Monday, August 23, 2004

My Problem with Working at Law Firms
Stated wonderfully by a blogger. . . Here is an excerpt:
We were sitting at dinner with most of the firm one Friday night. Our London office employs a chef, you see, to make sure we have something moderately nice to eat when we're there past seven, and we're always there past seven anyway. I joined a group of young women lawyers (all married, sadly!), and began scooping some surprisingly good teriyaki salmon onto my gilded fork. One of them glumly plunked an obviously expensive purse onto the table - it immediately attracted the attention of the other two. "That", one said, "is Louis Vitton". "When, exactly, did you go shopping for it? I know for a fact that you haven't left the office before three in a month". The answer struck me in a way the question hadn't, shocking though it was - "I bought it online at 4 in the morning a week ago. I was feeling so depressed, you know? I hadn't been home in three days, taking showers down the hall. I just had to buy something. Isn't it nice?".

And that, to me, is the law firm in a sentence. Sure, the hours are incredible, and the work sometimes depressing. But the real problem is that the firm creates people who assuage their angst with money, like some people eat to feel better.


Read the whole thing.

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