The Shame Lawyers Feel About Wanting to Leave Law

Somewhere along the way, most lawyers picked up the idea that once you commit to something, you follow through. No exceptions. So when the thought of leaving starts to surface, it doesn't feel like a career question. It feels like there's something shameful about admitting your original decision was wrong.But the decision to become a lawyer was made at a specific age, with a specific amount of information. The lived experience of actually practicing law is new information. And in almost any other context, no one would question whether you should update a decision when the information changes.In this episode of The Former Lawyer Podcast, Sarah Cottrell talks about why so many lawyers feel ashamed of wanting to change their minds, where that "don't be a quitter" conditioning comes from, why it takes maturity to look at your decisions and choose something different, and why therapy is often the best place to start untangling all of it.0:30 - The shame lawyers feel about changing their minds and where it comes from1:04 - How the decision to leave becomes tangled with feeling "wrong" about the original choice2:10 - The decision to become a lawyer was made with limited information at a specific age3:14 - Why lawyers don't apply the "new information" standard to their own experience4:00 - The "don't be a quitter" conditioning and how good-student types absorb it7:55 - Holding your past self to a standard no human can be held toMentioned In The Shame Lawyers Feel About Wanting to Leave LawFirst Steps to Leaving the LawThe Former Lawyer CollaborativeI'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.