Why is being a lawyer still seen as a prestigious thing when we’re all just tired? I told a guy at a bar what I did and he acted like I was a superhero, but all I could think about was the fact that I haven't washed my hair in three days. The public image of the high-powered attorney is so far removed from the reality of staring at Excel spreadsheets until your eyes bleed. Does anyone actually feel prestigious?

likefunny
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Why are you at a bar and not washing your hair

funnylikesmart

People watch too much crime shows.

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Your post seems to be saying there should be a correlation between prestige and exhaustion, but i think surgeons earn every bit of their prestige and aren’t any less tired, so not sure that quite holds lol. I think what you’re really getting at is why are lawyers considered prestigious when the day to day is so unglamorous? It’s a fair point because the work is nowhere near as “sexy” as people on the outside assume. But I’d bet that’s true of pretty much every “prestigious” profession.

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It's even worse....people always associate a lawyer as big law partner.

We all know what percentage are actually big law, let alone big law partners.

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I’m not following the first part of your post. Is being exhausted antithetical to being accomplished? I’d argue that those experiences are probably coterminous.

Totally agree, however, that being an attorney sucks sometimes. A lot of us feel the same way. Hope things get better.

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Most people can't get into a law school or afford it. A lot of people dream of having some financial comfort when their check comes in versus knowing it's already gone before it hits their bank account. Even if you hate it, you have options most people only dream of having.

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If you are saying our job seems to come with permanent exhaustion, I am good with that . . . just not the exhaustion.

Because it requires as much schooling as a doctor and we’ve got great PR? I mean the general public thinks we’re crooks, but they also think we’re incredibly smart…

likeuplifting

I do ignore that because it’s not common knowledge to the lay person

I mean they think it’s prestigious because we demand $1,000-2,000 an hour for associates now. People correlate money with prestige. I personally disagree, but I don’t want to argue with people in a bar about why they should think my job should be less prestigious. Let em think I’m Harvey Spector in jeans. I’m not gonna say my job is as exciting as Harvey’s but not gonna try to convince them otherwise lol

funnylike

In certain (not all) circles, when someone finds out that you’re an attorney, there tends to be a jolt of respect demonstrated towards you. There’s a level of power that comes with being an attorney. Some individuals converse with you in a different way because they think you have more influence.

Honestly, I have mixed feelings about this because when I meet someone, I want them to feel like they can be themselves around me despite my occupation. That doesn’t always happen.

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Not sure if this is what you mean, but I feel like when I get praise from people for just being an attorney part of what makes it ring untrue is that while there’s some value to what I do, I’m not a surgeon. I don’t save lives everyday or defend people from wrongful persecution, etc. but sometimes I do feel that my work helps protect peoples’ rights. we’re in a super diverse profession and some lawyers do do amazing things. There’s so much you can do with a law degree. Maybe they are just recognizing your potential to change the world

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Agreed. I do as much pro bono as I can, which is 200-300 a year for the past few years, to be able to sleep at night knowing all we do in biglaw is help the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Regardless of how we use our position and the people we all try to help, lawyers are the only ones with keys to a third branch of our government. With that comes a lot of responsibility, some of us just decide to waste it. Counting myself in that category.

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Yes it’s a lot of arguing and yapping and gamesmans ship it’s dumb fighting over dumb stuff

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A lot of elected officials are lawyers

Totally agree

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