Law School is set up to be a process–to mold you into a (in theory) functional attorney. If you look across school’s you’ll notice that the process is surprisingly similar across schools. In my evolution as a law school student, I’ve reached the point where the addage “1L – scare you to death; 2L – work you to death; 3L – bore you to death.” I can say that I am definitely int the process of being worked to death.
Throughout this past semester, it’s made me look at what I want from life. While top tier firm’s pay the best, the hours are soul crushing. Then I look at my Aunt who worked at a courthouse. She gets into work no earlier than 8 and is usually on the way home by 3:30-and that was before COVID. These days, a 30 hour work week is more normal and she has time for her family and hobbies.
There’s also the case of my (kind of) newly retired father. He retired in March and had spent the year prior working 3 days a week. He has exactly no hobbies, spends hours watching pointless YouTube videos, and on a good week leaves the house for 3 hours TOTAL. He worked his life away so he could retire early and he ended up working later than most of his siblings and has really nothing to show for it.
The world is evolving and I want to be part of it, but is that compatible with Big Law?
Comment below if you have thoughts on your career path and things you’d do differently or the same.
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