For almost 30 years, I worked for law firms supporting attorneys with everything from delivering courtesy copies to judges’ chambers as a mailroom clerk to providing procedural and rules based advice as a quasi-attorney. I ended my
docketing career at the top, as the national director of docketing at the world’s largest law firm and president of the only national association catering specifically to docketing professionals.
People frequently ask me why I changed careers when I had it all – job security, industry respect, passion for success, and an entrepreneurial spirit. Well, in order to answer that we should look at all the main reasons why people do change careers.
- Your Life Has Changed
Some people change careers because they go from being single to married with children. Although my life did not change drastically as with marital status, it did change with familial status. My children grew up. Having a “family friendly” job was not as critical anymore as it once was with raising five wonderful children. - The Job Outlook in Your Field Worsened
For many legal careers, the Great Recession took its toll. People lost jobs due to staff redundancies caused by forced cost reductions in order to increase profits. This was not the case for me or most docketing professionals. Yes, the recession caused layoffs in law firms for some docketing staff. A majority of docketing professionals, however, survived at their firms because they were able to consistently prove that their support was directly related to the firm’s billable matters and risk management practices. - You are Experiencing Job Burnout
Ok. This aspect of job satisfaction did affect me personally. Have you ever watched the movie “Groundhog Day” with actor Bill Murray? Every day he would wake up to the same routine over and over. That was an important factor in my decision to switch careers. It was not that I did not like working at my firm, or with the people I supported and my former colleagues. It was that I succeeded in creating firm wide docketing support and my team functioned like a well-oiled machine. I had the best professionals working for me and the firm with little to no problems to deal with on a daily basis. That was actually to my detriment. I did not have any challenges. - Your Job is Too Stressful
It is not easy supporting hundreds of attorneys and that alone can cause people to switch careers from the legal field. Any of my former colleagues and peers in the docketing profession will attest to that. I have seen many people come and go in the legal community. But I did not feel stressed out and was rather complacent with my job. - You Find Your Work Boring
Many docketing professionals only have so far they can climb on the career advancement ladder. I climbed up as far as I could go working for the law firm and volunteering for the association, and missed the challenges I once faced. - You Want to Earn More Money
Far too many people change careers just for the money. Although your salary is extremely important, it should not be the main factor for leaving your current employment. Job satisfaction is far more important to your health and well-being than just making a lot of money. For me, the chance to control my salary by selling software I identify with was very lucrative.
I changed careers to sales because I have an entrepreneurial spirit and a passion for success. It was just perfect timing and I took advantage of it. According to Forbes Magazine, an entrepreneur has five essential qualities. I can identify with every one of them. Can you?
- Vision and dissatisfaction with the present.
- Knowing and taking advantage of your unfair advantages.
- The ability to get people on board and add to the vision.
- Flexibility to adapt, openness to feedback, and the ability to learn.
- Persistence and execution.
Sales is extremely exciting. You get to meet so many people at different levels at law firms. You also get to travel a lot. Your schedule is very flexible and you control it. Sales can equal nice profits. As I mentioned earlier, the more you sell the more money you make. It is not an easy task but it can be very rewarding. Selling also provides you with a sense of accomplishment and challenge. It is a wonderful feeling knowing you just helped a law firm reduce the risks inherent with deadline errors and omissions.
When I saw a demo of eDockets a couple of years ago, I was convinced that it was an innovative product and I wanted to be a part of its evolution. I now get to use my background and experience to influence this product and share that with law firms. The challenges I face every day keep me on my toes and young at heart.
