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Can you return to the practice of law after a multi-year break?
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I have previously reported here about how iRelaunch can help women seeking to re-enter the workforce after a hiatus at home raising children.
iRelaunch notes that retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor was a successful relauncher in her own right. After five years at home raising her children, Justice O'Connor relaunched her legal career in 1965 by joining the Arizona Attorney General's Office. Well, that was over 40 years ago. I asked Carol Cohen, co-founder of iRelaunch, is it still possible to re-enter the practice of law after a break? The answer was a definite "yes."
Ms. Cohen noted that although the iRelaunch programs are not geared toward any one profession, they do “tend to attract a large attorney population.” Click here for more information about iRelaunch's signature products, including information about the Career Relaunch Forum, a return to work conference scheduled for October 29, 2009 at Seton Hall University in New Jersey.
Some practical tips offered by Ms. Cohen based on her personal experience with lawyers who have relaunched, include:
- Volunteer to write legal briefs for a local appeals bureau. New York County and Queens appeals bureaus are a few of the places to start your inquiry.
- Teach a class at a local law school.
- Run a clinical judicial educational program at a law school.
- Set up career reentry events for the local bar association.
- Inquire with local law firms about overflow work that can be done from home on a per diem basis.
- Volunteer at a victim's rights organization.
Ms. Cohen also suggested some career reentry events/programs specifically available for lawyers in the New York area including:
American Bar Association’s Back to Business Law, a pilot project sponsored by the ABA Section of Business Law, which, according to the ABA website, provides “periodic continuing legal education programs and informal networking opportunities for attorneys who temporarily leave active practice in law firms or corporate settings (including women who leave for a period of months or years in order to care for children) but remain interested and engaged in business law issues.”
Pace Law School’s New Directions Program: Practical Skills for Returning to Law Practice, a program that offers lawyers career counseling and practical current experience through an externship program.
Hastings College of Law teleconference program: Opting Back in and Forging Ahead, a program described as a "virtual telephone coaching group."
For more from Ms. Cohen on re-entry for lawyers, click here.
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