Just wanted to see what you guys thought about my situation. I have worked 8 years as an attorney, 6 of which were in a solo practice doing Social Security disability appeals. Last January I closed my practice because I was living in a small town and just didn't have the business.

Anyway, at this point I don't want to practice law anymore (don't want the stress/very hard work and responsibility) but would like to work as a paralegal. It was last January that I closed my practice. For the first six months or so of unemployment I wasn't even looking for a job because I was in a severe bipolar depression. For the past six months I've been looking for a paralegal job only (and my depression has become mild incidentally). I've had 2 interviews and didn't get the job.

My question is, do you think I am having a hard time competing with career paralegals for interviews? Part of me thinks an employer would be glad to have an attorney who's willing to work as a paralegal.

Also, I am 49, which is apparent if an employer or employment agency knows my date of high school graduation, which they often do since they have you fill out applications asking for that info. Not sure if my age is a problem too?

Anybody?

[CosmicRose]

Hi, I commented about your situation on another post but I'll give more insight here.
Any attorney would be lucky to have a fellow attorney working as their paralegal.
The amount of time you have been out of work after closing your business should not be an issue with your years of experience.
When they ask you why you closed your business, maybe saying you didn't have enough clientele would not be the best thing to say. Perhaps you could say this in a way that would still make it seem like your business was successful (they might judge you on that, as to why you closed your business, they might say hmm I wonder why she closed her business, maybe she isn't a good lawyer do I want her on my team, etc) so try to spin this around to make you look better.
You could say you decided to close the business because you wanted a job that was better for your schedule and paralegal is a better fit for the hours you want to work as opposed to running a business. You could say any number of things to make it look better in your favor.
Make sure your resume points out how successful you were at running your own business.
Always speak very highly of the business you closed, always present any failures as successes no matter what. Make sure you tell them it was closed by your own decision, not that you had to close it. This makes a difference to an employer, I would think.

Keep applying as a paralegal everywhere and I'm sure you will get someone who wants to hire you. It might take a year, because the economy is still kind of bad right now. Just don't stop.
Like I said, apply everywhere including businesses or other institutions that need legal help, or legal administration, not just attorneys. I'm sure there are a lot of other avenues you could go down that are closely related to law, not just as a paralegal. Many businesses hire people with a law background for their offices or administration work.
Government or state agencies like ex attorneys with experience too.

[hvert]

I really don't know much about that industry, but I wouldn't be surprised if it is more challenging to get work as a paralegal than it would be to transition to a different but somewhat related career, like HR or town/benefits administration.

I would be reluctant to hire someone who is overqualified for a job because I would worry that they would get bored with the work that needed to be done.