[burritofanatic]

It depends on the situation. If one is a lawyer who wants new skill sets and perhaps even a career change, an absolute yes. I did this transition seven years ago and left law entirely. I've met a handful of other interesting ex-lawyers who have made the switch from law to software and have been satisfied with the choice.

At the beginning of this year, after trying to explore what I wanted to do for the next stage in my life, I decided to get back into the profession as a solo practitioner and transition away from software development. I'm officially back to practice, and I'm surprisingly happy with my professional life - something I never thought would really be possible.

If you're a practicing lawyer who wants to give yourself an edge as a lawyer, I think it's more important to understand the concepts and principles as opposed inventing or finding the barely existent job of coder/lawyer for a firm - I don't know the name of the role, and I've seen it touted by legal tech folks - but these are elusive. Understanding what's possible, I believe, is by far way more important. For example, I've worked with countless non-coding project/product managers, and they've been great contributors to the process in software development.

My recommendation for lawyers? Do the Python track on Codecademy over a summer and read Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software.

[james_in_the_uk]

I've thought about moving from law to software more than a few times. I like being a lawyer but software is an unscratched itch. I've noticed that many people who leave law eventually come back. What made you return?

[burritofanatic]

It has a bit to do with the type of work arrangement I want for this phase in my life -- nearing 40 and splitting my time between two geographic locations where active computer time all the time becomes challenging.

I also wanted to move away from working for corporations to working for/with people instead.

If you have an itch, I say go for it unless you're on a track you absolutely don't want off of ever.

[james_in_the_uk]

Interesting thanks. Sounds like we are at a similar stage and have similar circumstances. Being a lawyer is working for me too for the same reasons, so I'll ride this track for a little longer.