RR Phantom
Location : Wasted Space
Job/hobbies : Cayman Islands Actuary
 |  Subject: Confession about the mind-numbing and destructive nature of practicing law in OZschwitz  Fri Dec 21, 2012 8:35 pm | |
| ALICE FRASER was told by all the big law firms that come hunting on university campuses for the brightest students, that if she was interested in words, then law was the place for her.
Alice Fraser loved words.
So after bagging a graduate position at the top-tier law firm Allens, she was surprised to discover that the law was actually about administration and avoiding the pitfalls of a CLM (career-limiting move).
‘‘The skills that they wanted from me once I was there were not the skills that I had,’’ Ms Fraser said.
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‘‘I’m good at words, I’m a good creative thinker, I’m good at ideas. I’m not particularly good at triple checking numbers and aligning clauses to make sure they’re consistent within an 800-page document, I’m just not.’’
Within 18 months, she quit to pursue a career in stand-up comedy. And she is not alone.
Only 11 per cent of the 444 young lawyers who participated in a Lawyer’s Weekly poll last week said the law had fulfilled all their expectations but more than 37 per cent wished they were working in a different career.
Figures from NSW Law Society indicate that up to half of all female lawyers change professions within the first five years of practising.
Linda Julian, a director of the professional services consultancy Julian Midwinter and Associates, said the nature of the work offered to young lawyers was often dreary.
‘‘They tend to be very very quickly put into a rather narrow area and they do what’s very repetitive work. I would think most would regard the law as a pretty disappointing career ... because until you’ve been through all of that you don’t get to do much that’s interesting.’’
But she said the expectations of young lawyers had also changed.
Employers were concerned that they continually put their own social needs above those of the firm, and they were more brand-conscious, so working for a high profile firm was important to them.
‘‘They buy a brand, and if they don’t recognise the brand they can’t go down to the bar on Friday night and be cool about where they work,’’ Ms Julian said.
‘‘Smaller and mid-size firms often provide really quite good career opportunities for those early grads. They don’t even get a look in. And I think it’s got a lot worse.’’
The Victorian Institute of Law is tracking the career paths of people who study law at university. Michael Holcroft, the institute’s president, said it was important to find out why the attrition rate was so high but it wasn’t people leaving to have families.
‘‘It’s bad business to lose lawyers that you’ve spent a lot of time training, as well as the human cost,’’ Mr Holcroft said. ‘‘Part of the reason is disillusionment.’’
Firms were examining flexible working hours, billing practices and mentoring programs, he said.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/national/tertiary-education/heard-one-about-lawyer-who-turned-to-comedy-20121221-2brh6.html#ixzz2Fjxuj2DF
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