<p>It seems that everywhere you turn, there are people telling you not to go into law. While I do heed these warnings to a certain extent, I also keep in mind that the unhappy voices are often the loudest ones. So I'm wondering: Are there any lawyers around here who are actually happy with their careers? Thanks.</p>
<p>After 30 years I can honestly tell you I still enjoy being a lawyer, sometimes. I have been in large law firms the entire time, except a 12 year run in which a group of us created our own business law boutique. We then were acquired by a giant national law firm. I am a commercial real estate lawyer with a focus on shopping centers and retail projects in general. I represent developers who are driven and demanding but also fun. Some are friends. Other than getting an MBA, I am not sure what else I would have wanted to do. Go for it. If you get into a top law school and make law review you are all set and will be in demand. If not it can be difficult.</p>
<p>I'm 22 years into my legal career. I spent the first 11 years in small firm or solo practice, and have been in-house for the last 11 years. I have no regrets, particularly after going in-house.</p>
<p>My colleagues at work (at a Fortune 1000 company) seem uniformly happy.</p>
<p>One more happy lawyer here . . .</p>
<p>My brother in law is a happy lawyer, very content with his career.</p>
<p>30 plus years- all in-house and I'm happy. I think law school is a good preparation for a lot of careers. I would NOT have been happy with a "big law" career, though. I like being part of the business.</p>
<p>I'm a happy lawyer with 30 years of experience (in house with large companies, except for first few years with a litigation firm). My specialty is construction law but I also do general corporate work. I can honestly say that I've never been bored, and that I really enjoy practicing law.</p>
<p>Do many lawyers take the route of working for private firms, then moving to an in-house position? My roommate is at BU School of Law and says that this is the path he will most likely follow. He told me that the stress of a private firm and the hours involved can really get to people after a few years and that going in-house is a good way to continue law but with a decrease in hours and overall stress. Is this the scenario encountered by those who made this move?</p>
<p>A high percentage of in-house attorneys spent time working for private firms first. But the number of in-house attorneys is small compared to the number of law firm employees who wish to go in-house some day.</p>
<p>Here's a link to a Bureau of Labor Statistics chart showing the number of attorneys employed by various industries: <a href="ftp://ftp.bls.gov/pub/special.requests/ep/ind-occ.matrix/occ_pdf/occ_23-1011.pdf%5B/url%5D">ftp://ftp.bls.gov/pub/special.requests/ep/ind-occ.matrix/occ_pdf/occ_23-1011.pdf</a></p>
<p>Some stats from the Bureau of Labor Statistics table I cited in my last posting:</p>
<p>Of the 760,672 practicing lawyers in 2006, 48.64% are employees of professional services firms (mostly law firms); 26.73% are self employed (a category includes partners of law firms as well as sole practitioners); and 15.68% work for the government (mostly at the local level). These three categories account for 91.03% of all working lawyers.</p>
<p>Law professors are not included in these categories, by the way.</p>
<p>Of the remaining 8.97%, the biggest group works for financial or insurance companies (2.75%).</p>
<p>The category that employees me (Information, which includes publishers of books, newspapers, software, the Internet, phone companies, television, radio, and motion pictures) accounts for a mere .5% of the profession.</p>
<p>Yeah, I'd say I'm happy. I certainly don't regret going to law school -- it was a fantastic education.</p>
<p>We prefer to hire lawyers with at least a few years in a law firm. The grass is always greener. If you're with a law firm, you think that in-house lawyers have it made. If you're in a corporate legal dept., you look at the law firm lawyers as having more exciting opportunities and as making a lot more money. It's also helpful for an inhouse lawyer who manages litigation to understand the process, especially when reviewing bills from law firms.</p>
<p>In-house work is not necessarily less stressful, or fewer hours. I work 12-hour days regularly, plus I typically work on weekends too. If you're going to stand out and be a really good lawyer, you work whatever hours are necessary. It may be obvious, but your internal corporate clients are frequently executives who work around the clock too. If they need legal advice or a project completed, they don't expect to find that their lawyers went home at 6:00.</p>
<p>Not a healthy lifestyle.</p>
<p>I think it depends on the culture of the company. Our company really values family and vacation time. If there is a project or a crisis, obviously it's all hands on deck for as long as it takes. We don't typically work a lot of weekends, though. Electronic communication (Blackberrys etc) has loosened the leash somewhat.</p>