More lawyers are taking on second jobs
Photo illlustration by Sara Wadford/Shutterstock.
There’s no question that lawyers have demanding day jobs.
In the first six months of 2023, attorneys worked an average of 48 hours per week, according to a Bloomberg Law survey. Those in BigLaw typically work even more hours, with many topping 60 per week, according to Indeed. Not surprisingly, 59% of lawyers in the Bloomberg study reported an inability to disconnect from work; 20% feared or faced a loss of income; and 55% were challenged by heavier workloads or increased professional responsibilities. Survey participants reported disrupted sleep, anxiety and issues in their personal relationships.
But a significant number of attorneys are attempting to redefine work-life balance—and the pressures of the current economy—by adding a few more hours to their day in the form of side hustles.
In general, extra jobs are not uncommon: 53% of Generation Z, 50% of millennials, 40% of Generation X and 24% of baby boomers have them, according to a 2023 Bankrate survey.
“Side hustles are seemingly the new norm across the workforce, and the legal profession isn’t immune,” says Wendi Weiner, a former lawyer who started a writing and branding business as a side hustle in 2010, seven years after graduating from law school. Weiner gave up law in 2015 to pursue her writing business full time.
“Many are thinking of side hustles as a potential exit strategy, and others are thinking of side hustles as a way to generate extra income in case the market fluctuations continue to bring waves of layoffs,” she adds.
Matthew Harrison, founder of the Harrison Legal Group, is a lawyer who falls closer to the latter group. While he was in high school, Harrison started working for Talkers magazine, a trade publication serving the talk media industry. He continued his work with the magazine even after completing law school, transitioning into more of a corporate counsel role there—in addition to his production duties. He opened his firm in 2005 and worked there part time.
In 2023, Harrison decided to practice law at his firm full time. It didn’t go well.
“I took on cases that I was qualified to do but didn’t have as much experience as I did in other areas of the law,” Harrison says. “This nearly bankrupted my firm. I grossly undercharged for what became time-consuming nightmares.”
In 2024, he returned to being a part-time lawyer and working part-time for Talkers after realizing he wasn’t earning enough money in private practice. He found himself making more money by doing less legal work.
Finding equilibrium
Attorneys such as Heather Clauson Haughian, co-founder and managing partner of CM Law in Denver, have taken on side jobs for a different reason: their mental well-being.
Haughian started teaching fitness classes when she was a sophomore in college to relieve stress from the rigorous academic schedule that came with having a major in engineering and a minor in chemistry. The same reasons for exercising rang true in law school, so she continued.
“When I started practicing law, it became even more important for me to have this physical outlet—given the demands of working at BigLaw with an insane amount of billable hours—because teaching fitness classes forced me into the gym.”
The trick, however, is balancing both of her jobs, especially because Haughian is an Air Force spouse who has moved every two years; she’s taught fitness classes in 12 states, two countries and at 20 fitness clubs. Haughian says she balances both by teaching the majority of her fitness classes after business hours or on weekends.
Others take a more formal approach to the balancing act.
After spending more than a dozen years in immigration law, Tamaira Rivera decided in 2024 to launch Immigration Court Mentor, which provides training and support for immigration court representation, after recognizing a gap in practical training for immigration attorneys.
Balancing both roles involves meticulous time management and prioritization, she explains.
“I use structured schedules and delegate tasks effectively to ensure that both my legal practice and Immigration Court Mentor receive the attention they require,” Rivera says.
It’s key to be structured, which is how John Dugan, a partner with Foundation Law Group, was able to maintain his volunteer position as the mayor of San Carlos, California. His term ended in November. Prior to becoming mayor, Dugan was elected to the city council in 2020 and was a planning commissioner starting in 2018.
It was his career as an Army officer, however, that taught Dugan how to work hard and ruthlessly prioritize his focus. Well, that and the fact he can use the Foundation Law Group platform to work from anywhere.
“I find it all very interesting, and it’s rewarding to be so involved,” he says. Another way he’s able to do it all? “I’ve always found life a lot more interesting than television.”
But not all attorneys are able to do it all sticking to a strict schedule. Estella Newbold-Brown, a partner and head of the family law department at Amphlett Lissimore Solicitors in London, has to periodically take time off from being an attorney to write her children’s books.
Initially, she was able to write on her phone during her two-hour commute to work in Harrow, a London borough.
After Newbold-Brown published her first book, The Story of the Little Penguin, in 2023, she started to take time off work to sit in front of her computer to write her next story—and to take care of her 4-year-old twins. Because nothing says work-life balance like brainstorming a children’s book about penguins before returning to billing hours.
This story was originally published in the December 2024-January 2025 issue of the ABA Journal under the headline: “On the Side: More lawyers are taking on second jobs for a variety of reasons.”
