US News- My Job Is Overrated

US News has announced that attorneys are among the 13 most overrated careers for 2008. Here is the anaylsis-

Most lawyers’ lives bear little resemblance to those on Law and Order. Even
litigators spend lots of time drafting or poring over sheaves of detailed information and negotiating with other lawyers prone to contentiousness and chicanery. And most lawyers rarely go to trials, working instead as transactional attorneys who need to bill 2,000 hours a year or more to meet the firm’s targets. That can mean long evenings drafting lengthy, airtight contracts or other documents. In the corporate world, many lawyers find little fulfillment and burn out.

There is some truth to the article. I have dabbled in business law and I hated it. Fighting over who owes who and how we are all going to get paid- not something I could do 40 hours a week. I have friends who work for transactional firms and spend a lot of time drafting or taking depositions. Not something I could make my life’s work.

Here is the solution that US News leaves out. Do not go to law school just to go to law school. Graduate school is an expensive endeavor. Law school is 3 years and thousands in student loans you won’t get back. MBA’s are only 2 years and if you want to work for corporate America then get an advanced business degree.

If you are in law school find your career. Criminal Law with Professor Bubany was the moment I I knew I was going to be a criminal defense lawyer. I hated watching the 4th Amendment get gutted week after week. I took as many criminal law classes as Tech offered which helped confirm my career choice.

Secured Transactions class had the opposite effect. After that class I knew that I would never ever work in any field that dealt with perfecting secured interests.

The desperation to get that first job out of law school may leave you settling for a career you hate. It was not easy to find a first job in criminal law. I moved to Wichita Falls and became a public defender. The pay was bad and I knew no one in WF. It was a sacrifice to start my career.
Even today Criminal defense does not pay as well as handling corporate mergers or car wrecks. That is a tradeoff I gladly make.

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2 responses to “US News- My Job Is Overrated”

  1. <img src="http://www.blogge says:

    Even litigators spend lots of time drafting or poring over sheaves of detailed information and negotiating with other lawyers prone to contentiousness and chicanery.Um, isn’t that what litigation is?

  2. <img src="http://www.blogge says:

    No, it’s Law and Order:SVU.Do medical school students think that Grey’s Anatomy reflects the practice of medicine. Why do so many articles on lawyering state that it is not like being a lawyer on TV?I have played golf and it wasn’t like the PGA.

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