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Destination Lawyer

I have decided that the absolute worst part of my job has got to be waiting on jury verdicts.* I've never really been fond of waiting for anything. I especially don't like waiting for decisions when that decision is totally out of my control and in the hands of others. While my trial partner and I were passing the time waiting on our verdict we chatted about how law school seems like it happened years ago and how different it is to be a full time lawyer rather than a student who has an internship on the side of school. My trial partner asked me a question that I have been asked about a hundred times before: "if I had to do it all over again, would I still go to law school?" Every time I've been asked that question before the answer has always been a pretty resounding NO. For the first time today, I actually said "yes." Somehow sitting in the courtroom waiting on that verdict made me realize that for the most part I love my job. Sure there are days I don't want to get out of bed, people I don't necessarily enjoy working with, cases I hate, and stupid politics that make my job stressful. But what job doesn't have things you don't want to do, people you don't like, and politics that create ridiculous workplace drama?

In college one of my favorite professors frequently reminded me that life is not about the destination, but rather about the journey. If I had followed that mantra when I started law school I really don't think I would have made it to this destination that I am slowly falling in love with. I hated law school, especially the first year. I was frustrated that law school was such a different intellectual environment than undergrad. It was a very hard adjustment for me to make, and frankly I'm not sure that I ever did successfully make the transition. Towards the end of law school I did have the epiphany that I might actually miss it, but it was more a feeling that I would miss my friends who were all headed in various directions once graduation fell upon us, and not a feeling that I would actually miss law school itself. Sure enough there are days where I do miss being a law student. I miss the freedom of being able to have a 2 hour afternoon coffee get together with friends. I miss being able to roll out of bed, throw on a pair of comfy jeans and a hoodie and run out the door to class. Getting up early and making myself presentable for work every morning is kind of a drag in that regard, and lately my favorite pair of jeans have been ignored quite a lot. But ultimately at the end of the day I love the fact that I am a prosecutor. I love being a lawyer. I can't imagine doing anything else as a career at this point. What's crazy is that those are things that I never thought I'd be able to say when I finished my 1L year. For the first time in my young adult life I'm totally content with where I am and what I'm doing, and frankly I'm really not in any hurry to get to the next chapter.

Life may be about the journey, but it turns out law school was about the destination.

*The waiting was worth it, we ended up winning

Full post as published by [ Useless Dicta ] on January 22, 2010 (boomark / email).