Last week, I received the below email from a fellow Leave Law Behind reader.
She was suffering as an attorney.
But she kept reading our weekly posts. She kept becoming inspired. She kept taking baby steps.
And she finally left the law!
I asked her if I could publish her letter and share with you. Besides anonymizing her name, below is word for word what she sent me.
And I’m grateful she let me share this with you … she wanted to pay it forward and show everyone that you too can leave the law!
Hi Casey,
We’ve never met, but I want to thank you for all that you have done for me and my career.
A little over a year ago, when I was starting my third year as a litigation associate, I realized my mental health had hit rock bottom. I was crippled with anxiety that was only getting worse with increased responsibility at the firm.
I was ignoring phone calls from angry opposing counsel, hiding under my desk at work during panic attacks, and taking high doses of anxiety medication just to get through my life. I knew I needed some support to get myself out of a bad situation.
That is when I found your website, started reading your blog posts, and signed up for your weekly emails. It was exactly the motivation I needed to make a very scary change.
For several long months I started down my path to finding a non-law job, and then finally, I found it! I had always told my friends and family that my unique genius would be some combination of editing, writing, and legal know-how. That’s why I was so excited when I came across a job posting for a position as an editor with [an online publication]. The job description fit me to a T. Now here I am, a very proud editor and happy, anxiety-free ex-lawyer.
Do I make less money? Yes. Did I give up an office for a cubicle? Yes.
But I also traded my debilitating anxiety and meds for a job that makes me happy and gives me purpose far greater than I ever had practicing law. For helping me realize all of this was possible, thank you. Reading your words of encouragement helped me to make this leap of faith, and I’m very grateful.
You can leave the law just by reading these weekly emails and the Leave Law Behind blog.