Don't believe everything you see on TV shows like Law and Order. There's
more to being a lawyer than going to court and asking dramatic questions.
In fact, it's a competitive business about making things work between people.
Jonathan Bida works at a small litigation firm that focuses on commercial
and civil litigation.
Bida gave a lot of thought to what kind of firm he wanted to work at. He
chose a small firm with an excellent reputation. Not only does Bida get to
work closely with senior lawyers, he is also trusted with more responsibility.
"When you work in a smaller firm, the senior lawyer just can't do everything,
so almost by necessity you end up having more responsibility," says Bida.
Bida has an undergraduate degree in engineering. Law schools accept students
with a wide variety of degrees. As long as you get excellent marks, it doesn't
matter what your first degree is in.
Bida was halfway through his undergrad degree when he thought of going
to law school. He says the main reason was that he "liked arguing over issues."
He had done debating in undergrad and thought he'd make a good lawyer.
On a typical day, Bida works from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. However, the workload
can increase at times, and that means longer hours.
"Everything in litigation is driven by deadlines," says Bida. "So if there's
a motion I'm arguing then I'll take the time that's needed to prepare it,
and if it means working until 12 o'clock at night then that's what it'll mean."
Once in a while, Bida has to go into the office on a weekend. He also takes
work home from time to time. This is not unusual for lawyers.
Unlike Bida, Deanna Morash practiced at a large law firm after earning
her law degree.
"I was very happy in practice," says Morash, who is now director of career
services at a law school. "I really enjoyed the substantive issues in labor
and employment law. I did management side, so I think that's one practice
area where you really develop an ongoing, strong relationship with a lot of
your clients."
Morash says the legal profession is big enough and diverse enough to accommodate
many different types of personalities. Don't let TV shows and movies convince
you that only highly aggressive showboats do well in law.
"I know so many people who are such very different styles of individuals
but who make it work in their own individual way," says Morash. "At the firm
that I practiced at, there were many examples of people who fell on different
points of the continuum of extrovertedeness and introvertedness... but still
had very successful, thriving practices."
Aspiring lawyers often wonder about the law school experience. How tough
is it? How cutthroat is the competition? Will I survive it?
"Law school was a challenging but extremely rewarding experience," says
Morash. She admits that it's a very demanding environment. It can be competitive,
although that competition is usually self-imposed. Some people drop out of
law school, but it's rare to flunk out.
"My experience was that the competitiveness is with one's self, and I think
that applied to my peers as well," says Morash. "The people who tend to go
to law school are people who've achieved a certain level of academic success
and they obviously expect to continue, or hope to continue, that.
"So, it becomes a bit stressful as a result of that, but at the same time
it's rewarding because I found studying the law very interesting and I also
found that there was a really interesting group of people who were doing it
alongside of me."
Once a law student enters the real world of legal practice, the stress
is even greater and the hours even longer. Not everyone stays in the profession.
Some lawyers experience burnout and decide to change careers. Some decide
that a law career doesn't allow them to spend enough time with family and
friends or to pursue other interests.
"Some people will maybe leave private practice or leave a larger firm where
there's a high target for annual billable hours because they just realize
that, though they might love the work and the clients, their time with their
family on the weekends, for example, is something that can't be compromised,
so they have to readjust," says Morash.
That readjustment might involve switching to a smaller firm with a lighter
workload, or transitioning to a position in government or as an in-house corporate
lawyer. Or it might involve getting a graduate degree and becoming a professor,
or leaving the profession to start a business or become a consultant.
But despite the challenges of the profession, for many the
practice of law becomes a long-term career in which the rewards outweigh the
sacrifices.
"The more senior people who... really seemed happy were in my estimation
people who just loved what they did," says Morash. "They just liked the issues.
They liked the files that came in and the problems that they had to solve.
They really enjoyed thinking about those.
"I think they also appreciate the element of advocacy, because it's not
very often where you end up with a case where the answer is black and white,"
says Morash. "Because if it were, it wouldn't end up being a legal problem
because somebody would have figured out the way the chips need to fall and
just dealt with it before ever calling a lawyer. They call us when it's complicated
and ambiguous and they can't figure it out on their own."