The Former Lawyer Podcast

The Former Lawyer Podcast

By Sarah Cottrell

Do you hate working as a lawyer? Are you an unhappy lawyer who wants to leave the law, but isn't sure what to do next? Do your family and friends think you're crazy for wanting to leave the law, or are you too afraid to tell them you don't want to be a lawyer? The Former Lawyer Podcast is for you! Each week, host Sarah Cottrell interviews a different former lawyer who has left the law behind. Hear inspiring stories about how these former lawyers are thriving and found their way to careers and lives they love.

04/20/26

How to Break Into Legal Tech and AI as a Lawyer with Ben Chiriboga

Legal tech comes up constantly when lawyers are thinking about leaving practice. It's legal adjacent, the field is growing, and there seem to be a lot of jobs. But when lawyers actually try to make a move, they usually don't know where to start. The Read more

04/13/26

How an Overdeveloped Sense of Responsibility Keeps Lawyers Stuck

Responsibility is one of the things that makes lawyers good at their jobs. It also shows up, over and over, as one of the things that makes it hardest for them to leave. Not because they don't want to go, but because leaving means someone else has toRead more

04/06/26

What Doing Your Best Is Costing You as a Lawyer

For a lot of lawyers, hearing "just do your best" as a kid didn't feel reassuring. It felt like a requirement to give every ounce of everything they had until there was literally nothing left. That's not incidental. The kind of person who interprets Read more

03/30/26

You Don't Have to Quit Your Job to Start Leaving Law

Lawyers thinking about leaving often get stuck on a question that feels practical but actually keeps them waiting longer than they need to. Do I need to quit my job before I start figuring out what I want to do instead? It sounds responsible, but forRead more

03/23/26

Why Lawyers Think Feelings Are Optional and What It Costs Them

Lawyers who are unhappy at work often tell themselves they'll feel things later. When they retire, maybe. The sense is that feeling the full weight of what's happening would make it impossible to keep functioning, so the feelings get pushed down and Read more

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