Name
Lisa Morrison
Old Position
Solicitor specialising in commercial property law working.
New Career
Module Leader and lecturer at the College of Legal Practice helping aspiring solicitors prepare for their professional exams.
Can you tell us about your current role?
I’m working as a Module Leader and lecturer at the College of Legal Practice helping aspiring solicitors prepare for their professional exams.
Where did your career path begin?
I’ve been a solicitor for over 25 years. I’ve worked in Government and the private sector, specialising in commercial property law. I rose up the traditional career ladder and before leaving private practice was a partner in a law firm.
What made you decide to move in a different direction?
After 25 years of doing the same thing, I was feeling burned out and lacking in enthusiasm for doing the same role for years to come. I really needed to take a break because the role was all consuming and I needed the headspace away firstly to relax and enjoy some down time, but also to take stock and figure out my options.
How did you go about it?
I knew I wanted to take some time off and as I was working out my notice period I came across an offer (I can’t remember where) by Phoenix Group to join a cohort of other career changers. This really appealed to me because after 25 years of doing the same role, you need some guidance and inspiration to help you work out what else you might be able to do with your skills.
How hard did you find to move into such a different role?
It was relatively easy. I sent my CV to the College I now work for and initially worked for them as a self employed lecturer on a zero hours basis. I was teaching the more practical aspects of commercial property law and students like to learn from someone with real world experience and I had plenty of that! After a few months of lecturing, I was then offered a permanent role as a Module Leader so in addition to teaching I now have input into the way in which the course is taught.
What led to you getting your current role?
Being proactive. I contacted the College – they weren’t advertising a role. We then had a meeting and I liked them – they clearly liked me as they offered me some teaching hours starting a few weeks later. I decided I was going to try it as it seemed like a relatively easy way to have a go and see if I liked teaching. I enjoyed it straight away and I now have the work life balance I was after and less of the stress.
I’m helping students both with their legal studies and also on the pastoral side of their studying so when life gets in the way they have a tutor allocated to them so you can foster a relationship over the course of their studies. It is really satisfying to use my years of experience in private practice to help students make sense of the law and be able to talk to them about how it works in practice which feels like I’m doing something purposeful and helpful.
What transferable skills did you find that you had?
I’ve always enjoyed supporting people up their career ladders – mentoring, coaching and supporting people to consider what they need to do to progress. I knew this was what I was enjoying more and more which is partly why I got in touch with the College.
Making things which can be complex easy to understand and relatable is another skill I’ve transferred. I’ve always been organised and practical with my work so that comes in useful now I’m having to manage my own time.
Were you nervous about making your career changes?
Yes – after 25 years it can feel daunting and lonely to start out again.
Did you get any support or advice?
Yes, what struck me most about the cohort of women I was working with in Brave Starts was how different all of our backgrounds were – marketing, advertising, fashion, project management. After 20-30 years we were all stuck with the same question – what do I do next? So being in the same boat meeting up and hearing each others journeys and supporting them along the way you feel more inspired to make your own moves. If I’m sat there telling someone to give it a go it makes you feel more emboldened to do it yourself!
What would you say to other people who are thinking of making a change?
Join a cohort or group of other people if you can – you’ll find the value of shared experience really useful. It’s great not feeling alone and it also feels good to support others and get ideas from them. I was feeling a little flat when I started because you don’t really know where to start so having some structure and guidance is also useful.
