Of the many rewards associated with becoming a lawyer — wealth, status, stimulating work — day-to-day happiness has never been high on the list. Perhaps, a new study suggests, that is because lawyers and law students are focusing on the wrong rewards.
Researchers who
surveyed 6,200 lawyers about their jobs and health found that the
factors most frequently associated with success in the legal field, such
as high income or a partner-track job at a prestigious firm, had almost
zero correlation with happiness and well-being. However, lawyers in
public-service jobs who made the least money, like public defenders or
Legal Aid attorneys, were most likely to report being happy.
Lawyers in
public-service jobs also drank less alcohol than their higher-income
peers. And, despite the large gap in affluence, the two groups reported
about equal overall satisfaction with their lives.
Making partner, the
ultimate gold ring at many firms, does not appear to pay off in greater
happiness, either. Junior partners reported well-being that was
identical to that of senior associates, who were paid 62 percent less,
according to the study, which was published this week in the George Washington Law Review.
“Law students are
famous for busting their buns to make high grades, sometimes at the
expense of health and relationships, thinking, ‘Later I’ll be happy,
because the American dream will be mine,’ ” said Lawrence S. Krieger, a
law professor at Florida State University and an author of the study.
“Nice, except it doesn’t work.”
The problem with the
more prestigious jobs, said Mr. Krieger, is that they do not provide
feelings of competence, autonomy or connection to others — three pillars
of self-determination theory, the psychological model of human
happiness on which the study was based. Public-service jobs do.
Struggles with mental health have long plagued the legal profession. A landmark Johns Hopkins study in 1990 found that lawyers were 3.6 times as likely as non-lawyers to suffer from depression, putting them at greater risk than people in any other occupation. In December, Yale Law School released a study that said 70 percent of students there who responded to a survey were affected by mental health issues.
Other research has linked the legal profession to higher rates of substance abuse. In some cases, these struggles have made the news: In a recent six-month stretch in Florida, three Broward County judges were arrested on charges of driving under the influence.
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