I'm in college studying political science and I think I'd like to be an attorney. Many people in my family are/were attorney's and I think it is what I was made to do. However I'd sorta like a life too . Do all lawyers work 16 hour days and weekends? I'm not particularly interested in becoming hugely rich, it'd be nice, but having a life and family is nicer.
Is there legal work available thats not...all consuming? Are most lawyers generally successful no matter where they work? Are there poor lawyers (financially, ha)?
Answer:
It's a broad profession, like being a medical doctor.
If you go to work for a law firm (typical out of law school), then yes the first few years are insane hours. It's sort of like hazing -- something you get through.
However, working for a corporation as an attorney is more of a 8-to-5 standard, just like any other corporate officer.
Also, it matters whether you are in litigation (court) or transactional (paperwork) areas of the law. Transactional tends to be more steady pace, with roughly the same amount of work each day and each week.
Litigation is much more variable, with (again) insane hours immediately before and during a trial, but much less intensity in the months between trials.
Then there are private sector versus public (govt) jobs -- and lots of other variations.
Go into law if you love the structure of the law, and you love building and crafting logical arguments based on similarities and differences an analogies. Don't go into it for the prestige or the money.
Why not do something that contributes more to mankind?
Your addition to your question is right on the money. People love to bash lawyers (and we sometimes deserve it) - but it all stops when it's their rights at issue. That's when they realize how valuable it is to have someone who works hard to protect them.
To your main question: assuming you graduate law school with top grades, you can choose your lifestyle, and have an income that matches your choice. If your grades aren't as good, your choices will be more constrained, but you'll still have some.
Some attorneys opt to work on their own or for smaller firms, where there is recognition that the practice of law need not be all consuming. Some work in government, public interest or in house corporate work, in which the hours are often quite manageable (government and public interest work pays a lot less, though!).
But if you're out for the brass ring, big firm work tends to be brutal in its hours and pressure, though VERY lucrative, with top firms offering in excess of $150,000 per year to first year associates.
Having a family and a life is something I found very important -that's why I practice in my own small firm. It lacks the financial security of the big firm - but I'm able to take my sons to school every morning, and pick them up many days, too.
Good luck!
I hope not! I wanna be a lawyer to!
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