Is there such thing as a...

Graduate School Law School
1

<p>Lawyer who went to a t14 school,
makes a comfortable living,
has reasonable hours (not working until 10 every night, gets home at a reasonable time to spend time with family),
is able to vacation,
does not have a stressed home/family/marital life,
is happy,
life does not revolve around work,
work does not control their life,
has a life,
does not work 6 days a week,
lives in a major city (i.e.- NYC, Chicago, Philadelphia, etc),
is not surrounded by elitist douchebags 24/7/365,
has a somewhat enjoyable profession,
can maintain a social life,</p>

<p>Or does a lawyer of the sort simply not exist? Law intrigues me, but not to an extraordinary level. I like the idea of majoring in history or political science and attending a law school like Chicago or Columbia and living in their respective cities and building a life there. What I don't like is the idea that to make big money in those cities you have to work until late in the night almost every day. Once in awhile wouldn't be a big deal, but if it is a regular occurrence then it would really strain your home life, and I think those relationships are more important than work. Also, traveling is probably the most enjoyable thing to me, and from what I have read, it is virtually impossible to be able to vacation much as a lawyer. The obscene hours seem like they would just take over all aspects of your life. Is it possible to be a lawyer in a big city, from a reputable school, with a comfortable living, but also a life? Or am I too naive, and I should probably look elsewhere?</p>

2

<p>It sounds like law doesn’t interest you so much as being middle class does. I’d say you should look elsewhere.</p>

3

<p>Is there no such thing as a life in the high up, more prestigious jobs?</p>

4

<p>Basically all “high up, prestigious jobs” take a lot of work. No one gives you lots of money to go on vacations with your family. Lawyers who do well work hard, but no harder than doctors or accountants or bankers. Government work generally offers the best time off and regular hours. However, the more prestigious the government work the less that stays true. </p>

5

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<p>I disagree. Accountants have a wonderful quality of life, as do most bankers – with the exclusion of I-bankers. And in fact, I would suggest that QoL is highly dependent on quant skills, which create a high barrier to entry. Actuaries are golden.</p>

<p>(Well, not too much quant in Accounting, but most people find it boring as all get out, so they don’t flock to it like the masses do to a JD, of which there are zero barriers to entry.)</p>

6

<p>I have several friends at the Big4. Their hours are pretty rough, especially during tax season. Maybe the smaller shops have better hours, but that’s true for law too. Most of the bankers I know are on i-banking side, and their hours are way worse than lawyers. I don’t know about retail banking so much. </p>

7

<p>I know a bunch of in-house patent lawyers who have a pretty good quality of life and work/life balance. Of course, to be a patent lawyer, you need to have a science or engineering degree, in addition to a law degree.</p>