Unhappy New York law associates plan career change

Nearly half of the legal associates in large New York law firms say they plan to swap careers, a new report reveals.

And a lion's share of the young lawyers questioned - 56.7 per cent - say they do not have the time for a personal life.

The survey shows a startling difference in contentment levels between associates at large and small firms.

Some 42.6 per cent from 150-plus lawyer-firms anticipate a career switch, compared with just 16.4 per cent at firms which employ fewer than 50 lawyers.

Conducted by Diversified Research, a New York market research company, the report also reveals that the percentage of those planning to leave the profession in the next 12 to 18 months more than doubles from small firms (17.9 per cent) to the larger outfits (38.9 per cent).

However, despite the hordes of young lawyers intent on carving out new career paths for themselves, a whopping 89.3 per cent of respondents said they enjoy working as a lawyer, compared to 9.3 per cent who do not.

The remaining 1.4 per cent of those surveyed said they did not know or refused to answer Diversified Research's question.