Summary: An introduction to Harrison Barnes’ article about what it is like to be a lawyer nowadays.
In his article, Seven Reasons Why Practicing Law Might Be More Stressful than Spending 18 Months in a POW Camp, you might go in expecting a gentle tease about how darn stressful it is being a lawyer nowadays. Be forewarned: the tone is more sober. The title isn’t even ironic. Harrison Barnes, veteran legal recruiter, opens up his dramatic word-to-the-wise by offering a smattering of anecdotes from his personal experience of lawyers who either killed themselves, murdered a spouse, destroyed their marriage, or destroyed themselves on drug addictions. And why? Simply put: this career isn’t for everybody.
“Practicing law in a law firm requires a certain type of person to be successful,” is an understatement in this article, for Barnes notes that it takes a certain sort of person to be a mercenary as well.
Laying it straight as one who has worked with this exact population for decades, Barnes clarifies what you should expect as a lawyer in today’s burgeoning legal world: what work will look like, and what, if anything, you have to look forward to, after clocking an obscene amount of hours, many of which may not even “count” per your firm’s policy.
Apt at anecdotes and direct-to-the-face in his sincerity, this article will give you a clue about what it means to be a lawyer.