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PawningOurLicenses 13 - 03 Feb 2010 - Main.JohnAlbanese
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| | A major theme of the class seems to include that many, if not most, Columbia students will go out and pawn their licenses. This idea seems to strongly correlate with the vast percentage of students who go to work for a corporate law firm, though is not the only way this pawning occurs. What I want to ask is why do so many students choose this career path when most are aware of the consequences, for themselves and society, that result from that decision. This is something I am currently wrestling with, and will not deny that I am looking towards a possible career at a large law firm if I could get one. The dilemma I am facing is why do I want such a career, knowing that most associates seem to be miserable at their jobs, the ratio of pay/hours worked, and the chance of promotion is minimal within the firm so that will never have any real control and end up getting trapped in a certain lifestyle that becomes hard to escape from. From my perspective, it is hard to pinpoint the source, because I can't really believe that Columbia actively pushes it more so than other careers, and people find ways of paying of their loans one way or another, just the length of time it takes will differ. What I seem to question myself lately is do such large corporate firms actually give monetary rewards and prestige that is worth it and can actually be utilized towards a true career path. That I don't know. What seems to force so many students hands is that we are forced to choose a career after one year of law school, having taken no substantive course work or ability to explore different fields. This is a strange contrast to college where many of us took at least 2 years to figure out what major, and even longer to figure out what we want to do afterward. So why do so many of us choose to work for a large law firm?
-- DavidGarfinkel - 03 Feb 2010 | | | -- SamHershey - 03 Feb 2010
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> | I think there are some key reasons as to why people may take a position they would not "rationally" want. I think that students need to be aware of these temptations in order to avoid them.
1) It is easier to get a job with a big firm. The law school is designed to funnel you into a firm job. The firms come here to recruit and interview you. Career services pushes students to do EIP which is dominated by large firms. The jobs are there and they are offered to students without the students having to do much work.
2) Firms will make the job seem really enticing. The representatives that you will meet from law firms are people that are paid to convince you to come to the firm. These people are the ones you will profit off of your labor. Unless you do some research on your own, you will not meet the associates and partners who hate their jobs. The summer that you spend at a firm will be filled with light work days, nice dinners and lavish events. Your paycheck will be ridiculous. It will be very tempting to say that you can work for one or two years to pay off your loans and then leave.
3) Everybody you know will be taking these jobs. Never underestimate the power of peer pressure and group think.
-- JohnAlbanese - 03 Feb 2010 | | |
- I’m curious about how one becomes trapped. It’s not like the miserable associates (and are most associates really as miserable as rumored or just a whiny, vocal few) are mentally challenged high school dropouts with felony convictions. Maybe you want to enter that world because you want the challenge and to become the difficulties to become who relishes being a biglaw lawyer. There seem to be plenty of people who love their work, and not for the money.
To David's post above:
Assuming lawyers ultimately desire to do justice and to be able to choose their own clients is not so faulty. It makes sense to assume that people want to contribute to their society, because they want to be valued. The goal of every life is to live happily, so I do not protest the idea that working for monetary value and self-pleasure is valid. However, the reason we assume lawyers – people in general really – wish for justice is because most people wish for coherence and fairness. Plus, feeling valued makes them happy, so working in public interest or “for the people” is seen as good. The best of the best of the corporate litigation lawyers are happy probably not simply because they have a lot of money but because their clients sincerely respect and value and need them. |
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