BigLaw lawyer gives up law practice for organic farming
Duane Morris pro bono counsel A. Nicole Friant Stewart left the law firm in December to become an organic farmer in California.
Friant Stewart and her husband, David Stewart, bought Hunter Orchards in Grenada, California, from a couple who owned it for 25 years, the Am Law Daily (sub. req.) reports.
Friant Stewart says she and her husband, founder and CEO of a data analytics company, may be able to use their business and legal expertise to increase profits or expand the farm. But her actual goal, she told the Am Law Daily, is “being true to what the organic farm is all about” and “having a peaceful life.”
As pro bono counsel, Friant Stewart focused on representing children, according to associate pro bono counsel Christian McGee, who is taking over Friant Stewart’s duties. In Friant Stewart’s new career, she plans to visit schools to promote food education, McGee said—a fact that helped Friant Stewart’s colleagues understand the career change.
Friant Stewart says she has heard from others who say her decision has inspired them to “think about cutting back, to pursue life in a different way.” The comments led her to joke about “turning the farm into a retreat for stressed-out lawyers,” she tells the Am Law Daily.
