Very good thread.
OP, I was in exactly your situation a few years go, as some on here may know. I cast about for other law careers, considering moves to Nunavut, Kazakhstan, Toronto, BC or London (ON) - basically anywhere but Edmonton. I was looking at non-law careers, even went through career analysis/counseling. I basically hated law and hated going to work - I wasn't even at big firms. I was a terrible employee, spending all day on CP or Poker stars.
In 2012 I made the decision to go out on my own, since I couldn't find any jobs that I liked. I will always be grateful to my wife for completely supporting the plunge into the unknown, notwithstanding that we just had a child, had no money really and only her maternity benefits for income. We agreed we would give it 2 years and then I would have to find a job.
It has been fantastic. Mentally, my outlook completely changed - I stopped thinking of myself as a lawyer who hated the practice of law. I was now a businessman whose business focus was selling law-related services.
And I discovered that I actually had some work ethic and was a pretty good businessman - I could make it rain. That's why I have been posting so little on CP and why I basically stopped watching games on TV (except BPL Saturday morning and playoffs). Greed, my friends, is a great motivator.
I made a decent living my first year, more than I had ever made before in my 2nd, and... a lot more now.
Yet, I am home a lot more than I ever was as an employee. Yeah, it kind of sucks because you are never entirely on vacation - I just spent the week in Vegas answering work emails at the poker table. But, you know, when you are working for yourself it's not a source of resentment - just motivates me to grow the business so that I can pass all that onto employees and live off the fat of the land.
My articling student seems like a sharp kid, so I have great hopes in that department.
I hope this doesn't come out like a brag of some sort, but rather as a source of inspiration for the OP and others like him because, Jebus knows, there are a lot of miserable lawyers who hate what they do. Perhaps a change of perspective rather than a career change is the answer. I was a lazy, unmotivated rolling stone who got by on IQ alone and had no clue what I wanted to do with my life. Until I found the perfect employer - myself - I am not a very demanding boss. I am involved in some side businesses now, which will hopefully be my retirement fund. I found that I am happy being "in business" regardless of what it is I am actually selling. I happened to have received a legal education, so I am selling law...