CASS DA RE
<Features Editor>
There is a lot of concern about lawyers and their mental health. You’ve seen the statistics and rankings that put lawyers at the bottom rungs of the proverbial ladder. Lawyers are more likely to abuse drugs and alcohol, become depressed, commit suicide, get divorced, quit within the first five years, change careers, and wish they had picked a different career. On the happiness scale, lawyers rank side by side with dentists, accountants, roofers, and other notoriously unhappy professions.
Lawyers work long hours on painstakingly detailed work. They work under pressure and deadlines; imposed by clients, the court, and superiors. They work within a hierarchical structure; where there is always someone looking over one’s work, waiting and watching. Mistakes in the legal world are not unfortunate mishaps, but actionable wrongs that may expose an individual or the firm to liability. What is more terrifying and unhappy than being sued?
In addition, clients often expect a lawyer to solve their problems, both legal and non-legal. Did I mention, they expect this to be done immediately? Client relationships are a critical component to lawyering. Not all clients are happy people, not all interactions are pleasant, particularly if the lawyer is not prepared to tell the client exactly what he/she wants to hear. There are many uncomfortable and difficult conversations to be had.
Quite the rosy picture of our future, isn’t it?
What is it about the legal profession that has warranted such an unhappy portrait? Some have suggested that the law profession attracts unhappy people, addictive personalities, and sadistic natures. I must strongly disagree with this hypothesis. Think back to the first days of orientation week. Remember the brightly coloured t-shirts, the wide eyes of wonderment, the nervous laughter, and the perceptible buzz of excitement. Every year, the new classes of law students that grace Gowlings Hall do not exhibit such pessimistic characteristics. I refuse to believe that people who work so hard to get to law school did so hoping to be unhappy. Quite the opposite is likely to be true. We pursue this career option (hopefully) because there is something about the profession that we believe will make us happy, that there is something that we love.
If you are reading this and subconsciously shaking your head; if you can’t think of anything in the practice of law that may make you happy; if there is nothing that you love, that excites you, that motivates you to wake up in the morning; I ask, why did you come to law school? Why do you want to be a lawyer? What are your motivations? Why are you here?
There are many theories in reference to the gray, dark cloud that seems to perpetually loom over the profession. My happiness hypothesis is that it all starts right here. It starts with the reasons why students choose to enter law school. If those rationales (that need not be reasonable) ultimately align with one’s personal practice of law, one will find happiness, peace, enjoyment, and satisfaction. If those original reasons are impossible, unfeasible, unrealistic, or empty, the inevitable disappointment will prevent one from ever moving to a happier place.
For example, a common driving force for entering law school is “because my father was a lawyer,” or “my parents always wanted me to be a lawyer.” It is a laudable motivation, and one wishes to honour the wishes of one’s parents. Unfortunately, living someone else’s dream or following someone else’s path never leads to personal fulfillment. Therefore, these reasons for entering law school cannot create or encourage happiness.
For another example, a driving force of fame and fortune is feasible, but not substantial. Its nutritional value for one’s mental health is that of a gummy bear. Money and means are legitimate professional goals. Such goals are demonstrative of ambition and a willingness to work hard. However, if E!’s True Hollywood Stories series has taught us anything, it is that you cannot buy happiness.
Alas, not all hope is lost for the lost souls. For those who came into law school for reasons that do not speak to one’s growth, development, life goals, or happiness, you are not doomed to a depressiin existence of desk job dreariness. However, you will be required to reframe your perspective.
The legal profession is a difficult world to be a part of. Hence it is vital for one to be well grounded in one’s personal convictions of joining such an institution. Your happiness challenge is this: find conviction. Find reasons for being here that are conducive to your future happiness. When, one day, your daily life is in line with the way you envisioned living your life in law school, you will (hopefully) also find happiness.