These Lawyers Who Jumped to New Careers Tested the Waters First
A common theme emerges among the stories of many lawyers who jump to new careers: They test the waters first, trying out their new career as a sideline while still employed as lawyers.
Two lawyers profiled by the National Law Journal tried out new careers before giving up their day jobs. A third wrote two books after jumping from a job at a law firm to a new career. They are:
• Nathan Sawaya, a former associate at Winston & Strawn who started sculpting to relieve the pressure of law practice. He decided to start building sculptures with Legos and posted pictures to his website. Sawaya gave up law practice entirely when his website, BrickArtist.com, crashed from all the traffic. His museum show is now on tour.
• Sean Carter, who became a stand-up comedian while working as a lawyer in the areas of corporate securities and mergers and acquisitions. He wrote a humor book and left the profession, eventually finding his niche giving humorous speeches to legal groups. He also wrote a humor column for the ABA Journal eReport.
• Alex Wellen, a former patent associate at Pennie & Edmonds, who wrote two books while working as a television show producer for TechTV and for CNN overseeing its integration between TV and the Internet. Wellen left the law firm for the TechTV job, producing a cybercrime show for the Internet.
The author of the NLJ article, consultant Ari Kaplan, says the concept of an on-the-side career is a common theme for legal professionals considering a transition. “Many test their alternative pursuit while still employed or practicing their professional craft,” he writes.
