| Topic Name: |
Money |
| Message Name: |
professionals |
| Date Posted: |
12/26/2001 |
| In Reply To: |
Do you really thing lawyers make a ton of cash? I mean, relatively speaking, do you really think that the number is high?
Next, even if it is, which I'm clearly not convinced it is, do you think it's worth it?
I'm personally so frickin' tired of these hours that have stolen my youth. The working until 4am night after night after night seven days a week. I feel so damn grumpy and resentful at the demands on my time, I take it out on cab drivers and wine.
Who thinks it's worth it? |
| Message: |
The median income for lawyers is still a fair bit below 100K the last time I looked, although 72K in Montana is a bit different from 72K in
NYC. I don't think that most lawyers make a ton of cash.
Even relatively successful lawyers can make a fraction of what similarly successful business folks make. Although one can, with success, achieve a fair bit of income in law, I just don't see law as a "big money" play. In the main, I see lawyers making decent but not extraordinary professional salaries--the kind that buy an upper middle class lifestyle and a nice home in most suburbs, but not real largesse. The first few years of law practice, whether one makes "big money" or not, are a time to acquire skills. The long hours make sense during this training time. But over and over, I've seen folks who opted for a legal career which offered .6 the amount of
work for roughly .8 the amount of income, and ended up much happier. I'm not knocking the "partner at BIGLAW or bust" folks, who want to work the hours for the top dollar at any cost.
I'm just saying that I know a lot of folks who "downsized" or "boutique-sized" their career expectations after a few years in BIGLAW, and gained by the transition.
But whether one does BIGLAW or littlelaw, one really has to want to practice law.
If one doesn't, it makes sense to look at other options. I have a relative who went the high tech corporate route, moving into technical middle management. His career involves a decent income, an upper middle class lifestyle, predictable vacations, reasonable work hours except during crunch times, and little stress once he leaves the office. On other other hand, he might say that he lacks the independence that a lawyer has, and his income potential is pretty much on a predictable track. Who has the better life? Who knows?
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