also, how do you account for the remaining smart people who are really into legal practice?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5523542&forum_id=2#47624224)

remaining people = golden handcuffs and/or capable of deluding themselves the work is important and valuable

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5523542&forum_id=2#47624230)

1 everything in this practice is personal. I can’t put it away. A loss feels personal. A win feels personal. You trade on your reputation, and if you lose, your reputation gets worse usually. So that’s tiring.

2 every day I spend doing law stuff feels very much like a waste. I have just traded away my precious time on earth

3 it’s exhausting being responsible for other people’s problems

1 is more specific to litigation. 2 seems like typical midlife crisis stuff. 3 is law generally. I think burnout is probably most common in litigators because as you age up you get tired of dealing with dumb psychopathic fucks and dumb judges and having your life dictated by a litigation calendar. A lot of lawyers lose patience with litigation. I’m personally trying to reduce my litigation practice, the problem is that it is quite profitable and hard to turn down the money.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5523542&forum_id=2#47624229)

I think lawyers specifically are smart people who tend to be directionless and the profession attracts a lot of people who “fell into” doing law. You can’t putz into neurosurgery, you have to be at least a little passionate about it and you have to work harder to get it. Lawyers also don’t tend to have the natural talent for other high paying professions and risk-averse personalities. So there’s a lot of latent frustration. They are smart but there isn’t really a better fit if they still want all of those material things, which lawyers value highly.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5523542&forum_id=2#47624577)

I’m transitioning from corporate America to hanging up my own shingle. It’s amazing how much lawyers can make while working from home, with very small capital requirements, high levels of autonomy, and not having to deal with politics or retarded middle managers and layers of organization. Most people, even smart people, would kill for this.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5523542&forum_id=2#47624632)

Author: Paralegal Mohammad (I fucking hate libs)

I’m transitioning

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5523542&forum_id=2#47624658)

whenever anyone considering law school asks me i give them that advice, and especially to actually work in a law firm to see what it's like. i actually like being a lawyer when it comes down to the nuts and bolts. it's the mindless perfectionism and useless was of "prestigious" practice areas that annoys me.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5523542&forum_id=2#47624659)

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5523542&forum_id=2#47624667)

A smart person is often either bored by an assignment or would just re-write the precedent to make it better for some obscure factor no one gives a shit about it.

We've all had junior associates who absolutely love researching and writing a memo on some obscure topic but can't get you a fucking form officer's certificate on deadline.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5523542&forum_id=2#47626322)