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March 30, 2009
Alternative Career Guest Blogger
Periodically throughout the year the CSO posts blog entries from guest bloggers about various topics. Please note that the views expressed by our guest bloggers are the personal opinion of each blogger and are not necessarily the views and opinions of the CSO. The CSO guest blogger entires are intended as an opportunity for attorneys currently practicing in the legal field to share their insight and advice with law students.
Our guest blogger for the month of March is Alan Yanowitz, JD, (class of 1985). Mr. Yanowitz is a Partner at Cedar Brook Financial Partners, LLC. You can find his biography and more information about Cedar Brook Financial Partners here. In his blog, Mr. Yanowitz shares his non-traditional career path experience.
"Law school is a journey. Like all great journeys in life, it’s begun with a destination in mind. However, as you travel on this journey, you may find that there are multiple destinations which appear. Some of these destinations are ones which you never could have imagined at the beginning of the journey. In law school my focus was in the areas of taxation, corporate, and real estate law. Upon graduation my goal was to work at a small law firm which focused on these areas and I “fished my wish.” I worked at a boutique law firm where my practice focused on all areas of taxation, transactional law and estate planning. It appeared I reached my destination.
However, after a few years I realized I was not enjoying the practice of law. In addition, I didn’t want my income tied to a formula based on billable hours. I embarked on finding a new career. I set new parameters for my search which was designed to take me to the new destination. At the time I didn’t know where it would lead. I did know I wanted to use my legal skills and education, as well as the attributes of being a lawyer that I enjoyed. I enjoyed working with clients and helping them solve problems.
I considered a number of non-legal careers, but ultimately focused on two areas. One was real estate. The second was financial planning. Ultimately I chose financial planning. I am self employed, yet am in a firm with over 40 other planners. Financial planning lets me interact with clients on a daily basis. My practice helps them focus on reaching their personal and financial goals. I draw on my legal education to help them with estate planning and charitable planning issues. I use my research skills to help develop successful strategies. I am also a resource to others in my firm in estate planning as well as the occasion tax or other legal question. My compensation is no longer tied to a billable hour formula. It’s based on fees charge for my services as well as commissions and money management fees. My clients truly appreciate the work I do for them.
My law school journey led me to becoming a practicing lawyer for less than 4 years. I have now been a financial planner for more than 18 years. As a law student I never would have expected the journey to lead me here. Any yet, now I can’t think of a better destination."
Posted by cld30 at March 30, 2009 09:21 AM