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The Kind of Lawyer I Want To Want To Be | |
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< | I don’t believe in bullshitting. I think this comes from my Israeli father, who says what’s on his mind and does not to pull any punches. When I see problems in society, I think about them in this way. I pick them apart and try to analyze what causes them, how they proliferate in society, and how to solve them. But I am also very practical. This comes from my mother, who, chooses her battles carefully and really thinks things through before acting. This quality causes me to brush many of the problems I identify aside as “unsolvable,” or to buy into them and allow them to proliferate further. This conflict has been a constant struggle for me. I want to want to be a lawyer who pursues meaningful goals and changes the world. But I have not yet decided if it is practical for me. | >
> | I hate bullshitting. I think this comes from my Israeli father, who says what’s on his mind and doesn’t to pull punches. When I see problems in society, I tend to think about them in this way. I pick them apart and try to analyze what causes them, how they proliferate, and how they can be solved. But I am also very practical. This comes from my mother, who, chooses her battles carefully and really thinks things through before acting. This quality causes me to brush many of the problems I identify aside as unsolvable, or to buy into them and allow them to proliferate further. This conflict has been a constant struggle for me. I want to want to be a lawyer who pursues meaningful goals by fixing the problems that I identify in the world. But I have not yet decided if this course is practical for me. | | | | |
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< | I came to law school with the intention of starting my career in a big law firm and gradually working my way up in different organizations to accomplish something in sports. I have always had a strong background in sports, and upon coming to law school I thought that one day, I might like to be a prominent sports agent or the commissioner of a sports league. My motivation for this was multi-faceted. I wanted to be involved in an industry that I was really interested in, and I wanted to make a lot of money while doing it. Pursuing this course would require me to “sell out” to a certain extent – to operate within a system for the sake of achieving my own economic, social, and material goals and to forego the chance to make an important difference in the world. This is the track that I feel that I have been on ever since I got into law school, and until recently, I thought I would have no problem pursing it. | >
> | I came to law school with the intention of beginning my career in a big law firm. I planned to work my way up and eventually pursue a partner track with the firm or go in house with a sports, entertainment or media company. Coming into law school, I thought I’d like to be a prominent sports agent, the commissioner of a sports league, or private counsel to Hollywood executives and celebrities. My motivation for pursuing this track was twofold: I wanted to be involved in a “sexy” industry (that I believed I was interested in) and I wanted to be able to make a lot of money while doing so. | | | | |
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< | As I have gone through law school, I have thought more about the problems I recognize in society and have discovered numerous others. I have become cognizant of the fact that I, as a future lawyer with an education from one of the best schools in the world, am one of a rare class of people who might be able to do justice in the world. I am no longer sure that I can live a happy life pursing a career in sports law (or another brand of corporate law) while real problems exist in society. The adage “with great power comes great responsibility” seems to really resonate with me. I want to be a lawyer who is not afraid to challenge the dominant system and start a revolution. | >
> | However, as I have gone through law school, I have become more cognizant of the fact that I, as a future lawyer with an education from one of the best schools in the world, am one in a rare class of people who might be able to do justice in the world. I may be able to address some of the problems I have noticed in society and really make a difference. Further, I even feel somewhat responsible for effectuating justice. There are plenty of smart people out there, but very few have been given the opportunities to learn the tools and skills that I am acquiring in law school. “With great power comes great responsibility,” and I want to live up to that responsibility. | | | | |
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< | However, this awareness has presented a number of concerns for me: | >
> | With this in mind, I am no longer confident in my previous plans—I am not sure that I will be happy pursuing a career in sports or entertainment law while real problems exist in society. In my view, to do so would render me a “sellout” to a certain extent; I would be operating within an unjust society to pursue my own economic, social, and material goals at the expense of making an important difference in the world. Rather, I believe my future happiness will stem from becoming a lawyer who is not afraid to question society, challenge the status quo, and start a revolution. But this new awareness has presented me with a number of concerns that I will have to overcome before I am able to commit to a career of effectuating change. | | | | |
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< | First, I do not know which issues I care about enough to want to pursue. I want to do meaningful work, but I also want to truly care and have a personal interest in what I am doing. Job satisfaction is really important to me. | >
> | First, I do not know if such a career will provide me with enough money to be comfortable. While I realize that money does not buy complete happiness, I know that I will not be happy unless I acquire the wealth that I need to live my life as I have always envisioned it. This isn’t an exorbitant number, but it is significant enough to make me question whether I will be able to achieve it on my own. I know I could earn a great salary playing the corporate game, and I only hope to be able to earn that amount pursuing a career I am passionate about. | | | | |
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< | Second, I do not yet know how to solve these big problems in society. A revolution cannot be started on a whim. It obviously has to be readily thought out and executed, accounting for every contingency, with every move planned out five steps in advance. I hope to learn the necessary strategic and tactical skills in law school, but I anticipate that I will need to extract as much as I can from Columbia’s network in order to do so. I may decide to work for a law firm for a few years to augment this process by borrowing their network. | >
> | Moreover, I have realized that attempting to change the world will put me in danger. I am talking about being a lawyer who brings about justice by challenging dominant power structures to spark revolutions. My goal will be to uproot broken systems that support countless individuals who do not even understand the systems they are a part of. Average citizens will regard me as “the enemy” for challenging their potential sources of income, ideals, or insecurities and will want to do away with me in order to sustain the status quo. Leaders of these unjust organizations, ideas, and practices, will do whatever they must to remain in power. I will be as dangerous to myself as I will be to society. | | | | |
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< | Third, I do not know if this course will provide me with the amount of wealth that I need to be happy in life. Like everyone, I will need a certain amount of income, and I hope to be able to earn that amount pursuing a career I am passionate about. While I realize that money does not buy happiness, I do not think that I will achieve happiness solely through making a difference in the world either, and I fear that I might be lured by the promise of a paycheck and an opportunity to make this sum of money. | >
> | I am considering trading a career of glitz and glamour for one as an outcast. While this is a bit unsettling, I would be willing to make this trade if it is for something I am truly passionate about. But I am not sure what I care about just yet. I am in a state of limbo. I will spend my remaining time in law school searching for the right opportunity, figuring out what I truly care about, and learning the skills to eventually make a difference in the world. In the end, it may be that what I care about most isn’t a particular problem in society, but rather the people around me. I wonder if I might be satisfied effectuating change for the people I most care about, rather than for society as a whole. This might be the only thing that I would risk my life for. | | | | |
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< | Fourth, I believe that pursing such a course will put me in danger. I want to be a lawyer who brings about justice by challenging the dominant power structures to spark a revolution. My goal will be to uproot broken systems that many people are a part of and whose injustices are unknown or shrugged aside by most of the world. Numerous power structures and people will regard me as “the enemy” and will want to do away with me in order to remain in power. To make any successful change in society, then, I will have to become dangerous, and in doing so, I will put myself in harm’s way.
In theory, I am okay with all of this. For something I truly care about, I would be willing to put myself in harm’s way. But, I am not sure if I care about something that much yet. For the time being, I am in a state of limbo. I want to want to make a difference in the world, but it is hard to commit to doing so at the moment. While it makes me uncomfortable, I know that it’s alright to feel that way. I have at least two years before I have to commit to my first step, and will spend that time figuring out what I truly care about and learning the skills to eventually make a difference. If I don’t find such a thing, I know that I at least care about the people around me. In that case, perhaps starting my own practice and working for people I care about in order to make their lives easier would satisfy me. | | |
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