When I left BigLaw, I had 3 plans.

When I left BigLaw after 20 years, I had 3 plans.

Each failed. Here’s the story.

🔷 Plan A: doctrinal law professor.

Naively, I thought I had a real shot. But as it turned out, I was missing “half the package.”

According to several law-school deans, Harvard undergrad was a ✔️, but my non-T14 law school was a ❌.

— One actually referred to it as my resume’s “black hole.”

— He recommended that I: (1) go back to a “top” school to get a PhD or SJD; (2) publish a book or two, so I’d have something “credible under my belt”; or (3) pursue schools in less desirable locales.

With 3 girls in school & Matt set here, those ideas seemed unworkable. So I scurried on, a bit tail-between-legs, to Plan B.

🔷 B: legal-writing professor.

‘That shouldn’t command so many prerequisites,’ I thought to myself. But as it turned out, barriers blocked my path there, too.

— I had no “real” teaching experience;

— I hadn’t published in scholarly journals; and

— All my legal-writing experience was the on-the-job sort—not the sort that law schools seemed to seek, I learned, several steps down several interview roads.

So I slunk to Plan C.

🔷 C: I’d get my Tax LLM and teach by that route.

I enrolled at a local law school & again got myself jazzed. But as it turned out, I hated the content.

Tax was not for me, and it was time for Plan D. 📍 Problem was, there was no Plan D.

I was nearing 50 and felt out of plans.
At times, I thought I might get out of the game entirely.

But as it turns out, my story was just getting started.

-To Be Continued-

💌 Amanda

🗳️ Have you written your messy story? I’d love to hear it & support you!

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