[ramonesfreak]

I have known a ton of lawyers over the past 11 years of working. I think I have met, maybe, 1 or 2 lawyers that felt like MRM.

I can say with confidence that 99.9999999% of all my lawyer friends regret their career choice...even those that wanted to be a lawyer at the beginning. The ones I see everyday at court do not hide the fact that its a drag.

This job burns you out quick because of many reasons.

If a young person considering going to law school asked me what being a lawyer is like, my condensed version would be as a general rule, the following:

Working as a lawyer is like being perpetually stuck in final exam week until either retirement or death comes.....with, I suspect, the later coming sooner than the former.

I feel like I never left school and that school got a hell of alot harder. The work requires constant study, constant preparation and constant striving to get an A+. Unlike school where frankly, it doesnt matter if you get a C in your property law course, you can not score a C on your clients case. ....the client goes to jail, the client loses money and their house goes into foreclosure and their kids dont have food, they lose custody of their children, they pay too much estate tax, they dont get the medical treatment they need.. etc....if you mess up.

I would never attempt to discourage someone from going to law school BUT, I would be happy to explain every detail of the negative aspects of it so that they are fully informed. I had nobody to shed light on the mystery.

Ill say this, whatever dislike I have for the work, I can say that I am still an excellent lawyer and that I get satisfaction from helping many people in horrible situations. The money for the most park, SUCKS. However, lawyer jobs seem to be quite recession-proof and stable.

Interestingly, as a kid and student - I was absolutely terrified of public speaking situations. Now, the one thing I really love about being a lawyer is being in court. I love knowing every detail of my case and shattering the defenses argument. I love to win my case. I love impressing the judge with my well thought out and articulate agrument. Its a thrill. Especially so, if you live in a big city and work in big city courts. Im in a small town now and its not so thrilling. I did work in NYC for about 7 years and I really enjoyed walking into the court house each day ready to do battle. If your daughter is going to be in SF, she can take advantage of many great opportunities to gain experience. And, furthemore, being in a large city like SF, she will be able to practice types of law that someone living in Fresno wont be able to. For example...does she like music and films and art? Then she should check out entertainment law. I would love to be doing that. ..but being in upstate NY now, who would I represent...the local accordian player?

And here is a very important tip to be aware of from the beginning of this process. Once your out and you work in an area of law for a few years...you get type-cast. Changing one's area of practice is not something law firms like in a lawyer with a few years of experience....unless that lawyer is willing to take a substantial drop in salary in order to compete with new graduates. It is therefore essential to start developing an interest in particular types of law asap.

The fact is, unless you are very lucky or very rich.....work is work. It all sucks. Im sorry. Work sucks. The problem with why lawyering may suck more than other jobs is.....working your butt off and not being compensated adequately and yet the general population thinks your a millionaire when in fact you live paycheck to paycheck....obviously there are excepections. None of my lawyer friends are rich. They are all middle-income people living middle-class lives, they just happen to work their brains harder than most