Same song, different beat

In my line of work (helping lawyers derive more fulfillment and greater satisfaction from their work and careers), it is only natural that I would hear numerous complaints from lawyers about their work.  Actually, that is what I get paid for - - hearing lawyers complain (and, hopefully, addressing those complaints).

But, a strange thing has occurred in recent months.  I have noticed fewer lawyers complaining.  One would think that unusual, particularly in these difficult economic times when clients are leaving firms due to economic difficulties, firms have been laying off lawyers due to lack of work, and lawyers are having trouble finding employment.  In fact, an article published in the Los Angeles Daily Journal (a legal newspaper) on March 8, 2010 states that more than 57,000 jobs in the legal sector have been lost nationwide since November 2008 according to Labor Department statistics.

So, one would think just the reverse would occur - - more lawyers complaining more, rather than less.

But I found the reason fewer lawyers are complaining in a Washington Post article written by Dan Pashman, published in April 2009.

Pashman writes that it is not that the same number of employed lawyers hate their jobs any less, it is just that they feel they really can't complain, because at least they are still working.  These employed lawyers feel like they are carrying the burden of keeping their mouths shut (refraining from talking about their stressful day at work) when others have no work at all.

Pearlman says that layoffs across the country are affecting personal relationships, and it is not just the laid-off who are feeling it.  Many people who are still working say they have stopped asking unemployed friends about job prospects, and they make sure not to gripe about their own jobs when those friends are around.

But, refraining from the time-honored tradition of venting about one's work (and, we lawyers know that venting about one's work is a form of "national pastime" for lawyers) can create its own problems.  It can make the lawyer feel "stuck."  In fact, an unhappy lawyer who feels they cannot vent will start to resent the fact that they are not allowed to hate their job, or not allowed to have a bad day, because they are supposed to be thankful to have a job at all.

It is not just the laid-off lawyer that is affected in bad times.  The still-employed lawyer has to deal with the threat of more layoffs hanging over their head, increased workload because others are gone, the loss of friends in the office, and probable pay cuts.

So, those lawyers still employed are increasingly biting their tongues out of respect for those in more dire straits. It is understandable that there are a lot of seriously repressed lawyers out there who are probably entitled to their own slice of the empathy pie even though they are still employed.

Comments

[KRISTAMontoya20]

It is well known that money makes us autonomous. But what to do if somebody has no money? The one way is to get the personal loans or college loan.

[impotenta]

Same song, different beat - Great title. We use it everyday here in Romania.