Interview with former DLA Piper & DWF lawyer, Simon Price.

Can you briefly summarise your career as a lawyer.

During my time as a lawyer I specialised in commercial litigation for a range of corporate clients and I was fortunate to work for some excellent firms who gave me wonderful opportunities to learn and work with the best.

What are you now doing to earn a living?

I work with the next generation of lawyers at Lancashire Law School (part of UCLan) as a senior lecturer in employability & innovation.

What made you decide to change from practising as a lawyer?

I enjoyed my time as a lawyer, yet I always knew there would be another chapter in my career after being a lawyer and as my career developed it started to become clear that would involve transitioning into education as I was involved in a lot of training and coaching with lawyers, particularly in the non-technical areas of being a lawyer.

How did you decide on your current line of work?

In the last few years of being a lawyer I had already moved into move development & coaching work and had started to work with schools, colleges and universities so my next move was becoming clearer, but at that stage, I did not know I would move into academia.

What was the most difficult part of your career change?

Giving up a career I had worked so hard to succeed in.

How has your life changed now that you’ve changed career?

I have a lot more flexibility and autonomy and an opportunity to really make an impact of the next generation of lawyers.

What do you miss and what don’t you miss about being a lawyer?

I miss some of the people I worked with as they helped push me to be better. I don’t miss the very long hours, time sheets and end of year billing!

What advice would you give to any lawyers who are contemplating a career change?

Speak to someone you can trust, a friend, a coach and tell them how you feel and remember there is life after being a lawyer and although the transition can be difficult sometimes, it is your life and you need to decide how you want to spend every day. I didn’t stop being a lawyer because I hated it, I chose to stop being one because I wanted to push myself, use the skills I had developed to learn and grow and ultimately work with the next generation of lawyers.

Find Out More

You can find out more about Simon and his current work by following him on Twitter at @simonprice81