From Established Attorney to Clueless Coder

So there I am, in my office, 7:00 a.m. on a Monday, preparing another Petition to be submitted to the Probate Court to ensure that my clients, and perhaps more importantly my superior, can review my work and make sure every detail is in order. One wrong letter on a form can cause significant commotion and cause a client to lose faith in the firm, potentially costing the firm hundreds of thousands of dollars, and maybe costing me my position.

This has been my previous seven years, ever since I entered law school. The tireless and often thankless work, the hours upon hours of stressing to ensure that everything is always perfect, or at least appears to be to the clients. I often found myself questioning whether this is the path I wanted to be taking, but with every day/month/year that passed, it seemed like changing my course was impracticable. After all, practicality had governed my life, and thus far had served me well. I graduated law school with honors, I got a job straight out of school, and was even elected to the House of Delegates for the State of New York.

On paper, my life was great. How could I ask for more? My career is on track, my fiancé and I share a nice apartment, it seems that everything is in order to set my life’s trajectory for the decades to come. And yet, there was always a nagging feeling that perhaps this was all not quite right. Many of the older and more experienced attorneys would speak about their victories in Court, their many trials and tribulations, how they came to be successful in one of the most mentally straining professions. However, I would see them struggling to keep up with the constant workload, to appease their superiors and clients simultaneously, having to work day and night including most weekends just to keep their head above water.

So I asked myself, is this what I want with my life? If the past seven years are indicative of the next thirty, can I maintain this pace? Do I even want to? Ultimately, my answer was no, but I wasn’t sure how or what to do about it. I have always been fond of electronics and technical aspects of things, I usually was the “non-paid tech guy” of my job, whom the bosses would ask questions about because calling the guy who actually knows how to fix it costs money. But could I do this for a living? Moreover, what aspect of tech would I belong in or could I thrive in?

I have several friends who have delved into the coding profession, one of which graduated from Flatiron several years ago, and he had nothing but positive things to say about the program, and the career choice that he had made. So, when Covid hit, and everyone was forced to basically quarantine their lives, I started doing my due diligence on a potential change from law to coding, to see what options were available, what people were recommending, how those who had made the transition were doing. After weeks of research and consulting several of my friends, I decided it was time to make my move. I let my bosses and colleagues know that I would be leaving the firm in pursuit of a career in coding.

It was potentially the boldest decision I have made with my life thus far, but no risk no reward I suppose. This change could give me what I ultimately sought. The freedom to travel, the liberty to make my decisions for myself, to use my natural logical ability and hopefully be able to exceed at something which genuinely interests me. This was not a decision that should be taken lightly, but nonetheless, it was one I felt was necessary. The legal profession is unfortunately littered with issues that made me feel like it wasn’t right for me. There are certainly less than forthright individuals, there is the constant pressure from clients, from superiors, from opposition counsel. And even those who are successful generally have the same advice for people heading into law school, “don’t”.

I am incredibly thankful for those who made it possible for me to succeed in the legal industry, and there will always be a part of me that wonders what my life would have been like if I maintained the course and continued in the legal profession. However, a far larger part of me is excited for the opportunities that are awaiting me in the coding world. I am not sure where this career will take me, what work I will be doing moving forward, or even where I’ll be living, but I choose to see those question marks as opportunities. These are opportunities for me to grow, opportunities for me to succeed, and as I move forward I intend to seize those opportunities as best as I possibly can.