The Career Question Lawyers Ask Too Lare

The Question Lawyers Ask Too Late

Most lawyers make their biggest career decisions without ever asking the most important question.

Early on, the questions are predictable:

• What firm can I get into?

• What practice area is most marketable?

• What pays well?

• What keeps my options open?

Those questions make sense. They’re rewarded. They’re reinforced by law school, firms, and recruiting.

But they miss something essential.

Years later, when lawyers come to me burned out, restless, or quietly unhappy, the questions change:

• Why does this work drain me so much?

• Why does everyone else seem fine?

• Why did the last move not fix anything?

By then, the real question finally surfaces:

What kind of lawyer am I?

Not in title.

Not in résumé.

But in how you actually operate.

Why This Question Changes Everything

Two lawyers can work the same hours, at the same firm, in the same practice group and have completely different experiences.

 One is energized. The other is depleted.

 The difference is rarely intelligence or resilience. It’s fit.

Some lawyers thrive in high-conflict environments. Others shut down.

Some gain energy from constant client interaction. Others need space to think.

Some do their best work with structure and predictability. Others need autonomy.

Some love fast-moving decisions. Others need time to analyze and refine.

 Law doesn’t have one definition of excellence. But most career paths assume it does.

 So lawyers adapt. They compensate. They force themselves to become the “right” kind of lawyer for the role they’re in. It works, for a while.

 Until it doesn’t.

Why Lawyers Ask This Question Too Late

Law trains you to analyze external problems, not internal patterns.

You’re taught how to argue both sides of a case.

You’re rarely taught how you respond to conflict.

Or pressure.

Or ambiguity.

Or authority.

Or constant demand.

So lawyers default to trial and error. Lateral moves. Boundary tweaks. White-knuckling.

Sometimes those help.

Often, they don’t.

Because without understanding how you’re wired to work, every career decision is a guess. 

The Reframe

The goal isn’t to find the “best” practice area.

It’s to find work that aligns with:

• how you process stress

• how you handle conflict

• how much structure or autonomy you need

• how you gain (or lose) energy

• what environments bring out your best thinking

When lawyers start there, the entire career conversation shifts.

Over the years, I kept seeing the same patterns repeat across different lawyers, firms, and practice areas.

 So I built a framework to help lawyers identify how they’re wired before making their next move.

 If you’ve ever thought:

• “Why does this feel harder for me than it should?”

• “Why didn’t the last change fix things?”

• “Why am I good at this but still exhausted?”

That question you’ve been circling might finally be ready to be answered.