Why did YOU become a lawyer?
Certainly that is a question that many (if not all) of the lawyers who have recently been laid off and who are unable to find new employment have asked themselves - - which is understandable.
But this article is NOT addressed to those unfortunate souls. Rather, it is addressed to those lawyers who are still working, and possibly making nice incomes, who are not happy in their work or careers.
To those latter-mentioned lawyers I again ask, why did YOU become a lawyer?
Did you go to undergraduate school, then on to law school, then endure the rigors of the Bar Exam, just to get a job and get paid? Or, was it something more? If you don't enjoy doing what you are currently doing, why not? Can you articulate what the problem is? Is your work not fulfilling a need within yourself and, if not, why not? Is there more meaning to what you do than mere work and, if not, does it even need to be?
I think that we all (be it lawyers or others doing whatever they are doing) need to "take stock" every now and then and ask ourselves why we became what they have become. Why did we become a lawyer in the first place? What motivated us to do what we are now doing?
...and, if we find that there is a great disparity between (a) the motivation or desire that we first had when we made the decision to become a lawyer and (b) what we have now become and what we are now doing, it would seem natural and logical that we would give serious thought to the reason for that disparity. And, equally important, that we would think of what we can do to narrow (if not eradicate) that gap.
Comments