DEVELOPING A CHALLENGING AND SUCCESSFUL LAW CAREER©

Our work with lawyer retention and improving job satisfaction for lawyers has shown us how universal lawyer dissatisfaction is and how much the profession needs to address this issue through effective career design.

Lawyers have a desire to be happy and to live balanced lives, although that balance is perceived to be unattainable. Lawyers believe that being dissatisfied with the practice is just the nature of being a lawyer and that nothing can be done to change it. The level of hopelessness expressed in any possibility of meaningful change is particularly disturbing to us. Lawyers must understand that there are choices between fight and flight.

Chief among the reasons for lawyer dissatisfaction are the "golden handcuffs." Many lawyers told us that they continue to practice law because it pays better than anything else they can do and they have certain financial needs that can only be met by continuing to make their current level of income or more.

Lawyers’ financial expectations far exceed those of "mere mortals." We also have a disturbing tendency to live beyond our means and to engage in subtle forms of self sabotage in money matters. We overspend our income based on expectations of ever increasing compensation. We are then in no position to take advantage of opportunities that come our way, opportunities that might make us happier, unless they immediately pay more than our current compensation levels. Gaining control over one’s finances is the first step.

Every law practice is a solo practice. In law firms, departments or agencies, the solo practices are joined together for some period of time. In every case, though, the individual lawyer is starting and building a solo practice. Yet, very little career design is being done by individual lawyers or their firms. Recognizing that a law practice develops in certain fairly well defined stages is the first step to designing a career that will be successful for the individual lawyer.

Stage I is the introductory lawyer. Getting admitted to an accredited law school, passing the bar exam and finding the first job completes Stage I. This is where career design has its first opportunity to be effective and where it is rarely considered. Many, many law students take initial jobs where they will not thrive. The early attrition rates among this group (25% after two years) is proof.

Stage II includes the first five years, when the lawyer is searching for a specialty, paying back debt, developing expertise and finding his niche. Again, career design and career building fall by the way side. 60% of lawyers leave their first jobs at this stage, demonstrating that the levels of job dissatisfaction for the Stage II lawyer result most often in "flight."

Stage III is five to fifteen years in practice. Here, the lawyer has generally given up the idea of a great career, decided to accept the unsatisfactory nature of legal work and focus on outside interests for fun and fulfillment. This is the time when lawyers are getting married, having children and accumulating material possessions. The life balance issues related to working and parenting combined with job dissatisfaction derail many Stage III careers.

Stage IV is the following fifteen to thirty years, or what we call the long distance runner. The challenge is to stay interested. Stay fresh. Have fun. Many, many lawyers are doing boring work below their level of expertise that does not interest or excite them at this stage. They often make substantial sums of money and accumulate significant wealth, but have no greater level of happiness than earlier stages.

Stage V is retirement and slowing down. It is the time when lawyers work just to have something to do with the rest of their days. Proving once again that law is a vocation.

Each stage has its own pitfalls and rewards, its own opportunities for excellence and its own challenges. Recognizing each stage and its relationship to the others is the first step to successful career building. Understanding that each lawyer is a solo practitioner with an obligation to find personal and professional satisfaction puts the accountability where it belongs: with the individual lawyer.

Many career design efforts are thwarted because lawyers don’t understand the simple relationship between skills and challenges, stress and boredom. They don’t set appropriate goals and take responsibility for their own progress.

Lawyers who do set goals do so inappropriately. Goals are not: I want a million dollars. Goals are: I want to try a four week case and do a good job. There must be an element of control. Skills and challenges must be well matched. Behavior must be aligned with words. In the vernacular: walk your talk.

A successful, fun, rewarding, challenging legal career is within the grasp of every lawyer and can be had without fleeing either the practice or her current association. A little planning and diligence is all it takes. Joy beats duty every time.

©PeopleWealth May 1999