So many lawyers want out that there are consultants and coaches who specialize in getting them pointed in a new direction.

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I went to law school because I didnt know what to do after college and I'm bad at math. Law school seemed like a safe, respectable path and gave me an easy answer to what I was going to do with my life. And, as part of the millennial generation obsessed with test scores and academic achievement, I relished the spoils of a high LSAT score, admission to an Ivy League law school, and a job offer from a fancy corporate law firm.

I spent my first year as lawyer holed up in a conference room sorting piles of documents wearing rubber covers on my fingertips that looked like tiny condoms. Eventually, I was trusted with more substantive tasks, writing briefs and taking depositions. But I had no appetite for conflict and found it hard to care about the interests I was serving. I realized I had never seriously considered whether I was cut out to be a lawyer, much less a corporate litigator. After a few years, I just wanted out, but I had no idea where to begin.

I knew that I was not alone. Law-firm associate consistently ranks at the top of unhappy-professionslistsand despite starting salaries of$160,000, law firms experience significant yearlyassociate attrition. What I didnt realize was that the plight of burnt-out attorneys, particularly those at law firms, has recently spawned an industry of experts devoted to helping lawyers leave law. Attorneys now have their choice of specialized career counselors, blogs, books, and websites offering comfort and guidance to wannabe ex-Esqs.

Law is the only career I know that has a sub-profession dedicated to helping people get out of it, says Liz Brown, author of the help manual,Life After Law: Finding Work You Love with the J.D. You Have, published last year.

This sub-profession has found a market among lawyers for whom the moment of desperation to get out of the law firm is the first time they have had to think critically about their careers.

The problem can begin with the choice to go to law school, which is often made for reasons having nothing to do with the actual practice of law and without diligence about whether the profession is really a fit. I like to joke that Im a Jewish kid who didnt like blood so I couldnt go to medical school, so I went to law school, says Casey Berman, a former attorney and founder of the blogLeave Law Behind, who admits, I spent more time thinking about my iPhone purchase years later than a degree that was expensive and took three years out of my twenties.

Law school is very often the default choice of people who don't know what else to do, explains veteran New York City career consultant Eileen Wolkstein, who sees many unhappy attorneys in her practice. Theres an assumption that the degree will easily open doors in many professions, and law school acts as a socially acceptable procrastination technique to delay more definitive career choices.

Once in law school, however, joining a law firm can seem like the only choice. The types of people who go to law school seem to chase the best like addicts, says Marc Luber, founder ofJ.D. Careers Out There, a website for lawyers in career transition. They want the best grade, the most prestigious workplace, the highest salary.

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The Only Job With an Industry Devoted to Helping People Quit