Lawyers and the search for meaning

comic by Todd Zapoli

Non-lawyers - yes this is how lawyers sometimes come to view the world - us (lawyers) and them (humans non-lawyers) have a difficult time understanding why we spend so much time talking about transitioning from or leaving the practice of law. They wonder, on the offshoot that we cross their minds at all, why this subject consumes us, fueling a growing industry of legal career counselors and meetups throughout the country?

To a certain extent, lawyers are self-involved. But with good reason.... Just hear me out.

In most professions from architecture to medicine, there is a sense that all one needs to do is pay her dues and then the big payoff will burst forth into existence. The legal field, however, appears to lean more toward an indentured servitude where just when you think you have paid enough, BAM!, new dues appear. Some see this as proof that lawyers have an enormous sense of entitlement and should be happy no matter what happens. I don't see it that way.

The big payoff for many lawyers isn't so much about the money as it is about the meaning (or lack thereof). Imagine choosing medicine as a career and never having direct contact with a patient throughout four years of residency. Or imagine studying to become a landscape architect but never being allowed to view the landscape you have helped to research and design. This is certainly the life many attorneys in law firms live, which compels them to initially seek out smaller firms or solo practices. Often that is just the beginning of the search for meaning because what these lawyers discover is that even in smaller firms or solo practices, the legal system itself creates barriers that oftentimes prevent us from serving our clients in a way that is meaningful. Lawsuits do not necessarily equal justice served.

Lawyers who leave the law are not so much running from the law as they are running toward something that provides them a sense of meaning. Recently Matthew B. Crawford, a Ph.D. turned motorcycle mechanic, released his first book, Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry Into the Value of Work where he imbues the reader with a sense of awe for craftsmanship that instills within the craftsman the satisfaction that comes from seeing a task from start to finish. This, he claims, is what is missing from the cubicle nation in which we live.

The further you are removed from seeing how your work impacts the lives of people, the less likely you are to find meaning and fulfillment in that work. Lawyers who leave the profession know this on some level. They whine and complain and host meetings to vent their frustrations about their profession because ultimately they want more from life but don't yet know how to go about getting it. So I'm just asking for a little understanding for all of us. I'm not excusing the behavior - no one likes a whiner. But I do think that there is more to it than narcissism and entitlement.

Comments

[Amy]

Great post.

[Matthew]

Then can we agree on an absence of meaning in the practice of law? Even the suggestion is enough to keep me reading. Thx.