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why did you decide to leave corporate law

i'm a second year uni student in the uk, considering a career in commercial law following graduation. i've been watching youtube videos about what it's like being a solicitor and came across the category of people who left big law. a reason common across all of them was that they couldn't really pursue their creative interests as a lawyer, which ultimately tied in to getting a sense of fulfilment from their career. i was thinking that not being able to explore one's creative potential is more manifest especially when people are making youtube videos (a form of creative expression) about their life but are there any people here who left corporate law due to other reasons?

Reply 1

sublime-baths

Plenty of reasons people leave city law firms (which is what I assume you’re referring to). The main reason is more to do with the hours than pursuing ‘creative interests’. The hours are, quite frankly, pretty brutal in some of the big ticket firms (US and MC firms for example).

Other reasons include lack of partnership prospects, change in personal circumstances, lack of interest in the work, better job offer at another firm, moving in-house for the hours/various other benefits, etc - list goes on.