Where do I go from here?
The market sucks. I'm an offshore banking and finance ex partner. I'm in a practice area that is doing poorly in Hong Kong, I don't speak Cantonese or Mandarin and I'm in a very niched sector. On top of that I'm considered expensive as a senior lawyer. My legal skill set is limited to offshore law. Oh and before anyone asks, we don't intend to leave Hong Kong.
On paper I have lots of transferable skills. I have years of business development, team leadership, fee generation, practice management, knowledge management, etc etc etc skills but nobody is hiring a senior offshore lawyer.
Do I stay in law? Do I try to pivot? If I try and pivot, where do I go? How long will it take? Bills still have to be paid and there is a family to think of. We are fine for the next few years, but eventually I got to get money back in the bank (my saving and investment strategy is for another day, but I did go deep into the whole FIRE movement, which has probably been our saving grace).
Ideally I don't think I want to go back to private practice and in reality if it was private practice it would be to another offshore law firm. Also, let's not kid ourselves about the hours and the constant need to be "available", especially when on holiday was draining (maybe that's something else to write about, the negatives of private practice, especially as you got more senior).
In house does sound appealing, to be more involved on the commercial side of things rather than just purely the legal aspects would be a very useful skill set. I also think being a generalist, covering different issues for a company would be stimulating and interesting. Or is the grass really greener on the other side, and I'm looking at things with rose tinted glasses (and any more cliches I can think of)?
What area would I go into? Banking / financial services is the obvious choice. I would actually be open to company in house roles as well? Or do I just sound desperate and want a job?
What about consulting, or temping? Yes, sounds fine to me as well. I've already approached and spoken to a few companies on this front, but to date no luck.
What about something related to law? Like compliance, AML, company administration, corporate trustee, teaching? Are they a real option? Would I be considered seriously?
So many questions. And the elephant in the room is salary expectations. Not going to lie (and it's probably obvious), I was pretty well paid at my previous job. The reality is taking a pay cut is perfectly acceptable for me, as long as in return expectations / hours, etc are also in line with a pay cut. Is this reasonable or am I asking to have my cake and eat it too?
I have actually made applications to several companies for in house roles. These have been applications mainly through Linkedin, rather than through any direct contacts. I've also spoken to some law firms. The result, pretty much nothing. Some companies were kind enough to let me know that they would not consider me for a role, others didn't bother responding.
Maybe my strategy is all wrong? I'm thinking about changing things up and starting to link up with people I know in the industry (both in house and private practice). When meeting them it will be asking them about the market, any potential roles they have heard of, any introductions they can make.
Or do I totally change my career path and do something else? I've always had an interest in certain areas but they have been an interest, and not really seen as career options. This would probably mean starting from zero, maybe even going back to full or part time studies and maybe not even any money for a few years. Is this crazy? Is this a risk?
A lot of the above is me just thinking out aloud (or well, writing out aloud). I get it is not structured at all and a bit over the place, with lots of questions.
Also it does sound depressing. I can guarantee you it isn't, I'm just a bit lost.
In the meantime I'll enjoy my free time to spend time with my family and kids and not have to worry about emails at all hours, during weekends and on holidays (this is something I really don't miss!!)
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