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I realized I like writing paragraphs more than code. I'm a decent programmer, and I still code sometimes, but I didn't want to do it all day every day. So...I became a lawyer. :-O Now I help start companies and troubleshoot human problems. It's actually fun, and my technical background is very helpful.

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How much formal training was there as the delta between your coding credentials and your lawyer credentials? I.e. is it starting over in school, or is it more accessible than it seems to me?

Well, you don't just flip a switch. You need to go back to grad school and get a JD degree, which is 3 years full-time, and then pass a bar exam. Law school was not especially difficult, but it was a lot of work, which was fine. The bar exam is brutal.

The bigger point is that I never recommend this to people who aren't sure. It's really sad when people spend 3 years and accrue a ton of debt and then realize they hate the job. So I always recommend getting a job in the industry first and trying it out. I did that, working as a paralegal for a couple years first. It was time well spent.

I went the other way, left law and eventually picked up coding.

I feel law and code have a lot of good overlap. Some of my lawyer friends code on weekends. I am a coder but could totally have done law.

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