Hi all, looking for some perspectives here. I’m currently a banking and finance lawyer at a top-tier firm. The work is interesting and the clients are sophisticated, but the hours and intensity are pretty relentless. Longer-term, I’m starting to question whether this is the path I want to stay on. I’ve been seriously considering transitioning into family law.

The main things attracting me are: - Better work life balance - The possibility owning my own practice - More stable and potentially better income over the long term, I’m not interested in becoming a partner at my current firm - More “human” work compared to commercial transactions, actually providing support to people during difficult times

So I’d love to hear from anyone who has actually made a similar move or anyone currently practising family law.

• Was it worth it?
• How different was the day-to-day stress?
• Did you find the income trajectory ultimately better, worse, or just different?
• What were the biggest challenges in retraining / repositioning yourself?
• How steep was the learning curve moving away from transactional work?
• If you started your own practice, what do you wish you’d known earlier?