Ex has been a fed lawyer for 25 years. He has been talking about retiring for 10 years. He has 12 more to to.

Neighbor is a fed lawyer. She wishes she chose differently.

A friend also a fed lawyer—he hates it.

I don’t think fed law is all that.

Anonymous wrote:I think there are happy lawyers but they are the ones in specialized practice areas where they get to fully control their lives. So fed lawyers for good agencies, career law clerks for good judges, in-house patent counsel for innovative companies, regulatory counsel for big pharma companies, etc. Basically the people with specialized skill sets that are in-demand and not beholden to crazy deadlines.

I would echo this and say that it's roles where you feel like part of a team that's getting something interesting and important done. This was my experience at an agency and in-house - helping set up programs, get regs out, work on commerical ventures. I'm an advisor and part of the whole journey, not just called in for a problem at the end.

But again - this is a very hard thing to screen for in a new job.

What about big law lawyers? Are they happy with big $$$$$$?

Very happy in my in-house role. But work for a company with a great culture; I think that is key.

I love to practice law, I love the subject matter, I love making big money. I hate the personalities at a law firm. Hate, hate, hate. I hate the politics, the fifedoms, the conniving, etc. But I stay for the money.

And a PP mentioned that lawyers are there to handle difficult things. That is the essence of private practice, at least in a large NY firm. No one calls us with anything good or positive, or east, it is all last minuted bet the company emergencies, or mega deals, or the most complex new financial product, etc etc etc. Everything is of a massive consequence and the lawyers are the only ones looking at the details. We're the last line of defense, so if it goes wrong the client has someone to blame. I equate it to the lawyers being the nerds in high school doing the homework for the quarterback and the head cheerleader on a friday night. But, that's what the money is for.

I don't love the practice of law. I like the lifestyle it gives me.

- female attorney

My husband has worked in several different firms (large and small) over the years as well as several different in-house jobs. His favorite was an in-house job at a medium sized company experiencing growth. It eventually sold to private equity which then decimated it and he's been looking for a good situation every since. So far no luck. He is great at firm work and his clients love him but he hates that he is expected to be responsive at all hours of the day and weekend. Its just not lifestyle friendly at all. If the clients were more reasonable, I think he would do that but he is actively looking to go back in house from his current law firm job.

We have tons of friends who are attorneys and most of them are unhappy. Our one friend who is an AUSA seems the happiest, but he also complains a lot about how everyone else make so much more money than he does.

I think there are happy lawyers but they are the ones in specialized practice areas where they get to fully control their lives. So fed lawyers for good agencies, career law clerks for good judges, in-house patent counsel for innovative companies, regulatory counsel for big pharma companies, etc. Basically the people with specialized skill sets that are in-demand and not beholden to crazy deadlines.

I am a partner in biglaw in a fairly hot, new practice area. I love what I do. Seven figure salary, work from home, control my own hours. Yes, i work a lot. But so do my friends with graduate degrees who have "real" jobs (like, not a single, childless intermittent election monitor in Indonesia - of course you like your job).

I am very happy at a small, female-owned and run firm. We only do transactional work. Compensation is tied to billables; there's no pressure to bill more than a base minimum to cover your share of operating costs. No one cares where you work. We have some great clients and are not actively looking to grow.

I work in-house and while it can be chaotic at times, I really enjoy it. I have supportive leadership and manage a great team so when we have rough patches it is easier to navigate. No job is perfect but the pluses outweigh the negatives.

BigFed lawyers tend to be the happiest in their jobs.

Fed litigation and love it

Anonymous wrote:Expanding on the PP who said people only contact you when they’re in trouble…it is a very negative world. Even in counseling or contract work, you always have to look for what could go wrong or who might try to screw you over and try to draft language or policies to prevent that. That’s a large part of why I hated being a lawyer.

Add in the hours and the crises, it’s a horrible job.

I disagree. This is culture-specific.

Anonymous wrote:I'm happy in government. But I have been stressed in government too, and I was both happy and stressed at a law firm. A lot of lawyers are anxious people and the pattern here suggests your DH is the "issue," not the job. Send him to therapy.

As I mentioned they did find a great therapist who really helped them and they were doing really well for a while. Unfortunately they seem to have dropped all their coping skills and suggestions to restart have been completely ignored and found offensive (I myself have been in therapy on and off my entire life to work on my own coping skills, though my anxiety is usually geared more towards kids rather than work, so I don’t totally understand the offense).

I have tried to be supportive but continually moving to new jobs is clearly not working. I have raised the idea of working for the government but apparently there are very few jobs available in their area of focus.