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.
From 1999 to 2007, lawyers were 54 percent more likely to commit suicide than people in other professions, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And in 2014, CNN reported that 15 Kentucky lawyers had committed suicide since 2010.
Why lawyers are susceptible to such dangers is a matter of debate, although unhappiness with the work itself — long hours toiling for demanding clients — is often cited as a possible cause, particularly for people who entered law school with dreams of high-stakes, cinematic courtroom battles.
“I thought I wanted to be a litigator for reasons that showed a misunderstanding of what litigators do,” said Todd D. Peterson, a law professor at George Washington University who left his job as a partner at a Washington law firm after becoming disillusioned. “The job was unfulfilling to me because I didn’t find it meaningful.” Today, Mr. Peterson is at the forefront of a movement to help law students avoid the mistakes he made.
Others say the job requires an unhealthy degree of cynicism. “Research shows that an optimistic outlook is good for your mental health,” said Patricia Spataro, director of the New York State Lawyer Assistance Program, a resource for attorneys with mental health concerns. “But lawyers are trained to always look for the worst-case scenario. They benefit more from being pessimistic, and that takes a toll.”
And then there is the public hostility. “People just seem to hate lawyers,” Ms. Spataro said. “There are thousands of prominent websites for lawyer jokes. That’s just horrific.” Case in point: Many of the more than 3,000 comments on the CNN article about lawyer suicides applauded the trend. The comments are no longer visible in the link to the online article.
For Larry Zimmerman, a now-retired lawyer from Albany, jumping from a position in the New York State attorney general’s office to a lucrative job in private practice worsened his problems with alcohol.
“Suddenly I was dealing with some very significant money and very demanding clients and high stakes,” he said. “I enjoyed what I was doing, and I was good at it, but I was terrified almost all the time.” Before he sought help, Mr. Zimmerman said, he was drinking a pint of vodka a day and relying on junior lawyers to do most of his work.
To help people like Mr. Zimmerman, most state bar associations or court systems have assistance programs that can refer lawyers to counseling or rehabilitation services. More recently, the work of people like Mr. Krieger has inspired law schools to develop programs that might head off such problems.
In 2012, Mr. Peterson instituted a voluntary program at George Washington University that aims to help law students make better decisions about what kind of law, if any, they want to practice. Students in the program meet with practicing lawyers to learn about their day-to-day lives. The program also has a mental health component, providing techniques for handling stress and remaining positive.
“We’re helping students figure out why they’re in law school and where they want to be,” Mr. Peterson said. “So instead of just working to get the best possible grades so they can send out 500 résumés in their third year and hope that some law firm hires them, they are learning about themselves and why one part of the law might be more appealing to them than another.”
But the pressure to be hired by a big-name firm is so strongly ingrained in law school culture, one George Washington University student said, that even those who enroll with the intention of performing public service often find themselves redirected.
“It’s a very real pressure in law school,” Helen Clemens, a law student, said. “It comes from all kinds of avenues, but mostly I would say it just comes from the people surrounding you. If everyone is talking about leaders from our school who have gotten jobs at a really prestigious firm, the assumption is that we all should be trying to work at a similar place.”
In 2013, the University of New Mexico Law School overhauled a mandatory freshman course to more closely resemble the George Washington University program. “A lot of people go to law school because they don’t know what to do with their lives,” said Nathalie Martin, an associate dean there. “We’re trying to direct them to a field we think they would enjoy.”
Law schools at Vanderbilt University, the University of Texas and the University of Colorado also have professional development programs that focus on student well-being.
By helping students refine their goals, teachers like Mr. Peterson hope to reverse the tide of unhappiness among lawyers. But he acknowledges that it will not be simple.
“There are certainly some folks here at the law school whose initial impression was that the program was kind of touchy-feely,” he said, “and there are students who think even an hour away from reading for their courses they’re going to be graded in is too much.”
“But I think people understand that we need to do something for our students,” he added, “that we have a moral obligation to help them deal with all of these issues.”
成為一位狀師能得到諸多回報——財產、位置、風趣的事情……但平常的幸福感卻從不在個中。一項新研討註解，大概，這是由於狀師和司法專業的門生把應當重視的職業回報搞錯了。
研討職員在查詢拜訪了6200名狀師的事情和康健狀態後發明，在司法界，高收入或成為有名事件所合股人等身分與勝利幹系最為親密，但它們與幸福和快活之間的聯系關系險些為零。但是，從事大眾辦事事情的狀師們，好比公設辯解狀師或司法支援(Legal Aid)狀師，固然贏利起碼，在查詢拜訪中卻更偏向於申報本身生存得挺高興。
從事大眾辦事事情的狀師們酗酒也少於他們那些高收入的同業。並且，只管兩組人在充裕水平上差距很大，但他們所申報的整體生存滿足度卻大抵相稱。
在很多律所，成為合股人是員工的最終斗爭目的，也是員工與公司之間最穩固的紐帶，但這一樣不會給人帶來更多快活。本周揭櫫在《喬治華盛頓司法批評》(George Washington Law Review)上的一項研討註解，低級合股人與高等狀師申報的幸福感一樣平常無二，只管後者的薪酬低了62%。
“學司法的門生以不遺余力尋求好成就而著名，乃至偶然不吝以就義康健和人際來往為價值，滿心認為：‘我就要實現美國夢了，今後必定會過上好日子，’ ”該研討的作者之一，佛羅裏達州立大學(Florida State University)的法學傳授勞倫斯·S·克裏格說。“想的是挺美，惋惜實際不如人意。”
克裏格師長教師以為，與大眾辦事類的事情相反，申明煊赫的事情存在一個題目：它們沒法供給“才能感”(feelings of competence)、自立性和與別人的接洽，而這三者恰是該研討所根據的描寫人類幸福感的生理模子——“自我決議理論”(self-determination theory)的三大支柱。生理康健題目歷久困擾著司法界人士。1990年，約翰斯·霍普金斯大學(Johns Hopkins)的一項具備裏程碑意義的研討發明，狀師患煩悶癥的大概性長短狀師的3.6倍，這令他們比從事其他任何職業的人都面對著更大的危害。客歲12月，耶魯大學法學院(Yale Law School)揭櫫了一份研討申報稱，在回應他們查詢拜訪的門生中，有70%遭到生理康健題目的影響。
另外一項研討表現，司法業與較高的物資濫用率相幹。在某些情形下，這些題目還成為了消息話題：在比來的六個月內，佛羅裏達州布勞沃德縣有三名法官被控酒後駕車而被捕。
美國疾病掌握和防備中間(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)的數據表現，1999年到2007年間，狀師比其他職業從業者自盡的大概性淩駕54%。2014年，美國有線電視消息網(CNN)報導，自2010年以來，肯塔基州有15名狀師自盡。
為何狀師這麽輕易產生此類傷害?這是個見仁見智的題目。常有人說，該行業須要人長期地為刻薄的客戶辛苦勞作，自己就讓人愉快不起來，對付那些認為狀師的事情便是片子裏拍的那種刺激而充斥戲劇性的法庭論戰，因而就跑去念法學院的人來講特別如斯。
“我想我之以是會想成為一位訴訟狀師，是由於當初完整誤會了訴訟狀師是幹甚麽的，”托德·D·彼得森(Todd D. Peterson)說，他原來是華盛頓一家狀師事件所的合股人，在對事情覺得破滅後他分開了這一行。“這項工尷尬刁難我來講沒有造詣感，我找不到它有甚麽意義。”現在，彼得森師長教師在喬治·華盛頓大學(George Washington University)擔負法學傳授，並一馬當先地力爭贊助法學院的門生防止重蹈他的覆轍。
另有人說，這項事情請求從業者的憤世嫉俗到達不康健的水平。“研討表現，樂觀的人生觀天下觀有利於生理康健，”紐約州狀師支援籌劃(New York State Lawyer Assistance Program，一個為有生理康健題目的狀師供給贊助的構造)的賣力人帕特裏夏·斯帕塔羅(Patricia Spataro)說。“狀師們遭到的培訓倒是讓他們依照最壞的情形盤算。消極的預期雖更利於他們的事情，但這是要支付價值的。”
再有便是"大眾,"的仇視。“人們仿佛便是憎惡狀師，”斯帕塔羅女生說。“數以千計的著名網站上都有關於狀師的各類笑話，這其實太恐怖了。”舉個例子：在CNN那篇關於狀師自盡的文章下面有3000多條批評，個中有很多都對這一趨向拍手喝采。不外這些批評如今在該文的在線鏈接上已不見了。
下面再來說講拉裏·齊默爾曼(Larry Zimmerman)師長教師的故事：他退休以前在奧爾巴尼市擔負狀師，從紐約州總審查長辦公室的一個職位跳槽到收入豐富的私家事件所令他的酗酒題目加倍緊張了。
“忽然之間我就要處置一些涉案金額偉大的案子，敷衍極為刻薄的客戶，訟事的危害也很高，”他說。“我很愛好我的事情，也很善於，但它確切令我不時擔驚受怕。”齊默爾曼師長教師說，在他刻意乞助以前，天天都要喝一品脫(約合473毫升)伏特加，而且須要依附低級狀師來完成他的大部門事情。
為了贊助像齊默爾曼師長教師如許的人，大多半州的狀師協會或法院體系都設有支援項目，可將狀師轉診給咨詢或病愈辦事機構。比來，在克裏格師長教師等人的研討的啟示下，法學院也設置了一些項目來防備此類題目。
2012年，彼得森師長教師在喬治·華盛頓大學提議了一個自願項目，旨在贊助那些想要進入司法界的法學院門生在浩瀚司法範疇中做出更明智的選取。介入該項目標門生將會面執業狀師，並懂得他們的平常生存。該項目還包含生理康健方面的內容，向門生們供給排遣壓力並堅持踴躍心態的技能。
“咱們贊助門生認清本身為何要念法學院，和他們未來想要去那邊事情，”彼得森師長教師說。“是以，他們不會只曉得盡力爭奪最佳的成就，然後在三年級時漫無目標地發出500份簡歷，期望能有狀師事件所樂意聘請他們，相反，他們正學著懂得本身，懂得本身為何會認為司法的某些部門會比其他部門更有吸引力。”
然則，喬治·華盛頓大學的一位門生表現，盼望被大牌狀師樓任命的壓力在法學院的文化中是如斯根深蒂固，縱然那些在入學時有誌於從事大眾辦事事情的門生也經常發明本身被潛移默化地轉變了就業偏向。
“在法學院裏，這是異常實際的壓力，”法學院的門生海倫·克萊門絲(Helen Clemens)說。“它的起源多種多樣，但我想說個中大部門起源於你身旁的人。假如每小我都在評論辯論黌舍裏那些在久負盛名的大狀師樓裏找到事情的佼佼者，那眾人就會想固然地以為全部人都應當盡力獲得相似的職位。”
2013年，新墨西哥大學法學院(University of New Mexico Law School)對大一的一門必修課程舉行了完全的變更，使其更靠近喬治·華盛頓大學的項目。“許多人進法學院是由於他們不曉得本身該做甚麽，”該院的副院長納塔莉·馬丁(Nathalie Martin)說。“咱們試圖將他們引誘到咱們以為他們會熱中的範疇去。”
範德堡大學(Vanderbilt University)、得克薩斯大學(University of Texas)和科羅拉多大學(University of Colorado)的法學院也設置了重視門生幸福感的職業成長籌劃。
彼得森師長教師如許的西席願望能贊助門生完美本身的目的，並借此逆轉狀師生存煩懣樂的趨向。但他也認可，這絕非易事。
“固然，法學院裏確定有部門人會認為這些項目有些矯情，”他說，“乃至有門生認為從專一苦讀中抽出一小時來做這些事太甚糟蹋時光。”
“但我想人們終能懂得咱們須要為門生做些甚麽，”他彌補道，“從道義上，咱們有責任贊助他們應答這些題目。”
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