Can lawyers be happy?

[alfred russel]

Eh, I don't see how working 70 hour weeks makes it easier for you to stay in shape.

I work normal hours except for January and about 4 weeks the rest of the year.

[Ideologue]

Anyway, if money has a diminishing rate of return viz. utility, what, exactly, is the objection to socialism again?

I have a personality that puts a lot of people off. I'm not especially attractive or naturally athletic. The one thing I have going for me is that I have a skill set that allows me to earn a bit more than the average bear. That also allows me to have the resources to stay in shape. I can leverage these things to get laid.

If everyone was compensated the same, I would be fucked. Or not fucked.

Relax.  The State will provide.

[alfred russel]

Relax.  The State will provide.

I could eventually accept driving a Trabant if that is what the state provided. But that level of quality in a woman...

[Ideologue]

Everyone gets a Camry.

[alfred russel]

Everyone gets a Camry.

I knew you would envision everyone getting an Asian model.

[Eddie Teach]

Eh, I don't see how working 70 hour weeks makes it easier for you to stay in shape.

I work normal hours except for January and about 4 weeks the rest of the year.

Ok, but point remains- the willingness to do what's necessary to stay in shape is something most people don't have. Having more money won't change that.

[Admiral Yi]

Anyway, if money has a diminishing rate of return viz. utility, what, exactly, is the objection to socialism again?

There are maybe 3 billion people in the world with a higher marginal utility of income than you.   Perhaps some of them would like to ask the same question.

[Monoriu]

Anyway, if money has a diminishing rate of return viz. utility, what, exactly, is the objection to socialism again?

I think it is extremely dangerous to look at everything from a utilisation angle.  If we take this to the logical extreme, we can argue that, say, Steve Jobs is a great person who does great things for mankind.  Steve Jobs needs a new liver.  Therefore we are going to take a liver from an average joe and give it to Steve Jobs.  This will achieve the greatest utility for mankind.

The objection to this is that individuals have rights that we need to respect, even at the expense of overall social utility. 

[Malthus]

How about this: generally, talk of "asymptotic limits" and the like on happiness derived from money is absurd at the very least until one has enough money to live a comfortable middle-class lifestyle without having to work.

I would disagree even stronger with that.  I think that "not having to work" is far from an unqualified good that you make it to be.  I'm sure some people have plenty of fulfilling things to do to occupy their time without having to work, and some of those people might even find that this is still true after they do indeed stop working, but a lot of people can easily go stir-crazy in an environment when there are no factors that can put pressure on their qualify of life.  Being able to consistently get everything you want is hell, not heaven.

Maybe this is true for some, but my guess is that the vast majority of humanity would prefer not having to work (which, you will note, is different from "not working"). The gain is in freedom - doing what you want, rather than what you must. 

I suppose such concepts are alien to an accountant. 

[PDH]

Thread is too long.  Has anyone said the obvious:  Since lawyers are incapable of feeling human emotions, they cannot be really sad?

[Ed Anger]

All lawyers should be decimated.

[Ideologue]

All lawyers should be decimated.

So we go from 200% oversupply to a 180% oversupply?

[Rasputin]

I've known two lawyers who've committed suicide. The first did so while going through a horrible messy divorce and about a week after losing a trial to me. The second did it for no apparent reason whatsover and must have hidden a severe mental illness. In my experience about 75% of the lawyers I know are unhappy and hate their career choice. In truth I suspect most of these cases come down to people chosing law for the wrong reason, e.g., english majors with nothing better to do than law school, those hoping for potentially high income, a perception of prestige, etc.

If you dont get off on trying to fix other people's problems, you will be miserable as a lawyer. If you are not comfortable with believing that every coin has three sides, you will be miserable as a lawyer. If you get so wrapped up in your own self righteous bullshit that you cannot handle someone else (opposing counsel, judge, client, or jury) disagreeing with you and telling you that you are wrong you will be miserable as a lawyer.

The happy lawyers I know all have three traits in common:

a. the are eternal optimists with a love of gallows humor and an ability to laugh at themselves;
b. They like almost everyone they meet and can get along with almost anyone; and
c. they are non judgmental.

I do think high rates of lawyer unhappiness may also be an adverse selection phenommenon --that is our profession seems to be a magnet for cynics and idealogues. Neither group does well in the profession or lasts very long.

As for me I like an imperfect system where victory can be as dependant on what the judge had for breakfast as who has the better case law on their side. This makes for fun and is our profession's own little random number generator. In turn, my enjoying this bit of chaos allows me to stay happy and continue to do what I do best, fix other people's problems.

[Savonarola]

I do think high rates of lawyer unhappiness may also be an adverse selection phenommenon --that is our profession seems to be a magnet for cynics and idealogues. Neither group does well in the profession or lasts very long.

[Valmy]

I've known two lawyers who've committed suicide. The first did so while going through a horrible messy divorce and about a week after losing a trial to me.

Wow was that hard for you?