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Becoming a lawyer was not my first career choice. It wasn't even my second. Unlike many of my law school classmates, I neither had passion for the law nor was becoming a lawyer a lifelong dream of mine. I wanted a good income and a respectable job. For me, and others who had decided to pursue the law school route, becoming a lawyer seemed like a safe and intelligent choice.

 

I must admit that my college education did not adequately prepare me for the rigorous pace of law school. I felt unsure of myself and I was growing increasingly concerned that I was not really equipped for the kind of intense linear thinking required for a career in law.

 

My doubts began on my very first day of law school when our Contracts professor told us that before we could become lawyers, we had to first learn how to think like lawyers. One of the students asked the professor how we will know when we had reached the state of thinking like a lawyer. The professor replied with a smile, “When you get paid to think like one.” 

 

Legal Education - A New Way Of Thinking

 

I soon realized that thinking like a lawyer was very different from how we learned to think in college. For example, memory, while valued in college, was completely secondary to learning how to reason like a lawyer. As a result, law professors enjoyed nothing more than publicly demoralizing students who might memorize well, but could not think through the law. While creative and original thinking was highly valued in college, in law school, thinking creatively could mean the end of your legal training. They are not interested in creative essays or the esoteric meaning of the law.

 

As law students we soon discovered that there was much more assigned reading than could possibly be completed in the time allotted us — unless of course, we spent almost every waking hour briefing and outlining our assigned cases. The competitive nature of the process drove us even harder. Competition was fierce and was bred into us from day one. It was not long until our classmates looked like our adversaries. 

 

Law schools understand the power of neural plasticity and they were keen on shaping our minds to work differently from how they had functioned before. The goal, of course, was for us to learn how to think in what can only be described as an linear vacuum. We actually became the "thinker" rather then the “person” behind the thinking.  This was a subtle but important shift in identifying with your thoughts so completely, that you began to feel like you became your thoughts.

 

The result was that a new neural structure was beginning to emerge from the old one—a new set of lenses through which to understand our role as legal thinkers. For many students, becoming the legal thinker was nothing less then intellectual transcendence. For many other students, including myself, the loss of our capacity to think emotionally and creatively was unnerving.

 

Legal Education - Limits Emotional Thinking

 

Thinking like a lawyer demanded thinking within the confines of pure logic - not emotion. It was one-sided left-brain thinking only. Law students found themselves thinking within legal abstractions, leading to other abstractions, which lead us to legal decision and rules of law. Surviving law school was a little like Pavlovian behaviorism, we as law students were rewarded when we performed well, and were publicly ridiculed when we performed poorly.

 

We also learned how to think defensively. We learned how to be skeptical and negative about almost everything. We learned how to work without regard to another person’s trouble and misery. We learned how to look for the traps, calculate the potential damage and above all, we were taught never to turn our backs on our adversary, the court and even our clients. We learned to trust no one and be on the lookout for every possible risk and potential harm. We learned to leave our compassion and emotions at the door. We were to become caretakers of other people’s misery. We had to always look at the glass half-empty.

 

It turns out I had just enough left-brain cells to get me through law school and pass the bar. Yet it is worth considering what we gained from our legal education and what we may have lost in the process. Lawyer thinking began to spill over into our personal lives. Unconsciously, we started to relate to and observe others within the context of either ally or foe. This type of thinking began to shade our views, opinions and judgments of life in general. In the process, we lost some friends and acquired new ones (usually other law students) who were more likely to see and understand the world as we did.

 

Learning to think like lawyers made us less capable of the kind of emotive thinking necessary to make creative choices in our work. We were discouraged to think outside the box. Indeed, some could argue we became the box! For some students, the promise of status and money were worth the change to our thinking and personality. For many other students, including myself, law was a kind of career experiment, one that I chose not to make a permanent part of my life.

 

Consider The Legal Career Choice Carefully

 

Today, thousands of jaded and unhappy lawyers search for ways to get back in touch with their right brain and are finding new careers in many different vocations. While I ended up practicing law for over fifteen years and was quite successful at it, I was also quite unhappy, bored and wanting out of the hamster cage. I eventually found the courage to transition out of the full-time practice of law and into something much more satisfying.

 

Today, it is quite common to see lawyers leave the law and go on to discover more satisfying careers. However, it is important for young people who are considering entering the legal field to also consider the changes they will likely go through in the process – as well as some of the career details concerning the actual practice of law.

 

The Reality Of Working Long Hours

 

The realities of working in the legal profession today should be fully explored before reaching a decision to apply and enter law school. The daily responsibilities of lawyers often translate into late nights and long days. In a recent university study, of those lawyers who worked full time, about 45 percent admitted to working in excess of 55 hours a week. With respect to the nature of their work, about 32 percent of lawyers state they’re self-employed, either as partners in law firms or in their own individual practice. Moreover, a significant number of attorneys are employed at various levels of the federal and state government.

 

It is strongly advised that you speak with at least three or four lawyers concerning their experience and satisfaction level in the practice of law. Don’t be afraid to ask them tough questions. Most lawyers will be very honest with you and share with you both the positive and negative aspects of this career. You may be surprised to hear what some of them have to say. Finally, the study and practice of law is extremely demanding. If you are the type of person that does not like conflict or misery – either yours or others – you might want to reconsider such a career choice. Get informed before you jump in.
   

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