Hi everyone,
Inspired by Aigeus's post, I too would appreciate your career advice for me.
Here's the situation. I'm a litigator at a biglaw firm but am starting to see this is not the practice area I want to be in for the long haul. What I do like about litigation is reading cases, analyzing them, and writing about them. I also really don't mind the doc review aspect of litigation or preparing for depositions, etc. Actually taking/defending the depositions and arguing motions, however, is not definitely not my cup of tea. As with most firms, this firm also has an "up or out" policy. Seeing how I have very little interest in making partner, I'm trying to figure out what my next steps should be. Going in-house would be my preferred option, but as Aigeus pointed out, there are very few litigation positions open at corporations. I also wouldn't mind staying in biglaw in another non-partner "Counsel" role, but with the economics of biglaw firms, I don't really see how this sort of "Counsel" position would be economically feasible for a long duration.
With all that in mind, here are some options I'm considering:
1) Something that involves mostly legal research/writing/reviewing docs: If I could read/write about cases all day, that would be my ideal job. The problem is, I don't really know of any positions focused on legal research/writing/reviewing docs.
2) E-discovery attorney: This option was inspired by Aigeus's post. Prior to reading that, I really hadn't thought about this option much, but it seems to fit my background/personality. A few firms that I know have these positions, but I've noticed the attorneys in these roles seem to have 10+ years of experience. That is, they practiced in an area of litigation before for several years and now solely focus on e-discovery issues. By contrast, I don't have that many years under my belt, so I'm somewhat hesitant to pursue this option. Are there any e-discovery MMMs out there whose brain I might pick?
3) Something else?
Any thoughts on the above would be much appreciated!