THIRTY-TWO per cent of lawyers are currently looking for another job outside the law, according to the results of an online poll by this magazine.

As Lawyers Weekly reported last week, as much as 26 per cent of readers admitted they would definitely not continue to work as their career progressed, making the percentage of lawyers who plan to leave their current jobs as much as 58 per cent.

Further investigations in the past week have revealed the reasoning behind lawyers’ planned exodus from the law. Feedback from the profession reveals that 38 per cent of those who voted on the online poll said they would leave the law to try something else in their careers.

A minimal 8 per cent of those who voted said it was not true that they planned to leave the law, claiming they intend to remain members of the legal profession in the future.

However, 21 per cent of lawyers said they hated the law, so planned to leave, while 15 per cent said they would leave because they now work too hard. The other reason given was due to the possibility of not being made partner, at a still significant 18 per cent.

These results, which derive from numbers of votes well into the hundreds, serve to reveal the real problem that law firms and other organisations will face in a talent-short market.

BREAKDOWN OF POLL:

QUESTION: I will leave the law...

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RESPONSES:

* To try something else 38%

* Because I hate it 21%

* If I don't make partner 18%

* Because I now work too hard 15%

* Untrue 8%