The Former Lawyer Podcast with Sarah Cottrell - Détails, épisodes et analyse

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The Former Lawyer Podcast with Sarah Cottrell

Former Lawyer LLC

Business & Entrepreneuriat

Éducation

Fréquence : 1 épisode/7j. Total Éps: 372

Do you hate working as a lawyer? Are you sick of doomscrolling LinkedIn hoping the perfect non-legal job will appear? The Former Lawyer Podcast is hosted by Sarah Cottrell, an ICF-certified career coach who has worked with hundreds of lawyers to help them identify an alternative career. Join her each week for advice and strategies for lawyers who dream of an alternative career, and interviews with former lawyers who have left law behind to find careers and lives that they love.

The Former Lawyer Podcast is a production of Former Lawyer LLC, a career coaching consultancy founded by Sarah that helps lawyers who want to leave law identify the alternative career that is right for them.

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How to Approach Informational Interviews as a Lawyer

Épisode 328

lundi 9 novembre 2026 • Durée 12:46

Informational interviews can be one of the most useful parts of making a career change for lawyers, even though they're often the part people dread most. When you're trying to figure out what you want to do instead of practicing law, it's easy to spend hours researching different careers without getting much closer to a decision. Talking to people who actually do those jobs can help you figure out much more quickly whether they're worth pursuing.

The challenge is that lawyers often go into informational interviews feeling like they need to impress the person they're talking to or prove they'd be good at the job. That pressure can make the whole process unnecessarily intimidating, especially when you're not even sure you want the job in the first place. The goal of these conversations is to find out what the work is actually like and whether the things you're assuming about it are true. Knowing that changes both the questions you ask and what you can learn from the answers.

In this episode of The Former Lawyer Podcast, Sarah Cottrell explains how to approach informational interviews as a lawyer, including how to identify people to talk to, what questions to ask, and why understanding your assumptions about a potential career matters. She also talks about why finding out a job isn't right for you can be just as helpful as discovering one that is.

0:29 - Why informational interviews are often the hardest part of a career change for lawyers

1:47 - The assumptions lawyers make about careers they haven't experienced

2:41 - Getting clarity faster through informational interviews instead of more research

4:27 - The purpose of an informational interview and why lawyers feel pressure to impress

6:39 - Using informational interviews to test your assumptions about a potential career

7:53 - Narrowing down the questions that will help you understand the day-to-day work

8:46 - Why ruling out a career option is also valuable progress

11:15 - Why you shouldn't ask someone else if you'd be a good fit for their job

Mentioned In How to Approach Informational Interviews as a Lawyer

Work With Sarah One-on-One

First Steps to Leaving the Law

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Career Coaching for Lawyers Who Don’t Know What to Do Next

Épisode 327

lundi 2 novembre 2026 • Durée 20:17

Knowing you want to make a change in your legal career doesn't necessarily mean you know what you want to do instead. Maybe you've already tried a different legal job and weren't any happier, or maybe you're wondering whether a different practice area would be enough. Career coaching for lawyers can help when you know you can't keep doing what you're doing, but every time you consider another possibility, you find a reason it wouldn't work.

Sarah calls this "lawyering yourself," and it's something she sees all the time with lawyers who are trying to figure out what comes next. It's easy to rule out a potential career before you've actually learned much about it, especially when you're already unsure what might be a good fit. That's why a big part of Sarah's process involves exploring different possibilities, gathering information, and figuring out what actually makes sense for you before narrowing down your options.

In this episode of The Former Lawyer Podcast, Sarah Cottrell walks through what it's like to work with her one-on-one, from the initial consultation to the exercises, assessments, and informational interviews that help lawyers figure out what they actually want to do. She explains how the Former Lawyer Framework provides structure while allowing flexibility for what's happening in your life, including situations where you need to get out of a toxic job before you've figured out your longer-term plans.

0:57 - The initial consultation and figuring out whether you're a good fit

1:49 - Career coaching for lawyers who have no idea what they want to do next

4:37 - What the one-on-one coaching package includes

5:16 - The Former Lawyer Framework and flexibility around your schedule

6:37 - Starting with reflection exercises, assessments, and possible career options

7:15 - Why lawyers talk themselves out of career options too soon

9:21 - Learning to trust yourself instead of relying on someone else to make career decisions

11:01 - Finding a bridge job while figuring out your longer-term plans

Why Lawyers Feel More Confused After Career Coaching

Épisode 326

lundi 26 octobre 2026 • Durée 15:18

You worked with a career coach because you wanted to figure out what to do instead of practicing law. Maybe you took assessments, learned more about yourself, and even had a good experience with the coach. Now you're at the end of that process with more information about yourself, but even less of an idea of what you should actually do next.

When you're super burned out and going to a toxic job every day, it's understandable to want someone to look at your resume and assessments and just give you an answer. The problem is that a job can make sense based on your skills and work history without being something you actually want to do. You might be able to convince someone to hire you for that role, but that doesn't mean it's a good fit, especially if it's close to the kind of work you're already trying to leave.

In this episode of The Former Lawyer Podcast, Sarah Cottrell talks about why lawyers sometimes feel more lost after working with a career coach. She explains what assessments can and can't tell you, and why figuring out what to do with that information is such an important part of the process. Sarah also shares what to look for in a career coach and why untangling your identity from being a lawyer can be just as important as figuring out your next career move.

0:29 - Feeling more confused after working with a career coach

1:38 - Relying too heavily on career assessments to find an answer

3:20 - Why assessments don't tell you what to do next

4:00 - Using informational interviews to narrow down career options

5:09 - Getting support with translating assessment results into actual career options

6:22 - Wanting a career coach to just tell you what job you should do

7:26 - The difference between a job you can get and one you actually want

10:24 - Developing the skills to figure out what feels like the right fit

11:58 - Untangling your identity from being a lawyer

13:53 - Using therapy to explore why your identity is so tied to your career

The Transferable Skills Lawyers Overlook When Leaving Law

Épisode 325

lundi 19 octobre 2026 • Durée 11:25

When you're thinking about leaving law, it's easy to convince yourself that you don't have any transferable skills. You've spent years learning how to be a lawyer, and so much of what you do every day feels specific to practicing law. It's hard to imagine how any of that experience would be useful in a job that has nothing to do with the legal profession.

Something that lawyers often don't realize is that the skills they take for granted aren't necessarily things everyone else knows how to do. When you're surrounded by other lawyers, being able to hold yourself accountable and get things done doesn't seem particularly special. It's just what you do. Once you get outside the legal profession, though, those same skills can be things that set you apart.

In this episode of The Former Lawyer Podcast, Sarah Cottrell shares examples of former lawyers who have gone into sales, literary representation, data analysis, and marketing, and how they've used skills they developed practicing law in those roles. She talks about why lawyers tend to underestimate what they bring to other careers and why those skills can be useful in more jobs than you might expect.

0:29 - Why lawyers think they don't have transferable skills

1:51 - Skills that seem ordinary to lawyers can be selling points in other careers

2:29 - Alex Su on accountability as a transferable skill lawyers overlook

4:38 - How Lilly Ghahremani uses her legal training as a literary agent

5:55 - Dan Branagan on using litigation skills in data analyst interviews

7:16 - Ashley Carlisle on applying lawyers' ability to learn in marketing

9:24 - Why your transferable skills aren't limited to legal-adjacent jobs

10:17 - Finding a role where your existing skills are a better fit

Mentioned In The Transferable Skills Lawyers Overlook When Leaving Law

How Lawyers Can Rethink Their Skills for Business with Alex Su [TFLP314]

When You Want to Leave Law but Don’t Know What’s Next

Épisode 324

lundi 12 octobre 2026 • Durée 05:00

If you want to leave law but have no idea what you want to do next, it can feel like you need to figure out at least a few possible options before you are ready to get help. For a lot of unhappy lawyers, though, the problem is not choosing between several clear career paths. Everything outside of practicing law feels like a complete black box, and they do not even know how to start figuring out what might be a good fit.

In this episode of The Former Lawyer Podcast, Sarah Cottrell explains why not knowing what you want to do next is actually one of the reasons you might work with her. She talks about how she helps lawyers go from having no idea what their options are to identifying possibilities that match their values, strengths, skills, and personality, and why you do not need to go figure out the basics on your own before that process can be useful.

0:29 - Do you need to know what you want to do before working with Sarah

1:17 - When everything outside of practicing law feels like a complete black box

2:35 - You do not need to know what you want to do next before getting help

3:20 - Why not knowing what you want is part of the reason to work with Sarah

3:46 - Going from “I have no idea” to options that match your values, strengths, skills, and personality

Mentioned In When You Want to Leave Law but Don’t Know What’s Next

First Steps to Leaving the Law

1:1 Coaching with Sarah Cottrell

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Do You Actually Want Another Legal Job After a Layoff?

Épisode 323

lundi 5 octobre 2026 • Durée 08:35

Being laid off from a legal job can create a lot of anxiety, financial and otherwise. If you’ve been laid off, you’re worried that a layoff might be coming, or you’ve been through one in the past, there are very real practical concerns that come with losing your job. We all have bills, we all need to be responsible adults, and sometimes getting another job practicing law is the choice that makes sense.

The question is whether you actually want another legal job or whether you’re looking for one because that feels like what you’re supposed to do next. If you felt an immense amount of relief when you were laid off, that feeling is information. You may not have realized how much pressure and stress your job was creating until suddenly that weight was lifted.

In this episode of The Former Lawyer Podcast, Sarah Cottrell talks about why being laid off can be a helpful catalyst for thinking about what you actually want to do next. She shares what she has seen with clients who didn’t recognize how unhappy they were until they were laid off, why another legal job can make sense as a bridge job, and why it’s worth listening if your reaction to losing your job was, “Thank goodness.”

2:09 - Clients who didn’t realize how unhappy they were until they were laid off

2:53 - Asking yourself whether you actually want another legal job

3:18 - The practical reasons you might choose another job practicing law

4:04 - Feeling relief after a layoff is information

5:17 - Using another legal job as a bridge job instead of trying to prove something

7:09 - Listening to what your reaction to being laid off is telling you

Mentioned In Do You Actually Want Another Legal Job After a Layoff?

First Steps to Leaving the Law

1:1 Coaching with Sarah Cottrell

The Cost of Staying in a Toxic Law Firm

Épisode 322

lundi 28 septembre 2026 • Durée 08:43

Staying in a toxic law firm because you want to help change it can feel like a good reason to stay. You want to get to a position where you have more influence and can use that influence to make the environment better. The question is what staying long enough to get there is costing you along the way.

The harder part is that toxic environments can change your sense of what is normal or acceptable. You can start out very clear about what feels wrong and, over time, become more comfortable with things you previously would not have accepted. If the goal is to eventually use your influence to create change, you also have to be realistic about the difference between playing the game to get there and becoming part of the machine.

In this episode of The Former Lawyer Podcast, Sarah Cottrell talks about the cost of staying in a toxic law firm because you want to change it from the inside. She explains why toxic environments can change your sense of what is and is not okay, why gaining influence can make it harder to use that influence the way you originally intended, and why it is important to keep reassessing what staying is doing to you.

0:30 - Staying in a toxic law firm because you want to change it

1:45 - Lawyers think about the cost of leaving, not the cost of staying

2:15 - Staying to fix the environment can change you

3:08 - Playing the game to make change versus becoming part of the machine

4:21 - What happens when you finally have the influence you were waiting for

5:23 - Your conscience can be formed by your environment

6:18 - Being clear about who you are and what you are willing to do

7:50 - When the effect staying is having on you is a reason to reassess

Mentioned In The Cost of Staying in a Toxic Law Firm

First Steps to Leaving the Law

When Leaving Law Feels Like Letting Other People Down

Épisode 321

lundi 21 septembre 2026 • Durée 08:58

When leaving law feels like letting other people down, it can become much harder to take your own unhappiness seriously. For lawyers who are women, first-gen, people of color, or part of another historically underrepresented group, there can be a very real sense that being in these spaces is not just about them. Their achievement can start to feel tied to representing other people well and showing what is possible.

The difficult part is that this sense of responsibility can mean having to get to a very bad place before being willing to prioritize yourself. Sarah sees lawyers whose experience at a law firm has been extremely detrimental to their mental, physical, emotional, and relational health, who still discount all of that and focus on the reasons they feel like they should stay. For people who are highly responsible, it can be very hard to value their own pain and suffering when they also feel responsible for what their leaving might mean for other people.

In this episode of The Former Lawyer Podcast, Sarah Cottrell talks about her own experience of feeling like leaving her law firm meant letting other women down and why she sees versions of that same dynamic with her clients. She talks about the sense that your existence and achievement in these spaces are not just about you, how that can keep people going even when the experience is doing real harm, and why your own well-being deserves to matter too.

0:29 - The pressure to stay when leaving feels like letting other people down

1:05 - Feeling responsible to advance for other women in Biglaw

3:00 - When your existence in the space feels like it’s not just about you

4:11 - Having to get to a very bad place before prioritizing yourself

5:17 - Highly responsible lawyers struggling to value their own pain and suffering

6:05 - You matter, your well-being matters, and you’re not letting people down

7:25 - Being unselfish to the point of doing harm to yourself to help others

8:16 - The permission slip to take care of yourself

Why Your Law Job Feels More Unsustainable Than It Used To

Épisode 320

lundi 14 septembre 2026 • Durée 09:32

Your law job may feel more unsustainable than it used to, even if you were managing it fairly well before. Maybe you already knew the environment was not great, or that the work itself was never especially sustainable, but you were making it work. Now, all of a sudden, it feels completely impossible and you are wondering what changed.

For a lot of lawyers, the instinct is to turn that question inward. Is it because you are weak? Is it because you cannot hack it anymore? Sarah talks about why being impacted by what is happening around you does not mean there is something wrong with you. If your nervous system is constantly being primed for threats and hypervigilance has become the baseline, it makes sense that you do not have the same capacity you had before.

In this episode of The Former Lawyer Podcast, Sarah Cottrell talks about why your law job may feel more unsustainable than it used to and what may actually be behind that shift. She explains how the broader environment can affect your nervous system, why lawyers in particular may be feeling that impact, and why listening to what your body and your nervous system are telling you can help you figure out what the best next step is for you career-wise.

0:53 - When a law job that felt manageable starts to feel unsustainable

1:44 - Why lawyers may be especially affected by what is happening around them

2:29 - Feeling like you can’t keep doing this doesn’t mean you’re weak

4:12 - What your nervous system may be recognizing about your work environment

6:00 - Hypervigilance as a baseline and how it affects your capacity

7:10 - What to do when your work suddenly feels unsustainable

8:31 - Listening to your body and nervous system as you consider what comes next

Mentioned In Why Your Law Job Feels More Unsustainable Than It Used To

First Steps to Leaving the Law

Why “Every Job Sucks” Is Bad Advice for Lawyers Who Hate Their Jobs

Épisode 319

lundi 7 septembre 2026 • Durée 09:04

“There’s a reason they call it a job.” “If it was fun, everyone would do it.” “The grass isn’t always greener.” Lawyers who hate their jobs hear some version of this all the time from people outside of the legal profession, usually when they are trying to explain just how miserable their work has become.

There is a kernel of truth in the idea that every job involves some amount of work, frustration, and things you would rather not do. The problem is that every job does not suck in the way that being a lawyer can suck. For lawyers who have tied suffering to working hard or doing a good job, that distinction can be especially hard to see.

In this episode of The Former Lawyer Podcast, Sarah Cottrell talks about why “every job sucks” is bad advice for lawyers who hate their jobs, what can make legal work uniquely unpleasant, and why believing that suffering is simply part of having a job can make it harder to imagine something better.

0:30 - Hearing “there’s a reason they call it a job” from people outside the law

2:01 - The kinds of misery that can make legal work uniquely unpleasant

3:02 - Why every job does not suck in the way being a lawyer can

4:42 - When lawyers start believing work is supposed to involve suffering

5:49 - Questioning whether worthwhile work can exist without mental and emotional suffering

6:25 - Using therapy to unpack the belief that suffering is part of working hard

7:46 - You do not have to suffer in your job

8:23 - Exploring what might be a better fit despite what other people say

Mentioned In Why “Every Job Sucks” Is Bad Advice for Lawyers Who Hate Their Jobs

First Steps to Leaving the Law

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