Well, here is the Steve Martin answer to How To Not Burn Out As A Lawyer. First, get your law license, and then don't burn out. Ha! A lot easier said than done. Here are the reasons that lawyers flee the practice of law:
1. Too much pressure with too boring work and too many partners looking over your shoulder.
2. Too much work that seems tedious or a type of law that is distasteful to the lawyer.
3. A fear of the courtroom.
4. A hatred of legal writing and research.
5. Being on your own with no one to mentor you and trouble paying the bills.
The flip sides of the reasons for burn-out can also be the reasons that people know they are destined for the law. Some lawyers like the organization and camaraderie of a big firm and welcome the challenge of moving up the ladder and becoming more of a boss. Plus the pay is usually pretty good.
For those solo practitioners or those is small firm, the stress from bosses lessens, but the stress of ultimately responsibility for being the total legal counsel for the client combined with the need to find clients and figure out how to get paid.
then, there are the boundary issues. If you are cold and calculating, caring little for either your client or for the legal principle at issue, how could you not get burned out. The irony is that I suspect many caring lawyers, especially in criminal case, ,but got burned out watching those for whom the lawyer cares go to prison, sometimes for long periods of time and sometimes when he or she is innocent.
All of these possibilities is enough to break your heart. We talk about female attorneys balancing home life and professional life, but we don't talk much about boundaries and burn-out. We need more training to deal with our grief and sadness and even feelings of abandonment some lawyers feel. I know I have lost quite a few clients. One young single mother died in a one-car collision shortly after her case was settled. One day, on the way to work, she skidded off the road, hit a tree and died. It still tears me up. One man I deposed killed himself two weeks after the deposition. I do not blame myself for those deaths, but they still hurt, a lot. After I lost one trial, I grieved, just as if it were a dearth, for at least six months.
There is only so much pain I can take at anyone time from any one case. The pain can come from the other side. I know that it is not just plaintiffs suffer from the way we treat each other.
Right now, I am tried. I do not want to get burned out and I do not want to retire. There are times that this job is the most exciting I can imagine. There are other times when I feel like I am no good to anyone. It's time for a vacation. I have the best partners in the world and I want to come back. We all need some rest from time to time and I can feel that now is the time for me.
1. Too much pressure with too boring work and too many partners looking over your shoulder.
2. Too much work that seems tedious or a type of law that is distasteful to the lawyer.
3. A fear of the courtroom.
4. A hatred of legal writing and research.
5. Being on your own with no one to mentor you and trouble paying the bills.
The flip sides of the reasons for burn-out can also be the reasons that people know they are destined for the law. Some lawyers like the organization and camaraderie of a big firm and welcome the challenge of moving up the ladder and becoming more of a boss. Plus the pay is usually pretty good.
For those solo practitioners or those is small firm, the stress from bosses lessens, but the stress of ultimately responsibility for being the total legal counsel for the client combined with the need to find clients and figure out how to get paid.
then, there are the boundary issues. If you are cold and calculating, caring little for either your client or for the legal principle at issue, how could you not get burned out. The irony is that I suspect many caring lawyers, especially in criminal case, ,but got burned out watching those for whom the lawyer cares go to prison, sometimes for long periods of time and sometimes when he or she is innocent.
All of these possibilities is enough to break your heart. We talk about female attorneys balancing home life and professional life, but we don't talk much about boundaries and burn-out. We need more training to deal with our grief and sadness and even feelings of abandonment some lawyers feel. I know I have lost quite a few clients. One young single mother died in a one-car collision shortly after her case was settled. One day, on the way to work, she skidded off the road, hit a tree and died. It still tears me up. One man I deposed killed himself two weeks after the deposition. I do not blame myself for those deaths, but they still hurt, a lot. After I lost one trial, I grieved, just as if it were a dearth, for at least six months.
There is only so much pain I can take at anyone time from any one case. The pain can come from the other side. I know that it is not just plaintiffs suffer from the way we treat each other.
Right now, I am tried. I do not want to get burned out and I do not want to retire. There are times that this job is the most exciting I can imagine. There are other times when I feel like I am no good to anyone. It's time for a vacation. I have the best partners in the world and I want to come back. We all need some rest from time to time and I can feel that now is the time for me.
6. Little appreciation for the work lawyers do. Can't live in a constitutional republic governed by the rule of law without people working in the justice system.
ReplyDeleteThat's because people don't appreciate scumbags that have ruined this country. Just in case you are confused If you are a lawyer I am talking about you. I would say lawyers get burned out because they are constantly lying and taking advantage of others but that would imply lawyers have souls.
DeleteI work in indigent defense (representing juveniles) and also represent kids in the foster care system. I hear you and am struggling to deal with the pain and stress of the clients, my desire to fix it all, the love of the work, the frustration of the work, and sole-practice office management. At age 57 I am getting tired too, but I totally get all of what you just said about it being the most exciting and worthwhile work too.
ReplyDelete7. Just remember to be an honest good person that looks out for other human beings. Wait scratch that you are all cocksucking, scumbag, subhuman fucks that just try to fuck over normal people that carry on with their lives. You should all be wiped off the planet. Just kidding you are all trustworthy people looking out for the best interests of this country.
ReplyDelete