The Happy Lawyer Making a Good Life in the Law

Author: Nancy Levit; Douglas O. Linder
Publisher: Oxford University Press USA
ISBN: 9780195392326
Published In: September 2010
Format: Hardback , 304 pages
Jurisdiction: U.S. ? Disclaimer:
Countri(es) stated herein are used as reference only

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Diagnoses and offers sensible solutions for a pervasive problem among lawyers--professional unhappiness
Uses engrossing stories from real lawyers--both happy and unhappy--to illustrate their account
The topic alone will be of interest to hundreds of thousands of lawyers in the US, many of whom are professionally unhappy

Despite the handsome incomes they often command, lawyers are far from the happiest of professionals. Seven in ten attorneys in one poll said they would choose other careers if they had to do it over again and, in another poll, fewer than half said they would encourage young people to become lawyers. Indeed, no poll has ever put the law in the top tier of satisfying professions. The economic uncertainty of recent years has only made law students and lawyers think harder than ever before about what they can hope to get out of careers in law.

This book not only sheds light on why so many lawyers find so little to like about their jobs, but also explores what they can do about the problem. Drawing on recent psychological research on happiness, Nancy Levit and Douglas Linder highlight various factors that contribute to professional stress and frustration--from pressure to increase the number of billable hours to discontents that occur when the job's demands fail to mesh with a lawyer's personal values or aspirations. They offer an array of coping tools, both large and small, that will help attorneys find more balance in their lives; they also suggest ways that law firms can be more flexible to accommodate their employees' needs, thus boosting morale and, in the process, producing higher-quality work. The authors also show how law students can better define their goals to ensure a satisfying career.

Having interviewed more than two hundred lawyers across the country, Levit and Linder enliven their account with engrossing--and sometimes surprising--career stories from both happy and unhappy lawyers. From these stories they develop sensible solutions for lawyers and the legal profession as a whole. Attorneys and law students with doubts or questions about their career choices will find a wealth of reassurance and good advice in this book.

Readership: General readers, lawyers, and students interested in law or considering law school

Nancy Levit, the Curators' and Edward D. Ellison Professor of Law at the University of Missouri, Kansas City, is the author of The Gender Line: Men, Women, and the Law.

Douglas O. Linder is the Elmer N. Powell Peer Professor of Law at the University of Missouri, Kansas City.

"It's a book that anyone who is--or was--or wants to be--a lawyer (or anyone who knows a lawyer) should read...I'm recommending it to all of my students, and to my friends practicing law, and even to my husband, who prides himself on NOT being a lawyer. --ConcurringOpinions.com

"Well researched, positive, and clearly written, this is an important book for the bar. Essential for lawyers and law students." --Library Journal

"The citing of a poll of American attorneys, in which seven out of ten said that they would choose other careers if they were starting out, might suggest that the law is best avoided. But for those in the profession, solutions are to be found-and they're inThe Happy Lawyer. Best to buy it for anyone you think may need it."--The Times

"Solid researchers, the authors provide countless statistics about the state of [lawyers'] happiness and prospects for finding it in the future...With a generation of younger lawyers changing jobs at high rates and the high cost of the turnover, law firms would do well to consider the clearly identifiable factors set forth in this book...How important is it to be happy? If you are curious about the answer or about how to increase the happiness in your life or that of your firm, The Happy Lawyer is a worthwhile read."--The Nebraska Lawyer

"Although law is one of the nation's best paid and most influential occupations, only about half of lawyers report being satisfied with their work. In this insightful and engaging book, Nancy Levit and Douglas Linder explain why. They comprehensively review the growing research on happiness to provide crucial insights about how lawyers can improve the quality of their professional lives. This book should be a required text for every law student, every law firm leader, and every practitioner who wants to find greater fulfillment in a legal career."---Deborah Rhode, Director, Stanford Center on the Legal Profession and author of The Beauty Bias

"In this important, insightful book, Nancy Levit and Douglas Linder have successfully unpacked the mystery of why so many lawyers seem to be living lives of silent desperation. In doing so, they offer many and varied paths to lawyer happiness. The Happy Lawyer's thoughtful analysis and practical prescriptions are a must-read for every lawyer, as well as for anyone considering attending law school."--Greg Castanias, Partner, Jones Day

"This superb work in an invaluable guide for a profession that, sadly, suffers from chronic unhappiness and lack of fulfillment. Like Harold Kushner's Living a Life that Matters and the Dalai Lama's The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living, this work offers clear, practical advice that can truly transform a person's life and career."--Robert Klonoff, Dean and Professor of Law, Lewis & Clark Law School

"This new book will become essential reading for law professors advising their students on career paths in this new economy." --Paul M. Secunda, Associate Professor of Law,
Marquette Univ. Law School