How Sarah Rutledge Fischer left Biglaw to be a Working Artist: Part Two

In Episode 039 of The Former Lawyer Podcast, I’m sharing the second half of my conversation with Sarah Rutledge Fischer. (You can listen to part 1 here.) Sarah is an artist and art teacher. She spent 3 1/2 years in biglaw before left and found her way to her current career as an artist.  In the second half of our conversation, Sarah shares about: The shame she felt during her biglaw experience; Feeling like there was something fundamentally wrong with her as a person because she wasn’t finding the right fit in her firm; The disturbing parallels between biglaw and abusive interpersonal relationships; The weirdness of working with her firm’s in-house career counselor; The thrill of winning asylum for her pro bono client the day before she left the firm for good; How an unexpected opportunity for her husband convinced them to uproot and move from California to the gulf coast of Alabama, closer to family; Thinking that she would return to the practice of law eventually, and finally admitting to herself that she just didn’t want to; Deciding to pursue a writing career, and how her “shame-based achievement-seeking lawyer hat” worked against her; Why being put in charge of the weekly figure-drawing class she had begun attending was helpful in moving her towards her new career (perhaps not for the reason that you might think);  Her “cartoon hammer on the head” moment when she realized that her art could be her next career; Why she thinks “follow your curiosity” is much better advice than “follow your passion”; How she still has to actively work to combat the grind mentality of biglaw in her life now; Why she works to cultivate compassion for her former self; and much more! Show Notes: Free First Steps guide—> formerlawyer.com/guide Former Lawyer Fundamentals—> formerlawyer.com/fundamentals Former Lawyer Collaborative—> formerlawyer.com/collab Connect with Sarah: [email protected] I'm closing enrollment for my self-paced group program, the Former Lawyer Collaborative, permanently on August 31st, 2026. If you've been thinking about joining now is the time. Head to formerlawyer.com/collab to join before doors close on August 31st.