Word: lawness
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...mass dissatisfaction? A major increase in working hours, coupled with a corresponding rise in stress, has led to an erosion in the quality of life for many lawyers. Law firms often require that each year attorneys do 2,000 to 2,500 hours of work that can be billed to clients, almost a third more than a decade ago. That frequently translates into twelve-hour-plus workdays and busy weekends as well...
...strain on lawyers has become so bad that two books have recently been written to warn the unwary. "Most law students don't know what they are getting into when they start law school," says Susan Bell, editor of Full Disclosure: Do You Really Want to Be a Lawyer? (Peterson's Guides; $11.95). "Practice is not L.A. Law. For all of the financial rewards, the toll is tremendous." Deborah Arron, author of Running from the Law: Why Good Lawyers Are Getting Out of the Legal Profession (Niche Press; $12.95), agrees. Says she: "Law has become all consuming...
Even with assistance, leaving the law is harder than it sounds. Well-meaning family and friends may not understand why someone would walk away from a profession that offers status and financial security. And many lawyers may be uncertain about leaving the cocoon of practice. "It's hard to rip the label off and say, 'I'm no longer a lawyer,' " observes Leona Vogt, president of Vogt Associates, a consulting firm for attorneys in Cambridge, Mass...
Despite big-city law salaries that typically start at $55,000 to $80,000, the desire for a change of pace may be stronger than the craving for financial rewards. Faith Childs, now a literary agent with the Charlotte Sheedy agency in New York City, gladly left her job as a labor lawyer for a FORTUNE 500 company. "Notwithstanding the fact that I was making a lot of money, the rewards weren't there," says Childs, 38. "It wasn't intellectually challenging. Here, the creative possibilities are limitless...
Defecting from law doesn't necessarily mean a depleted bank account. Howard Tullman, 44, left the Chicago firm Levy & Ehrens in 1981 because his busy travel schedule kept him constantly away from his family. The company he then founded, CCC Information Services, which provides data to the insurance industry, today has 1,000 employees and $105 million in revenues. "You can't become wealthy selling your time," says Tullman, now a multimillionaire. "There just aren't enough hours...