Sarah Cottrell is the founder of Former Lawyer and the creator of the Former Lawyer Framework™—a values-first process for helping lawyers identify alternative careers that are a lifestyle fit, not just a credential match. She developed the Framework based on her own exit from legal practice after a decade, hundreds of interviews with former lawyers across every legal specialty, 300+ episodes of the Former Lawyer Podcast, and working directly with hundreds of lawyers inside the Former Lawyer Collaborative™ and 1:1 since 2020.
Sarah worked as a lawyer for 10 years, first as a Biglaw litigator, then in legal publishing, and finally as an appellate court staff attorney.
During that decade, she and her husband paid off their combined law school loans, which along with a small amount of consumer debt totaled over $400k!
In 2018, she bailed and hasn’t looked back, because now she gets to do meaningful work and have a meaningful life.
Her identity is no longer wrapped up in her job, and she no longer makes career or life decisions based on what other people will think about them.
She hosts a weekly podcast, The Former Lawyer Podcast, where she shares honest conversations with former lawyers about how they left the law to find careers and lives that they love, plus all of the things that she learned during her own experience practicing and leaving law.
If you’re looking for clarity, support and a safe space to share your curiosity about a different reality—one where you no longer practice law—you’ve found the right place.
Here at Former Lawyer, it’s my mission to make it easier for unhappy lawyers to ditch their soul- sucking jobs.
(THIS COULD BE YOU AT WORK)
Feeling unfulfilled in your job as a lawyer or just plain sick of practicing law?
Sarah can help you:
- Explore alternative careers
- Learn what else you can do with your J.D.
- Figure out what you want to do next and how to get there.
And maybe most importantly, overcome the mental hurdles so many lawyers face in leaving the law, so that you can trade lawyering for a better life.
Sarah’s group program, the Former Lawyer Collaborative™, is an accessible, confidential program that helps lawyers of any background identify the alternative career that aligns with their unique priorities and values. She also works 1:1 with a very limited number of lawyers to help them figure out what they want to do career-wise so that they can leave law.
She’s a member of the International Coaching Federation and obtained her Associate Certified Coach certification from ICF. She’s also a Certified Career Management Coach and an Academies Certified Strengths Coach via The Academies for Coaching.
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