Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnny199r
I'm a lawyer and don't really like it anymore. I used to, but now I'm a bit jaded by the fact that there's so many #######s in it and so much B.S. I've certainly lost any passion I had for it.
I'm actually jealous of my pal who works as a heavy duty equipment mechanic. Gets to be outside, B.S around with the boys, not always having to worrying about stupid complaints. I'm seriously considering going into the field (I'm in my early 30s with no kids, no debts and some money saved up)
How about everyone else?
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You know, I look back on my own legal career and, for the most part, can honestly say I haven't enjoyed it tremendously.
That said, there have been parts of it that were really good. If I focus on those and try to identify some common elements, the things that made me happy were:
feeling what I was doing was important
working with other people who supported me and who I respected
finding the
practice interesting rather than the theory
feeling challenged (but not overwhelmed) and that I was growing.
The parts that have been unhappy have been those where I have been isolated and working on my own, not challenged (or, conversely, overwhelmed), feeling like I was stagnating and ultimately not bringing my best to the job.
All that to say, I think you'll find there's room in the profession for you to be happy in it, but you have to identify the things that make you happy in your work and then try to find an area that provides them. It's clearly no longer the area you're in.
One of the biggest challenges for lawyers (and here's a first world problem if ever there was one) is that it's often hard to trade money for lifestyle or interesting work. It always feels like a downgrade when you take a big pay cut, and so people stick with work they hate because they can't imagine making $75K a year instead of $160 or whatever.
But if you're thinking of ditching your career entirely, why not try a stepping stone like that? You have nothing to lose.
I wish you the best as you work through your decision. There are many, many lawyers in the same boat.