Law later in life

After being “shot at and stabbed” on the job and struggling with the trauma policing was causing him, Chad Haggerty eventually found himself charged with domestic assault and in need of a lawyer.

As an RCMP officer, he’d spent years in court, dealing with prosecutors and defence lawyers. But this, of course, was an entirely different interaction.

“I saw firsthand how my defence lawyer assisted me through the process. That was [what] finally turned me and got me to realize that I could no longer do the policing job because of the emotional impact it had on me.”

Haggerty had always wanted to be a lawyer as a kid, but financially, it wasn’t feasible, so he went into policing.

“But the bug, the desire to be a lawyer, persisted,” he says.

After 17 years on the force, Haggerty succumbed to the bug and decided it was time to pursue law. From day one of law school, he knew he’d be a defence lawyer.

Chad Haggerty

“The freedom that defence lawyers have, the creativity that's required in the role … was something that excited me and interested me.”

He now runs his own practice, CH Advocacy, in Calgary, and has had the full-circle moment of having to cross-examine former police colleagues. Haggerty says having had a first-hand view of the justice system from the perspective of an accused stayed with him and has shaped his practice.

“It's opened my eyes to the emotional stress that accused persons go through,” he says.

“Some of those new views are directly in contrast and contradict a lot of my long-held perspectives as a police officer.”

Diverse paths to the plunge

While most lawyers pursue law school in their early 20s, it’s no longer uncommon for someone in their 30s, 40s, 50s, or beyond to enter the field. The reasons that motivate people to walk away from established careers to take the plunge into law are as diverse as the kinds of law they end up practicing.

Like Haggerty, Bassel Sabalbal stepped away from a physically demanding 20-year military career when an old injury from an overseas deployment caught up with him, forcing him to think about next steps. He’d started his career in the infantry. Eventually, he moved into military policing, where he spent five years working with a national drug enforcement team, going after drug producers and executing warrants. He’d always enjoyed writing up search warrants and meeting with lawyers, and started to think that becoming a lawyer himself might be a good fit.

“I really enjoyed the strategy of thinking about how we work on prosecution,” Sabalbal says.

Sometimes you have to walk before you run, however, so that meant getting an undergraduate degree before he could apply to law school.

“While I was doing everything from surveillance to supporting undercover operations, I would sit there and read up on my courses.”

He’s now a personal injury lawyer at Lerners Lawyers in London, Ont. and has been practicing since August 2025.

For Joanne Roulston, accepting a layoff package from the government gave her the chance to scratch the itch after years of working in law-adjacent fields like social work and the public service.

“I was very familiar with the law, including how law is written and created, how law is applied,” she says.

“What made me go to law school was that I'm still curious, and I needed to do this.”

Joanne Roulston

She was in her 50s when she returned to the classroom and has now been practicing family law in Ottawa for four years.

Unique advantages

Going into law as a second career can give some people notable advantages over their younger peers. Among them are the practical skills a second-career lawyer brings to the table, such as the ability to communicate clearly and efficiently.

After nearly two decades working in journalism, occasionally covering the courts and child welfare issues, Allyson Jeffs knew her way around a pen and a keyboard when she changed careers.

“The writing experience has been a huge asset,” she says.

“Writing is so important in law, you do a lot of written advocacy, briefs before the court, drafting pleadings, communications with other lawyers and with clients. Being able to be clear and be able to write to deadline is very important.”

Jeffs had always said that if she weren’t a journalist, she’d be a lawyer. She left the industry when she felt it was fading and saw law as a way to reinvent herself. Her litigation practice at Emery Jamieson LLP in Edmonton now focuses on employment law.

“Twenty years on, I feel like this was a very good choice,” she says.

“In litigation, we go through questioning for discovery processes. I think having asked questions for my 20 years in journalism helped me a lot with that. I learned some techniques, including how to follow the trail when somebody's answering questions, and also the importance of giving the other person space to answer.”

For Roulston, her significant policy experience in the public service transferred well into the courtroom.

“I have found, because of my age and all of that other experience, it's harder to intimidate me when I've presented to prime ministers,” she laughs.

“I'd be there speaking directly to a parliamentary committee about research and second opinions we've given. What a difference that makes to knowing how to present to a court.”

Her negotiation skills have also proven valuable in her family law practice, where relationships between co-parents often have to be maintained long after the court case is done.

Then there are the soft skills. Haggerty says that while he knew that policing would have some applicability to the practice of law, he didn't realize just how much the soft skills would help advance his legal career.

“I didn't know how to work as a lawyer, but the work ethic had already been instilled. The interpersonal skills, the time management skills, and the people management skills, all of those came into play.”

Sabalbal says becoming a lawyer later in life allowed him to build discipline and perseverance to overcome the fatigue that can come with the job. He thinks a previous career also helped his critical thinking skills mature.

“Contrary to popular belief, the military is a very diverse place, and you're able to deal with people from a different perspective,” he says.

“I'm able to bring that into my practice. I'm able to have a conversation with clients from all walks of life.”

The challenge of change

Switching careers isn’t without its challenges, however. While age can bring wisdom and maturity, it can also foster habits that need to be broken. Jeffs says that although lawyering is a lifelong learning process, the learning curve was sometimes steeper than she expected.

Allyson Jeffs

“The thing that is very challenging when you've reached a certain point in a career, is to realize you have to go back and be the person who's learning and who is junior in the law,” she says.

“It is a bit humbling when you start from square one, from the first year.”

Second-career lawyers also tend to have more family responsibilities, such as raising children and caring for aging parents — or both.

Some law firms may also have concerns about older lawyers expecting higher salaries because of their previous career experience, as well as the likelihood of long-term retention, says Orit Sinai, a partner at ZSA Legal Recruitment in Toronto.

“This is a second career for people,” she says.

“Are they really looking to stay in this long term, or are they going to be jumping again to another career?”

Meaghan Loughry, a consultant and recruiter at Caldwell in Toronto, says some firms might also wonder whether it’s going to create awkwardness if a lawyer has to report to someone much younger.

While people may choose to pursue an area of law that aligns with their previous career, such as a scientist practicing environmental law or an engineer pursuing construction law, she cautions firms against stereotyping second-career lawyers based on their past careers.

“People's former careers can inform their path in law, [but] sometimes that's not the case. They go to law school wanting to enter the profession with a clean slate.”

A marketable mix

Challenges aside, Loughry says second-career lawyers are highly marketable. She’s encountered people who want to downplay their previous work paths, but she says there are so many advantages that should be highlighted.

Sinai agrees that they bring more to the table than legal training.

“They bring real-world context and industry insight.”

And although they might stand out in law school and in their practices,

that’s not a negative.

“They will bring a certain level of maturity and polish. They come out being strong communicators. They're more comfortable in a client-facing environment. They have a little bit of a better understanding of a professional environment,” she says, adding they also gain trust a little faster and may be given responsibility sooner.

So, is it ever too late to become a lawyer?

Sabalbal doesn’t think so.

“Just make sure you’re financially ready,” he says.

“Sometimes you do have to make small sacrifices, but ultimately, if that's something that you really want to pursue, I truly believe it's never too late.”

Haggerty agrees.

“The beautiful thing about the practice of law is that as long as you're mentally capable, you can always add to the bar or add to society. Hopefully, you can always take something from it. Personal satisfaction has to be factored in,” he says.

He wishes he’d known just how wonderfully collegial the bar is. He expected working in criminal defence would be an isolated practice, given the number of sole practitioners.

“But the community is overwhelmingly kind and gracious and welcoming,”  Haggerty says.

“Had I known that, I honestly might have taken the leap a lot sooner in life.”

Non-legal advice

Having attended law school with people less than half her age, Roulston tells anyone contemplating a similar career switch to remember that law school can feel very different from actual law practice.

“I’m really glad I came to law. I feel that what it allows me to do is be a negotiator-slash-social worker, with a lot more tools. That's what I hoped for,” she says.

“Hang on tight to the fact that you come with experience. Keep yourself balanced with life outside of law.”

Jeffs always found it helpful to remind herself that becoming a lawyer later in life wasn’t the first time she’d been in a new career.

“I've been a new person in a career before, so I can do this again,” she would tell herself.

“Draw confidence from your early experience and your early success.” 

As it turns out, a second-career lawyer encouraged her to take the leap into law.

“She said, ‘As long as once you get out of law school, you think you have 20 years to practice, it'll be worth it.’ Twenty years on, I think she was right.”