What’s Your Law Origin Story?
What was the moment when you realized that you wanted to become a lawyer?
My parents strongly encouraged my two sisters and I to go down the law route. Both my parents were teachers when we were growing up and they repeatedly warned us against entering what they described as a “thankless profession”. We were studious and liked reading. My Dad informed us that our objective should be to find a job that we liked and which would involve “getting paid the most money for the least work”. I’m certain that law doesn’t meet the last criterion but it wasn’t bad advice overall. It’s no coincidence that two out of the three of us ended up as lawyers.
I wasn’t expecting this…
Kindness is, after all, very much not a prerequisite for working in a law firm. Indeed, I suspect it would be actively frowned upon by certain members of the profession.
And yet…
What will we remember when we reach the end of our careers?
Yes, of course, we’ll remember the highs and lows of a career in a highly competitive (and occasionally dramatic) profession.
But won’t we remember most of all the times when we were treated with kindness in a profession where it can be in somewhat short supply?