From corporate lawyer to policy director

Where she was

Grace was a senior associate at a corporate law firm, eleven years in, two years from a partnership decision. On paper it was the career she’d worked for. In practice she spent her evenings volunteering at a tenant legal clinic and her days wishing she were there instead.

She didn’t want to leave law entirely. She didn’t know what else a lawyer could do, and she’d spent a decade being told that leaving before partnership was giving up.

The call

She booked after a Sunday spent reading job posts she wasn’t qualified for. On the call she listed the things she was worried about losing: the salary, the title, her parents’ pride. Then I asked what she’d be glad to lose. She laughed and said, “Most of it.”

What we worked on

We spent the first month on options before picking one. She had five conversations with lawyers who’d left firms: one in-house, one in government, two in nonprofits, one teaching. The housing policy route stood out because it used everything she already had: regulation, negotiation, drafting, and patience with long processes.

The next two months were preparation. We rewrote her résumé for a policy audience, cut the deal list, and led with the clinic work. We built a realistic budget for a 40% pay cut, which made the decision feel like hers rather than a leap. She also took on a pro-bono policy brief through the clinic, so she’d have recent, relevant work to point to.

The move

She applied to six roles over four months and was hired as policy director at a statewide housing nonprofit. She now spends her days on the tenant-protection laws she used to read about at night.

What was harder than expected

Telling the firm. She had rehearsed the conversation with the partners and dreaded it more than any interview. It went fine. Two partners asked how she’d done it. One of them has since booked a call.