<p>i know 4 lawyers. all 4 hate what they do and advise me never to become a lawyer. they are graduates form chapman, harvard, and ucla. the 2 guys from chapman are old, one is form my frat the other is my dads lawyer. the other two are young and friends of my sister.</p>
<p>i was thining about studying law and becoming a lawyer. even though its just 4 whom all may coincidentally hate being lawyers, is practicing law that bad?</p>
<p>It's all about passion. Two hours I came from a pre-law meet at Wake and I listened to this awesome speaker. She said that you better make sure you want to pursue law for the right reasons. Not because you eliminated med school, and whatnot, and was left with law school. I plan on going to law school because I like the law and I want to get into politics. If you want to go to law school to make fistfulls of dough or want to see how it goes at law school and waste 100k in student loans, it may or may not work. If you want to go to law school, have a clear purpose. Maybe if you are altruistic you want to help immigrants (like the speaker) and so some pro bono work. Maybe you are a left-wing lunatic and want to fight for rights and whatnot. This will work. It's all about passion and clear purpose. You have to like what you do to live with yourself at the end of the day.</p>
<p>MrTrojanFan: Sadly, it is true that many lawyers indeed wish they were doing something different with their professional lives. There is a huge amount of stress practicing law. And, in every case where litigation ensues, there is a winner and a loser. That means that you have a 50-50 chance of having a very happy or very un-happy client. The un-happy ones can make your life a living-hell.</p>
<p>But, I would agree with what emsibdn said about passion: passion for the law will not make the bad times good, but it will sustain you through them. </p>
<p>Also, one must assess what type of lifestyle they want and what type of practice area can help you achieve that. For example, do you want to coach your kids soccer team, attend every play and recital, and go on field trips? If so, do not become a litigator. Think about appellate law or other transactional practice areas that do not strictly adhere to a court's schedule. If you do this, you will find a better fit, and be happier in the long run.</p>
<p>I don't think most lawyer became lawyers because they are passionate about some particular cause. I don't think many </p>
<p>collection lawyers are passionate about collecting money from deadbeats;
divorce lawyers are passionate about dividing up family asssets;
estate lawyers are passionate about drafting wills and passing money to the next generation;
criminal lawyers are passionate about keeping criminals out of jail.</p>
<p>Most lawyers are passionate about doing a good job in a field which interests them. I would say this is true of most professionals. I would also say that most consultants can achieve the same type of satisfaction because, for the most part, lawyers are consultants.</p>
<p>Lawyers who are driven by passion for some cause of their own, often place their personal passion over the interests of their clients. This can have unintended consequences.</p>
<p>Thinkingoutloud, first I would note that the discussion was not about being passionate about a cause. Rather, it was about having a passion for practicing a particular type of law.
Furthermore, I would have to strongly disagree that lawyers who are passionate about certain causes place their own interests over their clients. If you have concrete examples give them, otherwise that comment has little or no meaning.</p>
<p>Thurgood Marshall was passionate about civil rights, did his clients suffer for it? William Kuenstler was passionate about constitutional law, did his clients suffer for it?</p>
<p>Is loving to argue a good enough reason? : )</p>
<p>No canadian, marriage will usually cover that need adequately.</p>
<p>No argument there.</p>
<p>Compare
[quote]
If you want to go to law school, have a clear purpose. Maybe if you are altruistic you want to help immigrants (like the speaker) and so some pro bono work. Maybe you are a left-wing lunatic and want to fight for rights and whatnot. This will work. It's all about passion and clear purpose. You have to like what you do to live with yourself at the end of the day.
[/quote]
With
[quote]
first I would note that the discussion was not about being passionate about a cause.
[/quote]
Contrary to your assertion, Concernddad, the discussion was about being passionate for a cause and not just the law.</p>
<p>You want examples. Remember the 1990s when Legal Aid lawyers filed countless CLASS action law suits trying to force States to increase Medicaid and other welfare payments to poor people? They were acting pursuant to their agenda of redistributing wealth to the poor. They were using the law to accomplish what they could not accomplish in the ballot box where such decisions actually belong. Meanwhile they diverted countless hours of legal services away from the poor people they were expected to advise. Fortunately, Congress passed a few laws to tame abuses by Legal Aid.</p>
<p>If I had to guess, I would say 80 percent of the cases handled by the ACLU are driven by their personal agendas rather than an interest in serving the needs of clients.</p>
<p>Thinkingoutloud: I will not belabor the point any further, but the use of the word "cause," was yours, not the OP's, not emsibdn's. You have attempted to do what lawyers get critcized for doing -- creating a strawman to then knock down. The thread was about dissatisfaction in the leagl profession, and it was suggested that one should be passionate about the practice of law and go to law school for the right reasons -- nothing more and nothing less.</p>
<p>ya, lets stick the point. anyways,</p>
<p>i ask b/c i did mock trial when i was in highschool. and a couple different judges said i should think about law as a career, inluding the coach. the more i checked it out, the more it turned me on. unitl i talked to 4 certain lawyers. i guess i still have a lot of time, im only a junior in college. ill think about.</p>
<p>MrTrojanMan: Let me suggest that 4 laywers is not enough of a sample to base a decision on. Talk to as many as you can, you are sure to find those who just love what they do as well.</p>
<p>
[quote]
altruistic you want to help immigrants (like the speaker)<br>
left-wing lunatic and want to fight for rights and whatnot
[/quote]
Websters New World Dictionary defines cause as: "4. any objective or movement that a person or group is interested in and supports, esp. one involving social reform."</p>
<p>Yep, there is no way in the world I should have used the word "cause". There is clearly no "cause" in the quote. No objective, no movement and certainly no mention of social reform. What was I thinking? I could never make it as a straw lawyer.</p>
<p>"Is practicing law that bad?"
"Practicing law" encompasses so many different careers paths that it's impossible to generalize about whether practicing law is "good" or "bad" (however those terms are defined). Lawyers' experiences vary greatly depending on factors such as (i) the field in which they choose to practice (e.g., litigation, trusts and estates, tax); (ii) the type of law they practice (e.g., criminal v. civil); and (iii) the locale where they practice (very different practicing in Phila. v. Morgantown, W.Va.). Experiences also vary within the same fields; for example, a civil litigator practicing in a 5 person law firm will have very different experiences from a civil litigator practicing in a 300 person firm. Similarly, a lawyer's personality can greatly affect his/her level of job satisfaction; some folks, for example, thrive under stress while years of stress can wear other folks down. Having said all of that, generally speaking (and this truly is just generally speaking), the practice of law can be very stressful and certainly is very time-consuming. Many lawyers who thrived on long hours, competition, etc. at a young age (and pre-kids) grow tired of that lifestyle after a while. Those often are the lawyers who advise people to stay away from the law. I'd take that advice with a grain or two of salt.</p>
<p>Let me add my slant on these sorts of complaints: I complain all the time about the practice of medicine, but I can't imagine anything else that would keep me so fascinated. I guess we all have passion for the "science" of what we do, i.e., law, medicine, engineering, etc., but the "business" of what we do can sometimes be quite frustrating.</p>
<p>If I am interested in the concept and theory of law, but don't want to be a lawyer, should I go to law school?</p>
<p>Rabo~, that is not a question anyone can really answer but you. Law school is rigorous and not something I suggest anyone do just for fun. As I have suggested before, there are many who go to law school to augment their careers and have no intention of practicing law. They simply want to be on a equal footing with laywers because the use of lawyers in an industry is pervasive. One would think that there other, less time consuming and costly, ways for you to fuel your hunger for knowledge.</p>
<p>CD</p>
<p>Rabo: if you are interested in the concept and theory of law, there are spme graduate schools that operate together with law schools to provide programs such as law in society, legal philosophy, etc. You may or may not have to go to law school to be in such programs, however.</p>
<p>Concerneddae, when did you become a moderator?</p>
<p>About a week or 10 days ago, dadofsam.</p>
<p>are there any lawyers on this board? or law students?</p>