Episodes
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Struggling with the fear of leaving law behind?
This week, Sarah unpacks the sunk cost fallacy—a common mental block for lawyers considering a career change. She explores why we tend to overvalue past investments and undervalue the cost of staying in an unhealthy profession.
You’ll also learn why leaving law doesn’t mean your legal experience is wasted. If you’ve ever felt stuck weighing the pros and cons of walking away, this episode is for you.Download Sarah’s free guide, First Steps to Leaving the Law, at formerlawyer.com/first.
See show notes at formerlawyer.com/249 -
On today’s podcast episode, Sarah chats with Dan Branagan. He is a member of the Collab and a former lawyer who now works as a data analyst. They discuss how his journey to escape the legal grind and his process of finding other roles that might work for him using the program's framework.
Let’s dive in and learn about Dan and his journey.
See show notes at formerlawyer.com/248 -
Missing episodes?
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In this episode, Sarah dives into how toxic workplaces—especially law firms—can lead to deep-rooted self-doubt and self-gaslighting. She breaks down the ways negative environments distort our sense of self-worth and confidence, making it feel impossible to see a way out.
For those who feel trapped in a cycle of self-doubt, Sarah shares insights into how leaving a toxic legal environment can help you reconnect with your strengths and reclaim your confidence. If you're questioning whether it's time to move on, this episode is a must-listen.
See show notes at formerlawyer.com/247 -
In this episode of The Former Lawyer Podcast, host Sarah Cottrell talks with David Sazant, a former litigator who transitioned from practicing law to becoming a therapist. David shares how he recognized that his legal career was not in line with his personal values and explains the process he went through to make the leap into mental health. For those considering a career outside of the legal profession, especially in therapy, David’s story offers valuable insights and inspiration.
Throughout their conversation, David discusses the challenges he faced as a lawyer, the sense of unfulfillment that led him to leave litigation, and the importance of living in alignment with one's values. This episode provides an honest look at what it takes to make a significant career shift, making it a must-listen for any lawyer feeling stuck and seeking a new path.
See show notes at formerlawyer.com/246 -
In this episode, Sarah dives into the toxic environment many law firms create by pushing junior associates to take responsibility for generating work they have no control over.
She exposes how leadership fails to support their teams, leading to stress and anxiety for those just starting their legal careers. If you’re tired of being blamed for a lack of billables, this episode is for you.
Plus, learn how to take action and explore new career options.
See show notes at formerlawyer.com/245 -
In this episode, Sarah revisits a conversation with her client, Adrian Hern, who shares her journey through The Collab and the Collab Plus One-on-One Program.
Adrian opens up about her experience as a lawyer stuck in a toxic work environment, how she found her way to a new career, and the life-changing results, including a 40% salary increase.
If you're worried that leaving the law means sacrificing your income or identity, this episode is a must-listen to see how making a change is not only possible but can lead to even greater success.
See show notes at formerlawyer.com/212 -
Have you ever wondered why all your hard work at the firm isn't paying off the way you expected?
In this episode, Sarah exposes the myth of meritocracy in law firms and how it fuels imposter syndrome for even the most accomplished lawyers. She reveals the hidden reasons behind why your efforts might be going unrecognized and shares how you can break free from the toxic environment that's holding you back.
If you're tired of questioning your worth and ready to see the truth, hit play and reclaim your confidence.
See show notes at formerlawyer.com/244 -
In this episode of The Former Lawyer Podcast, host Sarah Cottrell shares a conversation with Annie Little about disclosing ADHD and other neurodivergent or mental health conditions in the workplace, specifically within Biglaw.
As October is ADHD Awareness Month, Sarah highlights the challenges lawyers face when considering disclosure and the systemic issues in law firms that often fail to provide adequate support.
Tune in for an insightful discussion about the complexities of navigating legal careers with ADHD and the importance of creating supportive work environments.
See show notes at formerlawyer.com/207 -
In this episode of The Former Lawyer Podcast, Sarah Cottrell tackles a topic that has been coming up in many of her conversations with clients: the overwhelming feeling that you just don’t want to work anymore.
If you’ve ever felt like you hate working and can’t imagine enjoying any job, especially after working in a toxic legal environment, this episode is for you. Sarah discusses how burnout, particularly in lawyers, can make you feel like you’re broken, but she’s here to tell you—you’re not. She explains why these feelings are common and how recovery is possible.Drawing on her experiences working with lawyers in her Collab program, Sarah highlights the importance of giving yourself time and space to recover from burnout.
See show notes at formerlawyer.com/243 -
In this episode of The Former Lawyer Podcast, Sarah Cottrell talks with Victoria Collier, founder of Quid Pro Quo Law, about the process of preparing a law firm for sale. Victoria shares her own journey, from building her practice to successfully selling it, and offers critical insights into the steps lawyers can take to make their firms scalable and attractive to buyers. From establishing processes and delegating tasks to cleaning up financials, Victoria breaks down the key factors that make a law firm a valuable asset.
Whether you’re a law firm owner thinking about your long-term exit strategy or simply curious about what goes into selling a legal practice, this episode is packed with actionable advice. Learn how to position your firm for sale, maximize its value, and set yourself up for a successful transition beyond the law.
See show notes at formerlawyer.com/242 -
The Former Lawyer framework has recently received a glow-up, and this podcast episode covers all the fun updates.
Sarah has a few things that stuck out to her and would be the most helpful to anyone considering becoming a former lawyer. She covers those items in this episode to highlight them for all the podcast listeners considering joining.
See show notes at formerlawyer.com/241 -
Today’s podcast episode features a conversation between Sarah and a member of the Collab, Liza Hanks. Liza made a career transition out of practicing law after 22 years, and they discussed how the Collab played a role in her transition and decision-making process.
This conversation is helpful for anyone considering making their transition out of law and looking for some assistance in the process. The Collab has undergone some fantastic updates recently, and it’s a perfect time to join. Read on to learn how it helped Liza ask the right questions.
See show notes at formerlawyer.com/240 -
You may have worked in a workplace or more than one legal workplace where they said that they had a no-asshole rule.
Clearly, there are many people who have worked in similar workplaces because this episode is one of the most downloaded episodes. Again, it's one of the ones I hear about the most from people because there is so much agreement with the fact that the no-asshole rule is, in fact, a myth. Here are my thoughts about the no-asshole rule.
See show notes at formerlawyer.com/139
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The next episode in our summer re-release series is Burnout is a Feature, Not a Bug. This is one of the things that I honestly think is the most important for you to realize if you are working in a toxic workplace, if you're working in a large law firm, or in Biglaw.
Burnout is a feature of the way that work is organized in these organizations, it is not something that inexplicably happens that you could have some of life hacked your way out of.See show notes at formerlawyer.com/93
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I originally recorded the episode Your Job Should Not Make You Cry back in the very early days of lockdown when I was still editing the podcast myself and needed to be able to edit some shorter episodes, which ultimately I discovered was a happy accident because this episode is one of the most popular episodes of the podcast.
It is one of the most downloaded. It comes up all the time. I hear all the time from people who have sent it to friends and coworkers because apparently there are a lot of us who need to be reminded that your job should not make you cry. If that doesn't tell you something about our profession, I don't know what will. Here is the next episode in our summer re-release series, Your Job Should Not Make You Cry.
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The next episode in our summer re-release series is one of the episodes from our Collab member question series. If you've listened to this series before, you know that I asked a bunch of different people in the Collab to answer some questions about their experience, what they've learned, the things that they have taken away from the process of figuring out what it is that they want to do that isn't practicing law.
This series gets mentioned to me very frequently when people reach out to me. So I wanted to bring it back and highlight it.
In each episode, you are going to hear a number of people who are answering the same question. In this episode, the question that people will be answering is, “What is one thing that you resisted doing in this process of figuring out what it is that they wanted to do that isn't practicing law, that they wish they had done sooner?”
Listen to the rest of the Collab Member Series
Former Lawyers Share an Obvious Thing that was TransformativeMyths Former Lawyers Believed Before Leaving the Law
What Has Been the Biggest Surprise for Former Lawyers in the Collab?
What Would Former Lawyer Collab Members Tell Themselves Five Years Ago
Why These Former Lawyers Decided to Join the Guided Track
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Next up in this summer series of the most popular episodes of The Former Lawyer Podcast is an episode that I did about malignant narcissism in the legal profession and specifically signs of malignant narcissism because no surprise, narcissists are very common in our profession and a lot of the things that you experience in your legal workplace that seem honestly a bit crazy making are frequently the result of working with a narcissist or multiple narcissists or being in a narcissistic system.
In this episode that you're about to listen to, I talked a bit about what the characteristics even are of narcissism and in particular, malignant narcissism, and how to identify it.
See show notes at formerlawyer.com/127 -
The reason that I recorded this episode originally is that so often when lawyers are thinking about leaving, one of the things that holds them back from leaving especially if they work in a law firm is that other people are going to look down on them and think that they're making a terrible decision, et cetera.
I think it's critical to remember, as I talk about in this episode, especially if you are not wanting to be in a law firm long term, that not fitting in is actually a good thing.
Let's get into this episode, which is one of the most popular episodes of the podcast. -
Today we're kicking off a summer series with episodes of the podcast that have been released over the past, well, honestly, almost five years the podcast has been going. These episodes that we're going to be re-releasing are all episodes that have been extremely popular, they're some of the most downloaded, or they're some of the ones that I hear the most about from people.
This first episode that we're releasing the series is the first of a previous series that we did, which was based on the book Bullshit Jobs. This is a series that I did with Annie Little, one of my good friends, who's also a former lawyer and a career coach.
Complete Bullshit Jobs SeriesIs Being A Lawyer A Bullshit Job?
The Misery of Ambiguity and Forced Pretense in Law Firms
The Artificial Power Structure and Feeling Helpless as a Lawyer with Annie Little
The Misery of Not Feeling Entitled to One’s Misery as a Lawyer
The Misery of Knowing That One Is Doing Harm as a Lawyer
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In today’s episode, Sarah addresses a common question that lawyers who are looking to leave their positions often ask:
Will you need a bridge job to make the transition?
Sara answers by first discussing the two types of bridge jobs and what lawyers need to consider when answering this question for themselves.See show notes at formerlawyer.com/239
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