June 27, 2007
Being a Lawyer
Ever since I stumbled upon the hilarious, if highly disturbing blog Anonymous Lawyer this week, lawyers have been right under my nose. Written from the point of view of a senior partner, Anonymous Lawyer satirizes the roots of privilege in the corporatocracy..
Who would want to work in that environment, anyway? I suppose that six figure salaries hold some appeal for the twenty somethings. Every summer students from top law schools are seduced into the finest firms by sumptuous summer internships , only to find that they have signed away their lives when they become first year associates.
Over the years, I have sat with several distressed young lawyers, who, after working eighty hour weeks for years have been denied partnership because of their inability to bring in new business. Unless the associate is related to new business, it's impossible to do all elbow rubbing necessary to solicit it when all your free time is soaked up by the firm.
Yesterday, the Boston Globe (which has probably locked up their archives by now), published a piece entitled Law and Disorder:
Today, attorneys and other legal professionals contact LCL [Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers, a support group] mainly for help battling depression. The shift mirrors a trend at lawyer assistance programs across the country, and reinforces state and national studies showing that lawyers are more depressed than those in any other occupation.It also reflects what many lawyers and mental health professionals say is a disturbing consequence of the increasingly competitive nature of the practice of law....
Heavy law school debt frequently forces graduates into high-paying jobs at private firms, where intense deadlines, staggering billable-hour requirements, and grinding hours are routine. Even veteran lawyers often find themselves disillusioned by the increasingly business-like practice of law.
The conflict-driven nature of the profession also plays a role, as does traditional legal training, which conditions lawyers to be emotionally withdrawn, a trait that can help them professionally but hurt them personally.
And the personality type frequently drawn to the law -- perfectionist, high-achieving -- is particularly vulnerable to becoming depressed, said Lawrence T. Perera, a lawyer at the Boston firm Hemenway & Barnes and former co chairman of the Boston Bar Association's Peer Support Committee.
Money isn't everything. A young lawyer could forgo a large salary and go for the thrill of unmitigated power instead by working for the Bush administration. However, one would have to choose one's law school carefully.
Photo note: When rummaging through my archives for a photo this morning, I realized that I had absolutely nothing lawyerly, and I'd have to pick something up on the way to work . I spotted this Ben and Jerry's bumper sticker right in front of Harvard Law School, but here's the one that got away, twenty seconds before. 
. It's very out of focus because I couldn't risk my life driving recklessly to get the right angle. It happens to be the back of a plumbing and heating truck.