Pleas of frustration: Lawyers questioning, abandoning their profession

Boston Globe ^ | 8/18/2003 | Ralph Ranalli

[rface]

Jean Terranova wasn't the only lawyer in Massachusetts this year feeling deep dissatisfaction with her choice of profession. In fact, she wasn't even the only soon-to-be-ex-lawyer in her class at chef school.

A death penalty appeals specialist from Framingham, Terranova, 38, said she was fed up with increasingly strict laws to limit appeals, inflexible sentencing guidelines, and funding shortages that prevented her from hiring the necessary experts.

[rface]

Ashland, Missouri

[ClearCase_guy]

"Nobody cared about justice anymore; it was just about applying rules.

A lawyer who doesn't want to pay attention to rules. Great. A lawyer who "knows" what justice is, and simply expects it to be applied (maybe she likes Judges who legislate from the bench).

From this article I don't get the sense that any lawyers are quitting due to the fact that it is an evil, immoral profession which tries to twist the truth in order to squeeze as much money from as many people as possible. I guess THAT'S not a problem. It's the dang rules that make it unpleasant.

[Mercat]

I've been a lawyer now for 25 years. Most of the time in family law. Hard work. I'm now in solo practice instead of senior partner in a small firm. It gives me a bit more flexibility and although I have more responsibility for my clients, I don't have a staff of seven to worry about. I have one person working for me. I have more work than I can do and a decent income. Not a bad way to make a living. The key is keeping it to 40 hours/week or less and not bringing it home.

[Richard Kimball]

Oh, darn. And there's such a shortage of lawyers.

[wbill]

"Nobody cared about justice anymore; it was just about applying rules

Am I the only one who finds this statement unsettling? I thought that's what court is supposed to do.....uphold the law.

[wbill]

I'm not alone, I guess......phew!

[camle]

big diff 'tween and 'twixt tort lawyers, criminal lawyers and family lawyers. if I was one, I'd rather be a family lawyer. it's the tort lawyers that give them all a bad name.

[LanPB01]

The day I left my previous firm was one of the happiest days of my life, and I only worked in the profession for a year. I can't imagine how bad it would have been if I'd stayed longer.

[lonestar]

it was just about applying rules

I thought is was about finding a loop-hole around the rules.

[xsmommy]

is it true you are turning pastry chef....? ; )

[keats5]

I'm an inactive attorney. I left law to be a full time stay-at-home mom. I'm amazed to have found so many other women who have made the same choice.

Before law school, I was a nurse. Since nursing has historically been a woman's profession, it's easy to re-enter the field after raising kids. Many hospitals offer re-enty courses. I've found no such thing as a legal re-entry course yet here in Ohio.

[mountaineer]

I practiced law for nearly 12 years, left the profession, earned a culinary arts degree, worked in that field for a while until the physical demands took their toll on my feet and back, and eventually found my current profession, for which I am well suited. While a lawyer, I always felt I did my best to "do justice" for my clients and for society, and was quite successful, by that measure. However, it just was something my personality didn't fit. It helps to be an aggressive, confrontational, outgoing person if one hopes to be happy as a lawyer, and I am none of those. Leaving law was the right thing for me to do.

[xsmommy]

earned a culinary arts degree

i didn't know that, mountaineer, how cool! i took a cooking class while staying at the Greenbriar last summer, and it turns out that the chef that was teaching it was from the Burgh!

[boris]

Have they defunded the Legal Services Corporation yet?

[mountaineer]

Don't tell me the chef teaching at the Greenbrier was a former lawyer - that would be too wierd! Seriously, I'd love to take one of those courses there (and play some golf!). My husband is pushing for me to take a one-week course at CIA, just for fun.

[angkor]

Most of the decent, helpful lawyers I've known have been in solo or small firm practice. Except one guy who took on so much work that his competence suffered (in retrospect I think he did that because he was trying to "help" too many people).

And of course there was the odd firm that did a high-priced but bangup job for me, but became suspect when it opened (and closed) branch offices first in DC, then the Caymans. Strange.

[Bluntpoint]

I quit law. I now farm, raise horses and write a bit.

I found the law and many lawyers to be very ugly, in an ethical and moral sense.

[xsmommy]

no, she wasn't a lawyer, but the course was a LOT of fun. xshub's firm gave us the 5 day stay as a gift, and he did the golf thing, and i did the spa thing and the cooking class. i loved it. it is a wonderful place. you should try it, it is in your HOME STATE!

[StriperSniper]

"Nobody cared about justice anymore; it was just about applying rules.

The big question is what to do when 'The law'(rules) are at odds with 'Justice'(what is right).

[Phaedrus]

I've been a lawyer now for 25 years. Most of the time in family law ... Not a bad way to make a living.

"Family law" is not about families, it's about divorce and the destruction of families. Lawyers are parasites on the process and make it far lengthier, more expensive and more painful, especially if significant assets are involved. "Not a bad way to make a living" indicates that you are clueless, if not heartless.