Truth Behind Horror Stories in Big Law?

sallyawp
Wed, 29 May 2013 10:56:15 +0000

For the most part however, many lawyers (the people on this thread the exception of course), are often not very nice people. Its the nature of the beast. You are paid to do a job, and if that means hurting other people in doing so, well that’s what you are paid to do. You learn to leave your conscience at home.



One of the reasons why I chose to do corporate work is that there is little room for stepping on or hurting other people. Though in the course of negotiating a deal rarely will one win every point they were hoping to achieve for their clients, everyone does typically shake hands and walk away from a deal happy that it closed - either because they became richer by cashing out of an investment or a business or because they have a vision for where the transaction will lead them into the future.

Of course, there are plenty of cocky, arrogant corporate attorneys, and plenty of cocky, arrogant clients, but there are plenty more who are kind, generous and thoughtful. I have had mentors over the years who have gone way above and beyond the call of duty, in spite of their long hours at work, to teach me and show me many of the things that have made me successful today.

For me, litigation was not appealing because it was more about forcing the opposing side to submit and do something they were not otherwise inclined to do. That’s not to say that there aren’t truly aggrieved plaintiffs out there who deserve whatever settlement/judgment they receive, but the adversarial nature of litigation practice was never my cup of tea.



In can be a soul crushing experience so that many lawyers sooner or later opt out of the profession. Others thrive in this profession, believing that they have the obligation to zealously represent their clients no matter what the cost to their opponents.



Again, it’s not just about winning and losing, at least not in corporate transactional practice. It is about helping to guide your clients through difficult legal changes, challenging regulatory environments, competing shareholder interests, and tough negotiations. I regularly guide companies through their efforts to become more sustainable and to provide transparent sustainability reporting to the public. I help healthcare clients navigate their way through layer upon layer of sometimes competing regulatory regimes, reimbursement mechanisms, challenges from competitors and tax hurdles. I love my work. I sometimes could stand to have a little bit less of it.

Remember - this is a client service industry. Your client says jump and you merely ask, how high? If you are not successful making your clients happy (and making the folks on the other side of the transaction wish they had you as their counsel), you won’t be successful practicing corporate law.

There is no area of law that is uniformly free from working long hours under tremendous pressure. Let me emphasize again - CLIENT SERVICE INDUSTRY. You help your clients to the very best of your ability even when your client is unreasonable (though as a partner, you can manage/massage expectations to some degree). If you want a career that involves self-determination, the ability to go home at times of your own choosing, and the right to choose only to work only on those matters that you find fulfilling or intellectually stimulating or that make you happy, this is likely not the career for you.