<p>Should I not even think of Big Law and go for something like the DA or DOJ? Obviously there is stress everywhere, but I would think stress at Big Law dwarfs other stress.</p>
<p>You could also just avoid law school entirely.</p>
<p>High levels of stress in the legal profession are most certainly not confined to large firm practice. If you don't tolerate stress well, I would encourage you to think seriously about an alternative career. Please understand that this isn't a criticism, but merely practical advice. The legal profession is tough -- and it's adversarial nature makes a high level of stress for lawyers a given.</p>
<p>I'm sure you probably have more credibility than I do BDM given your post numbers and that you're probably more advanced in your academic career than I, but your smart-ass posts really get on my nerves; this isn't the first time you offer some "advice" of that sort.</p>
<p>However, in my limited amount of knowledge, I think it would be fair to say the stress in law school is nowhere comparable to the stress of a Big Law job. I've met few law students who are studying 80 hours a week regularly.</p>
<p>bluedevilmike isn't wrong. You have to look at your reasons for going to law school. If it's because you love law, and you think you can handle the debt, then you can do plenty of things that utilize a knowledge of the law but don't necessarily require you to be an active practitioner in the more difficult areas of it (you could teach, you could get into some tax stuff and become a CPA, plenty of lawyers have been successful authors, etc). If it's because being a lawyer is something you want to do for some nebulous reason and you think it's a good career move, I'd recommend against it.</p>
<p>furgesson, BDM isn't suggesting that you avoid law school because law school itself is so stressful (I agree with you that a biglaw job is more stressful--no summer vacation, for one thing, and bosses looking over your shoulder more closely) but because so many of the things you can do with a law degree, even outside of biglaw, are incredibly stressful.</p>
<p>I can't imagine that prosecuting an alleged rapist, like one might do in a DA job, is any less stressful than biglaw document review, and if you're going into it with that mindset you probably wouldn't get far. However, tetrishead has some good advice. Teaching is all but impossible to get into for all but the absolute top students at a very few schools, but it is lower stress once you've made it that far. But perhaps you could be a career clerk (working for a judge for a long period of time...this is different than the 1 or 2 year, more prestigious, clerkships that law students often take right after graduation) or a law librarian.</p>
<p>Anyone who thinks being an ADA or working for the DOJ isn't stressful is just plain wrong. There is NOTHING more stressful than a trial, especially a criminal trial. It's a different kind of stress than big law, but for most folks--including yours truly---there is nothing more stressful than trial work. There are lots of attorneys in big law who sweat bullets on those rare occasions when they actually have to try a case. </p>
<p>And when it's a criminal case and you're the prosecutor, remember that you are EXPECTED to win, especially in the beginning. They give the "easy" cases to beginners. So, if you are a newbie, you'll cut your teeth on cases that are considered "slam dunks" by your superiors. (I'm not talking about being second chair.) Lose one of those and you'll be raked over the coals. The entire office will know that you are a LOSER. And usually, you've made a commitment to work for a certain period of time--generally at least 2 years--so you can't start looking for another job if you're unhappy with the work you've been given. </p>
<p>The WORST and I do mean the WORST thing an ADA can do is to fail to get an indictment. Again, you are EXPECTED to get an indictment. If the grand jury fails to indict, your bosses will ASSUME that you are responsible and that you are an incompetent moron.</p>
<p>You will have a gazillion cases to work on while most of the defense attorneys working against you will have FAR smaller case loads and be able to devote FAR more time to a case than you can. Should you fail to turn over exculpatory materials as required by law, you're looking at a very serious possibility of being disciplined. </p>
<p>Seriously, big law is a LOT less stressful than being an ADA or many jobs in the DOJ. In big law, every little question is examined exhaustively. Yes, you're expected to work a gazillion hours, but should you make a mistake in a brief and cite a case that has been reversed for example, SOMEBODY will catch your mistake. You'll be in hot water, and that's not fun. But if you are willing to research the same point over and over to quadruple the odds you are right, the only thing you'll lose is sleep. During a trial, you have to make a lot of decisions--such as whether to object to a question asked by your adversary--in a split second. If you let your mind wander and don't hear a question your adversary asks, there's no instant replay. </p>
<p>And if you are a defense attorney and you lose a case--especially if you are in private practice--the odds are high that someone else will go over the transcript with a fine tooth comb looking for any error you made. They will then appeal the case on the ground that the defendant had "incompetent counsel." Should the appeal succeed, the advertising will do wonders for your practice.</p>
<p>I've tried cases as a partner or associate with small firms, and as a sole practitioner, and can confirm that trials are extremely stressful, regardless of who your employer is.</p>
<p>There are aspects of law school that also make it an unusually stressful academic experience. Grades are extremely important to future employment prospects, and are typically based on a single test given at the end of the semester, or even at the end of the year. The Socratic method also raises the constant spector (and the occasional reality) of very public humiliation.</p>
<p>People who are particularly sensitive to stress may indeed be happier practicing another profession. Nothing worth doing is stress free, of course, but law school and the legal profession are notoriously stressful.</p>
<p>"Ms _____, I barely heard your answer, but what I did hear tells me that it does not bear repeating." A response by my property professor to my answer to the first question I was asked first year. It was her first year as a teacher, and looking back on it, I think she was more terrified than we were. It was a real icebreaker with my classmates.</p>
<p>"A simple unprepared would have sufficed." A response from my contracts professor to a classmate's answer to his question. The class hissed.</p>
<p>I spent an entire year in a 1L class in which the Professor -- at a random time during each class would call on me to say ..."You, [physical description]...stand up. Are you awake? Sit down." I never once got called on by him for any other purpose. I wonder if there's a Law School Professor's Chat Board somewhere where they share one-liners and ideas for torture?</p>
<p>There were no chat rooms when I went to law school. There were, however, clubs in San Francisco, not far away, where followers of the Marquis De Sade may have exchanged tips.</p>