I sent this in a PM to OP. Since I didn't actually end up putting any revealing information in, I will post it here for visibility as well.
I saw your post regarding moving from Big Law to Big 4. I have never private messaged anyone on Reddit before but I felt compelled when I saw your post. Let me give you a few words of advice (see below my all caps advice for a more in depth explanation):
1) THAT'S A FUCKING STUPID IDEA
2) THAT'S A FUCKING STUPID IDEA
3) THAT'S A FUCKING STUPID IDEA
4) THAT'S A FUCKING STUPID IDEA
5) THAT'S A FUCKING STUPID IDEA
I work at Big 4 in New York City. I make $60k a year as a first year associate straight out of undergrad. During the interim period (10 months of the year) I work 9-7. During busy season (2 months out of the year) I work 8am-3am six days a week. This is not an exaggeration. I spent many nights sleeping in the office. I billed 140 hours in a week towards the end of busy season. You might work similar hours sometimes. The main difference is you make TWO HUNDRED FUCKING THOUSAND DOLLARS A YEAR for the privilege.
Since you are a lawyer I am also guessing your fucking shit at finance. That would explain why you can't see that spending $200k on law school then abandoning the career that would allow you to pay that investment off for a job making $60k somehow makes financial sense. That doesn't make any fucking financial sense. That's fucking stupid.
Please allow me to enlighten you with better options:
1) You have some M&A (deal) experience and a JD so you might be able to get into a sovereign credit holdout fund. Basically what this fund does is buy cheap sovereign debt for pennies (think Greece). That country goes bankrupt and asks the creditors to take a 30-40% haircut on the bonds (this is at market value, so think pennies). You would be in charge of helping to sue the fuck out of the country to collect the full PAR value, making bank. I would start with shops like Elliot Management. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/01/opinion/how-hedge-funds-held-argentina-for-ransom.html
2) In a similar vein there are plenty of distressed debt shops that are filled with lawyers doing similar things to the above. This is more broad but there are tons of opportunities in distressed debt.
3) Becomes a law professor: I don't know shit about this option but it beats going to Big 4
4) Actually put some more effort into finding a non-big law law job: Not going to lie, I don't really know shit about this option either. This is your best bet. If you can grind it out in big law I am sure you can find a non big-law law job if you stop being a pussy. Just reach out to every fucking lawyer at your alma-mater until you find someone willing to go to bat for you.