Ask HN: Lawyers who left to 'hack', what has your career trajectory been like?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8580485

by burritofanatic • 12 years ago

7 5 12 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

Were you eventually pulled into a more business role in a company? Do you keep your license active?

I read about this transition from time to time, but I don't think I've met someone else in real life who's done this to ask.

macmac• 12 years ago

This is a very interesting question. The only person I know of who has done this is David Pollak of Scala Lift fame http://blog.goodstuff.im/about

impassebreaker• 12 years ago

There are more than you might expect. (It also depends on what you mean by "hack.")

Take a look at http://lawyersongithub.com. This is a list of lawyers with github accounts. Now, having a GH account doesn't make you "hacker" or professional programmer, but a couple of people on it have left law to focus on programming. I know several other lawyers not listed there who left firms to focus on software development.

You'll find a range of experience. There are lawyers who were programmers first, went to law school, and then went back to programming. Others had skills before law school or learned while practicing law and have incorporated into their practices, to varying degrees.

tejasm• 12 years ago

The girls from priorilegal.com are lawyers and they're pretty regulars at HN.

johnzim• 12 years ago

Not sure what the U.S. situation is like but in the UK my transition was pretty perfect in terms of my professional happiness. That said, it was pretty weird for a barrister to be working cases during the day and then coding at night so I'm not sure I'm a good example - coding was something I'd just always 'done' since I was a kid.

trcollinson• 12 years ago

A bit of background. I come from a technical and business family. My father has flipped between owning businesses and being a software engineer since the 60's. So I grew up with coding in my life. I started to hack on things in elementary school and I had a number of professional jobs coding in high school and college.

I didn't want to be like my father, he was boring, or so my teenage brain thought. I can do so much better! I am the man. I will become a lawyer! I was accepted almost instantly and went to law school. Very quickly I realized something: I hated it.

I learned a lot, I did very well, but ultimately I decided that I actually like coding and my dad wasn't as boring as I thought. I never took the bar exam and now I joke in interviews about it.

Since that point I have started or have been involved in a number of technical businesses. I am known for my technical prowess and I am often the highest or one of the highest code contributors to projects I start or am working on. However, I also get pulled into business discussions. I have no problems reading over contracts and giving them a first pass. I am smart enough to know when to call in an actual law firm (which is generally early and often), and I believe this gives me a distinct advantage over other technical founders and workers. A lot of technical people believe that they know everything and can quickly learn whatever they need to succeed. Thus, they read over contracts and fall prey to successful lawyers who are very good at writing rock solid contracts and agreements. I know when to call for help, and my partners, employers, and investors appreciate that.

If you are a lawyer now, then I would imagine your experience will be different. But I do believe a legal background (not to mention the logic and rational reasoning portions of a law degree) will serve you well. The only person who will pull you into a business role will be you. Good luck!

Ask HN: Lawyers who left to 'hack', what has your career trajectory been like?

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