Over lunch one day, talk turned to the associates who were laid off last year and what they were doing now. A few are working for smaller firms. One or two have left the profession. Several are working for the government, legal services, or nonprofits. The most common gossip about that last group was, "So-and-so is working for Regulatory Agency... and she's HAPPY!" Everyone looked bitter at this. "And she's actually making a decent salary! Not biglaw money, but decent." Then everyone looked envious.
As soon as you're admitted to Harvard Law, they start hammering into you the message that you are going to Be Somebody. That you are an Important Person, and are going to run the world someday. On the first day of orientation, they say, "Look to your right. Look to your left." But they no longer follow up with "... Only one of you will still be here on graduation day." Instead, it's, "Remember these people. They will be senators, CEOs, federal judges."
I hated the prestige-whoring that goes on at Harvard, but that message couldn't help but sink in. Recently I was remembering why I went to law school. I just wanted a job that I liked, that I thought was interesting and worthwhile. I didn't necessarily want a career that consumed or defined me. It didn't even cross my mind that I could Be Somebody one day, until the Harvard indoctrination started.
Now I wonder. I think I explored my options in law school, but did I think too narrowly about a career? Did I factor in prestige and money more than I admitted to myself? When I think now about what I might do in the future, I feel like my universe of potential options has narrowed more than it should after only a year of practice.
I know my legal career is only beginning. I'm just less sure than I used to be about where I want it to go.
Not Harvard, but feeling the same lately. This is not what I envisioned when I started law school - can I break away and return to what I initially wanted? I'm trying to think that through.
ReplyDeleteI understand exactly what you mean about being limited in your options. When I was laid off I toyed with the idea of doing something completely different and just starting over. I was just stumped as to what that something different might be that my law degree would be useful for. Ultimately I was just so terrified of never finding work in the legal field again that I took the first law firm opportunity that came along.
ReplyDeleteWhen we move back to out old city once my husband is done with B-school I think I'm actually going to think long and hard about what the "something different" might be.
That's the good thing about the legal profession though, is that experience is experience. You can always do something else down the road. One of the prosecutors I worked with came from an actual good law school and worked for a big firm doing corporate litigation and whatnot. Then she just decided she wanted to do something else and became a prosecutor. Big paycut, but apparently much more rewarding for her.
ReplyDeleteI just figure at this point, I'm getting my feet wet and will eventually find my niche.