June 2005

Does your current practice match the career expectations you had in law school?

In June, we wanted to get an idea of how you feel about your career, particularly how your current work situation compares to the expectations you had in law school.

An overwhelming majority of you feel that your career is quite different than your expectations, with 79% of respondents answering “no” to our question. Conversely, 21% of you have been fortunate enough to find exactly what you're looking for in your career.

Your Opinions:

“Overall, it does. And sometimes, it has exceeded my wildest expectations. Sure, there are days when I am bored out of my mind, but fortunately those days have been few ... so far.”

“I never expected to spend 70-plus hours a week as a clerk — I understand you have to "pay your dues," but junior associates are relegated to making copies, fetching things or calling cabs for partners, chewed out in public, and generally treated like third-class citizens. Everyone now and then there's some research, but the bulk of the work is document review.”

“The law school admissions people oversold the profession, indicating high earning capacity across the board. Alas, they lied.”

“I loathe the incivility of so-called colleagues, the receivables from clients who think that paying for plumbers and vacations is more important that paying for their lawyers, the disrespect by the public for attorneys in general ... I thought I'd enjoy helping people and being financially secure. The legal world has changed in the 25 years since I graduated, and it has changed for the worse. I wish I had gone to vet school or business school. I'd be a lot richer and a lot less stressed-out.”

“I did not expect the practice of law to be as lucrative as it has been for me, and I did not expect it to rip out my soul.”

“If I had known about the beast known as the "billable hour" in law school, I don't know that I would have darkened the door of this firm. I find that I love being a lawyer, but I hate the office politics that go along with the billable hour requirement. The only way I see myself being a lawyer and happy is to leave the firm life and throwing out my shingle. I think I would rather handle dirtbag divorces for the rest of my life than spend a day searching for one more "point one" on the billable hour scale.”

“I was not prepared for how much most people dislike attorneys or how negatively they react when you reveal that is what you do. I was not prepared for how uncivil some attorneys can be—especially attorneys from big firms in big cities, who seem to assume that they will never have to deal with you again, and so lack any incentive to invest in the professional relationship. These two things alone have worn on me to the point that after ten years of what most would regard as a very successful career, I am constantly considering career alternatives. Sometimes I even cast jealous glances at the guy driving the Frito-Lay delivery truck next to me at the stop light.”