New Plan - Feedback Welcome!

[CuppaJoe]

And another sad fact is that this is often a zero sum game; in order for me to succeed at my job and prosper, I must make some other lawyer fail at her job.

I work as a paralegal for a Family Law Appellate Attorney who also handles "high end" complicated divorces often including such things as division of businesses. There is a fastasy among Family Law attorneys that they work together and believe me, compared to say, litigators, this is true. Also, since the trial courts are overburdened with cases, many people hire private judges which are hand-picked by mutual agreement of the attorneys. All and all this can be a relatively pleasant process; and much of what I do is abstract, not emotional. I know and adore many of the opposition attorneys. (It was a very different game when I worked in litigation!)

Anyway, the point of this is that many of the opposition FL firms hire people right out of law school; I have followed the careers of many of them who are doing very well (here in the San Francisco bay area). Some start their own firms and either do well or fail, mostly they do well....

 

[GoodSense]

Thanks!!

I guess I'm brought down to earth a little more now. It's another bad day at w*rk so I know for sure I need to get out of there. I like challenges but don't think 60-80 hour work week is for me. Paralegal sounds interesting to me, along with some of the other options.

I wouldn't know what I'd do without this board. Thanks so much, everyone.

 

[ylm23]

masterblaster - lusitan's post pretty nicely sums it up. Yeah, there are plenty of miserable attorneys but there are plenty of people miserable in any job you can think of. also, some of us really like it and are happy doing it. The more i talk to my friends back home the more i miss it.

 

[ChemEng]

Ive had the same exact debate recently. I work as an engineer for the Army in a field thats less than interesting on a day to day basis (RAM). Law School was an option for me, but decided on an MBA as it was more applicable to general professional development instead of development along a specific career path.

I got a promotion recently (to GS13), but still not certain that federal service is where my long term career should be.

Keep us informed of thoughts or decisions you make. Im interested in seeing where you go as it may help me overcome some of my own inertia.