The (Unhappy) Lawyer
I recently finished reading “The (Un)Happy Lawyer” by Monica R. Parker. Its subtitle rather gives it away; “A Roadmap to Finding Meaningful Work Outside of the Law.”
Not surprisingly then, Parker’s position is very much that lawyers aren’t a happy bunch. As such it makes a rather interesting counterpoint to another book that I am currently reading on the same theme (“The Happy Lawyer” by Nancy Levit and Douglas O. Linder – but more on that later).
Why read it (other than as confirmation that lawyers don’t have much originality when it comes to picking titles)?
Well, it’s interesting for its uniquely American slant on leaving the legal profession. That, of course, may put some English and Welsh readers off. Some features of the American system (long hours, obscene billing targets, Law School debt) are increasingly topical over the other side of the Pond. However, I did find some of the references hard to relate to (like the buddy system in grade school) and at times a bit too relentlessly Californian (the analogy of falling off a cliff onto a pile of fluffy pillows worked for me but not in the way that was probably intended).
With chapters headed “Seven Reasons to Leave the Practice of Law,” “For Desperate Lawyers who don’t have a clue what they want to do,” and “Ditch your friends who are lawyers,” it’s not aimed at those who may simply be wavering. Rather like Henry VI (and probably quite a few others), Parker wants to rid the world of lawyers.
Personally, I found this a bit draining. Particularly given that this book is aimed at practising lawyers. At times, it nearly sent me Californian, protesting that lawyers need love too.
Certainly, the book contains some good general career advice. And no doubt most pressured English lawyers will identify with many of the common frustrations (long hours, repetitive jobs that don’t match up to Boston Law or The Practice, the partner with the people skills of Attila the Hun). But Parker’s vision is very one-sided. She rather throws out the baby with the bath water, forgetting what may well have attracted lawyers to law in the first place. And, though Parker may argue, it isn’t invariably the money.
If you hate the law as much as Parker, do you really need a book to tell you this? Find a careers counsellor or coach. Or just follow your dream. If you are the (mildly) unhappy lawyer of the title, contemplating a new career, or just a change of direction (Parker does acknowledge that “Sometimes leaving the law doesn’t mean leaving the law”) read the book for its general advice. Some good ideas and case studies pepper the rhetoric. Read it critically, with a degree of scepticism and health cynicism. But I hardly need to tell you that if you’re a lawyer….
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