Biglaw lawyers on <reddit>.

I’m (42F) a NEP in Biglaw; litigator by training but also do some regulatory counseling. If I am candid, I am a very well respected service partner but don’t have my own book. Things feel quite slow lately and lots of my cases have settled with little new work on the horizon. I’m also a person of color heavily involved in various diversity projects.

My partner and I don’t have kids (may have one if it happens naturally). I’ve saved about $1.5m (half I can’t touch until retirement; other half invested post-tax). My partner has saved about $500k for retirement and owns a house with about $500k equity in it. We live in a HCOL area on the west coast. Partner does not have a fancy job and supports their disabled sister on their $150k income as well.

I like the money but don’t love being a litigator. I don’t crave trying cases or anything and am not sure I have it in me to do everything one would need to do to make equity partner. No one at the firm would know it but at heart I’m a quiet, introverted person who likes reading, writing and research and lights up when I think about starting random other income streams and side hustles.

I’ve only ever been in the law so it seems impossible to leave the money behind (mid-six figures, what you’d expect for NEP). I feel like I’d be leaving a life of money and prestige on the table if I pursue something else but I’m also sort of miserable. Would appreciate some guidance on how to think about the next stretch of my career. I can likely save up another $150-$200k over the next few years. I’m dreaming of taking some time off. Does that seem realistic? Will it be career suicide to take a sabbatical? Is it horrible if I just dream of taking time off and doing contract gigs for a little while?

EDITED to ADD: To emphasize: wonder what folks think of taking a sabbatical? I feel confident in my creativity that I could live off savings for awhile and then make enough to survive doing something that didn’t take up as much time. My key issue is the time - I don’t really want to spend all of my time and energy doing business development, free CLEs etc.