As the field of law continues to evolve, career choices available to those with law degrees continue to expand. Written by two women with strong ties to Queen’s Law, Out of Practice: Exploring Legal Career Paths in Canada is a new book designed to guide people through the process of evaluating their options.

The book’s co-authors, Amy Kaufman and Leeann Beggs, saw their book published by Carswell on May 19, 2015.

Kaufman, who graduated from Queen’s Law in 2004 and is now the Head of the Lederman Law Library, says their collaboration – and inspiration – stemmed from when the two were Queen’s Law colleagues. “I know Leeann from when she worked as the Career Services Director here at Queen’s Law,” Kaufman says. “We found that a lot of students had questions about the less well-known careers for lawyers in Canada.  Both Leeann and I are lawyers who have done different things with our law degrees – Leeann in legal professional development and me in law librarianship.”

Kaufman’s experiences as a librarian at the Lederman Law Library have also helped shape her perception of how students explore their options. “Law students who know I’m also a lawyer will sometimes come and see me when they are wondering ‘what else is out there’,” she explains. “Whether or not they’re interested in law librarianship in particular, we talk about possible ways to approach exploring other legal careers and the factors that are worth considering when weighing your options.”

These experiences led to Kaufman and Beggs collaborating on the book – a process that began several years ago. “It’s been on our minds a long time!” Kaufman says. “I think we began talking about the idea in 2012.  We did some planning in 2013, and we did most of the work during 2014, while I was on sabbatical.”

The book is a labour of love for both of them, filling a niche that they feel is underexplored in the Canadian legal industry.

Beggs, a former Career Services Director at Queen’s Law now working as the Director of Student and Associate Programs at Gowlings in Ottawa, explains. “Amy and I wanted to research and write about this particular subject because there aren’t a lot of Canadian resources available, and no shortage of students and professionals who want to know how to pursue an ‘alternative’ legal career,” Beggs says.

“When writing the book, we included job search strategies, counseling tips, advice from career coaches, and most importantly, frank interviews from people who had transitioned from private practice into another role. We were inspired by our interviewees, as they were unafraid to talk about the challenges as well as the positives of working outside ‘traditional’ practice.”

In addition to the in-depth talks with people in alternate areas of law, Beggs and Kaufman spent time exploring everything around – and after – a decision to pursue an alternate career, as well as strategies for making smaller adjustments while staying within the practice of law. “We really wanted to take a comprehensive look at what it takes to make that transition, in terms of dealing with self-doubts and pressures from family or friends , financial considerations, and then how to create an effective job search strategy,” Beggs says.

Her career path, including her current role in recruitment and development, was also instrumental in how she viewed the topic. “I’ve been interested in the subject of non-traditional careers in law since I was in law school, and starting to think about my own career path,” she explains. “I took a different route from most lawyers, and it’s been rewarding for me, so I am very supportive of those who want to have a legal career that is outside the norm.  My experience in counselling law students shaped my approach, specifically that understanding your own values, interests and goals is really the key to being successful in your career.  Now that I’m working in a recruitment and professional development role at a firm, it has confirmed for me that there are so many options open to lawyers in terms of non-traditional roles, but those opportunities, which often happen later in one’s legal career, can be challenging to communicate to law students.”

“We knew from our own experiences as well as those of our classmates from law school that there are lots of diverse opportunities for lawyers, but they’re not always obvious, and the path to getting to them isn’t always clearly laid out,” Kaufman adds. “We thought it would be interesting to explore what people are doing with law degrees in Canada – through interviews and bringing together the studies that have been done over the years. It was wonderful that Leeann could also bring her considerable experience and expertise in counselling law students to the table.”

Available now from Carswell, Out of Practice should prove to be an invaluable tool to both students and practicing professionals considering a change.