly to law students who find themselves wondering whether there might be more worthwhile careers out there.

This book is an excellent resource for any attorney seeking to change jobs or port his or her legal skills into a new career. The book does not contain a list of employment agencies or employers, but instead concentrates on instructing the reader on how to identify skills, identify markets and structure and write a winning resume. The book also contains a list of resources where the reader can obtain further information.

I read the book review about The Lawyer's Career Change Handbook that was published in the 1999 issue of the California Bar Journal, the official publication of the State Bar of California, where the review author said the Handbook is an excellent resource packed with a variety of suggestions and career advice options and a must-have resource tool for those who are thinking about law as a profession or those in the profession who are not completely satisfied with their current position. Because I have practiced law for several years and am now thinking about making a career change, I decided to read this book. I completely agree with the Bar Journal review - the Handbook is extremely helpful, is packed with useful resources and information and is a must read for law students or lawyers thinking about alternative careers in or out of law.

I practiced law for 32 years and disliked it greatly much of the time. I would estimate that 90% of the lawyers that I know dislike the practice of law. I hated law school and only finished it because everyone told me that I didn't have to be a lawyer, that a law degree was very helpful in getting other jobs. The subtitle of this book would lead one to believe that the book will provide information about those jobs. In that sense the book is misleading.

There really aren't many jobs where a law degree, as such, is helpful. The author mostly lists every job that lawyers have ever taken outside of the law and obvious jobs in law related fields.

However, this book is a must read for anyone considering law school or who is greatly dissatisfied with the practice of the law. It has excellent assessment tools and practical advice as to what to look for to find greater satisfaction in one's career, whatever it might be. Many lawyers, myself included, went to law school because we didn't know what else to do and thought a law degree would be useful. With Law School costs being what they are that is NOT a good enough reason. The book explains the almost universal concerns that lawyers have with the practice of law, and also emphasizes that for the average practitioner the practice of law does NOT make them wealthy. So, if making money is one's sole motivation, other fields provide greater opportunities to do so.

As a psychologist who works with lawyers, I have found this book to be an invaluable resource for my clients. It addresses the full range of issues that confront someone questioning whether to leave a legal career altogether or to switch to a different legal environment. No book should give clients the "answer" to their dilemma, and this one does not pretend to. I have found it extremely helpful in how it poses important questions to consider, offers wise advice, and provides in-depth help with resources and information. My clients have found it reassuring, encouraging and informative. It's an inexpensive resource that every lawyer or law student considering a shift in career direction should review.

very vague, unhelpful, i trashed my copy, not even worth reselling because I wouldn't want someone to waste their money on this. One chapter of the book talks about various professions people who are lawyers have ventured into. Some of the items are: restaurant manager, chef, erotic bakery owner....
Seriously, anyone that is a lawyer/looking to be a lawyer find that last profession helpful? Probably not, pass on this book.