Why I chose to replace big law with consultancy work

Elizabeth Duan, director of legal services at DR Solicitors, shares how stepping away from a career in large law firms and becoming a consultant has enabled her to shape her career with both ambition and flexibility.

After qualifying as a solicitor in 2014, I practised in commercial real estate for a decade. I trained and worked at a few large corporate firms, advising on everything from care home developments to restaurant chain administrations and film studio deals. The work was complex and rewarding, and taught me what it means to be a solicitor.

Despite the experience that came with working in a large corporation, it wasn’t without challenges. At any moment, I was expected to be an expert across multiple sectors, which, while giving me breadth of knowledge, left me feeling I lacked the opportunity to carve out my own specialisms.

The ceiling of big law

When I started my career, I made a goal to reach senior associate level. Making partner wasn’t something that particularly appealed to me – it’s no secret that in these firms your work can very quickly take over your life, with early starts, late finishes into the early hours and constant targets all leaving very little time outside of work for anything else.

I made senior associate between having two children. After returning from maternity leave with my second child in 2023, I left private practice because I knew I needed something different. After doing some research, I learnt more about the consultancy model and, subsequently, DR Solicitors. The opportunities this model presented felt like the perfect fit for me and the lifestyle I wanted to shape.

I joined DR Solicitors in January 2024 and haven’t looked back since. For the first time in my legal career, I had true flexibility to structure my work. The cases I work on at DR Solicitors are still challenging and nuanced, as legally complex as the corporate deals I worked on at the big firms, but they also offer the opportunity to focus on the areas that interest me and hone my specialisms.

The consultancy model gives me stimulating work that I am passionate about, without the rigid structures and sacrifices that come with big law. With two children, this flexibility is invaluable to me, and I no longer feel that I must choose between career progression and quality time with my family.

After starting at DR Solicitors as a consultant solicitor, I am now the director of legal services at the firm and oversee the day-to-day operations, including managing our team of consultant solicitors, client relations, risk and compliance, implementing effective processes, and driving new business generation.

Leaving the traditional route sharpened my ambition and made me more determined to build a career that challenges me professionally, while giving me the flexibility to carve out time for other aspects of my life that I value – my family and my advocacy work for women’s rights.

I now get to harness the entrepreneurial drive I’ve always had, channelling it into running the business, from managing a team to making strategic decisions. In a big firm, these opportunities are traditionally only reserved for partners.

Unlike a large city firm, DR Solicitors provides consultants with a steady workflow and trusts us to focus on delivering expert advice to clients, without the pressures of billable hour targets or bringing in new clients.

Being a consultant allows experienced lawyers to work independently, shape their workdays, and control their careers. At DR Solicitors, we recruit experienced lawyers and provide a platform for those seeking more autonomy, while still being technically challenged. Most of our consultants don’t join us with contractor experience, but the model and framework ensure they get the support they need to run their own consulting businesses. All of this means it’s rare for our consultants to return to big law after joining us.

Deciding to step away from big law and into consultancy isn’t a step back, but a route to a sustainable, successful and rewarding legal career.