Ed.
note:
This
is
the
second
in
a
series
of
articles
by
our
friends
Neil
Handwerker
and
Kimberly
Fine
of
ex
judicata,
who
will
be
writing
about
lawyers
interested
in
transitioning
to
nonlegal
careers.
What
is
the
big
idea?
We
have
now
reached
100,000
unique
users
on
exjudicata.com.
A
testament
to
the
rapidly
growing
number
of
lawyers
and
law
students
interested
in,
if
not
transitioning
to
nonlegal
careers
right
away,
at
least
exploring
what
alternatives
are
open
to
them
besides
practicing
law.
Which
leads
to
an
idea
so
big
it
is
hard
to
conceptualize.
What
kind
of
career
alternatives
are
available
to
lawyers
and
law
students? Everything.
Save
those
occupations
requiring
specific
schooling
and
credentialing.
For
example:
brain
surgeon,
CPA,
licensed
plumber.
Last
year,
ex
judicata
had
the
pleasure
of
interviewing
Patty
Roberts,
the
Dean
of
St.
Mary’s
Law
School.
For
those
unfamiliar,
Dean
Roberts
is
one
of
the
most
innovative
legal
educators
in
America.
Her
law
school
is
at
the
forefront
of
making
a
legal
education
available
to
underrepresented
communities.
Though
having
a
live
curriculum,
St.
Mary’s
was
also
the
first
law
school
in
the
nation
to
make
available
a
fully
remote
JD
program
accredited
by
the
ABA.
Dean
Roberts
told
ex
judicata:
“The
question
is
not
what
can
you
do
with
a
law
degree,
it
is
what
can’t
you
do
with
a
law
degree.”
And
readers
of
this
column
will
know
that
last
month
we
quoted
Kellye
Testy,
CEO
of
the
American
Association
of
Law
Schools,
who
is
broadcasting
this
message
loud
and
clear.
“A
JD
is
a
degree
in
complex
problem-solving.
And
if
there
is
one
thing
every
business
needs
more
of,
it
is
complex
problem-solvers.”
Anecdotally,
most
know
it
is
not
unusual
to
see
in
the
biography
of
a
successful
business
executive
that
they
are
also
lawyers
by
training.
So,
if
lawyers
can
do
most
everything,
why
is
it
so,
so
difficult
to
leave
law
and
find
a
nonlegal
career
leveraging
the
JD
skill
set
which
includes
analytical
thinking,
ability
to
manage
huge
amounts
of
data,
speaking/writing
and
presenting
persuasively,
issue
spotting,
problem-solving,
etc.?
No
defined
paths.
If
you
ask
100
lawyers
now
in
successful
business
careers
how
they
got
there,
you
may
well
get
100
different
answers.
So,
it
is
not
as
if
a
lawyer
wakes
up
and
decides
to
leave
a
law
firm
to
become,
say,
a
talent
agent
and
here
is
where
and
how
to
apply.
Substitute
pretty
much
any
nonlegal
occupation.
Even
careers
that
are
deemed
to
be
close
to
the
practice
of
law
like
investment
banking
or
risk
management.
There
are
no
set
pathways.
Corporate
America
not
focused
on
hiring
JDs
for
nonlegal
jobs
The
day
ex
judicata
launched
as
a
company,
we
were
present
with
a
tradeshow
booth
at
SHRM’s
annual
convention.
For
the
uninitiated,
this
is
the
Society
for
Human
Resource
Management.
About
25,000
hiring
authorities
descended
on
Las
Vegas.
We
figured
we
would
go
to
the
belly
of
the
beast.
What
better
place
to
take
our
message
which
we
distilled
down
to
hire
JDs
because
they
are:
“The
Hidden
Talent
Pool”
in
plain
sight
Signage
at
Ex
Judicata’s
tradeshow
booth
at
SHRM
annual
convention
(heads
not
actual
employees
of
ex
judicata)
In
addition
to
manning
the
booth,
we
also
tirelessly
networked
with
sponsors,
speakers
and
attendees.
In
talking
about
placing
lawyers
in
nonlegal
jobs,
we
may
as
well
have
been
talking
about
recruiting
people
from
Atlantis.
There
was
very
little
understanding
of
what
we
were
saying.
There
was
some
recognition
of
lawyers
being
hired
for
jobs
in
compliance.
Compliance
has
been
a
harbor
for
non-practicing
JDs
for
some
time.
As
many
of
you
may
know,
certain
employers,
like
the
Big
4
accounting
firms
and
management
consulting
firms,
have
been
hiring
lawyers
for
nonlegal
jobs
for
decades. For
many
kinds
of
jobs. Yet
even
here,
the
roles
are
not
marked.
It’s
not
the
case
where,
say,
a
Big
4
firm
places
an
ad
on
a
job
board
for
an
investigative
services
role
and
it
is
marketed
to
JDs. We
wish
that
were
the
case
because
we
want
these
kinds
of
positions
posted
on
ex
judicata’s
job
board.
The
only
one
where
all
the
opportunities
are
nonlegal
jobs
for
lawyers.
It’s
somewhat
surprising
that
Corporate
America
is
not
actively
seeking
lawyers
for
non-practicing
roles
in
that
more
than
70
of
the
Fortune
500
Chief
Human
Resources
Officers
have
law
degrees,
and
that
the
senior
ranks
of
HR
departments
of
many
large
companies
have
lawyers
in
nonpracticing
roles.
If
they
don’t
know
how
versatile
that
a
law
degree
is,
who
does?
If
all
else
fails,
audit!
We
hope
to
be
able
to
get
a
Fortune
500
company,
or
two,
to
audit
their
workforce
to
see
how
many
employees
hold
JD
degrees
outside
the
law
department.
The
results
could
be
quite
eye-opening.
Word
would
then
spread
with
more
and
more
companies
doing
similar
research
until
defined
paths
might
become
apparent.
For
example,
perhaps
Proctor
&
Gamble
discovers
four
former
practicing
lawyers
are
actually
in
Brand
Management.
Suddenly,
a
new
path
is
defined.
Law
schools
need
to
get
on
board
Few
law
schools
have
companies
interviewing
students
on
campus
for
nonlegal
jobs
upon
graduation.
Certain
elite
schools
do
get
some
management
consulting
firms.
But
these
are
extremely
limited
cases.
Ex
judicata
is
spending
considerable
time
networking
with
law
schools
to
have
a
banner
linking
back
to
our
site
on
the
career
services
and/or
alumni
portals
of
the
law
school.
To
date,
we’ve
signed
up
70
ABA-accredited
law
schools.
And
then
there
is
the
ABA
We
quote
from
our
last
Above
the
Law
article:
The
ABA
has
been
slow
to
get
onboard.
All
you
really
need
to
know
is
that
the
lead
article
Nine
Non-Legal
Jobs
You
Can
(Really,
Truly)
Do
with
a
Law
Degree
on
the
ABA’s
Alternative
Career
site
spells
“nonlegal”
wrong.
The
most
up-to-date
piece
under
“latest
resources”
is
dated
October
4,
2023.
Lawyers
heal
thyself
Lawyers
who
want
to
move
to
business
should
be
advocating
on
their
own
behalf
to
help
get
the
ball
moving.
This
means
making
everyone
in
their
ecosystem
aware
they
want
to
find
a
nonlegal
job.
The
good
news
More
and
more
attention
is
being
paid
to
those
who
want
to
pursue
an
alternative
path.
Here
comes
the
gratuitous
mention
of
AI.
Some
of
the
heat
and
hot
water
can
be
traced
to
the
belief
that
AI
will
so
dramatically
reduce
entry-level
legal
positions
that
alternatives
must
be
found.
That
is
a
more
advanced
discussion
for
another
day.
In
the
meantime,
at
ex
judicata,
the
majority
of
our
time
is
spent
networking
with
talent
executives
as
to
why
they
should
hire
JDs
for
nonlegal
jobs.
And
it
is
working.
Neil
Handwerker
and
Kimberly
Fine
are
the
co-founders
of
ex
judicata,
a
website
providing
information,
resources,
webinars,
coaching,
money
management,
and
inspirational
content
for
lawyers
and
law
students
interested
in
moving
to
nonlegal
careers.
This
is
their
second
startup
together.
Feel
free
to
email them
with
any
questions
or
suggestions
or
connect
with
them
on LinkedIn.