I'm reaching out to this community because I am trying to understand how to navigate through what I believe are significant challenges. I feel disillusioned with this field, not because of work conditions, long ass hours or pay but because of the kind of people who generally thrive in this profession. It seems to me that this profession attracts the worst human beings. People are extremely fake, would drag you into their drama, gossip about other individuals and pass value judgements on anyone or everyone. Most of these individuals also come from incredibly privileged families. More importantly most of them never seem to grow out of their law school time and bring in their toxic selves to the work place.
Here's the thing; I come from a middle class family who does not want to engage in office politics, want to live peacefully and gain skills that'll help me progress in this career. All these things become incredibly difficult because you have folks in your work space who would judge you for who you are, make underhanded comments about your competency because you belong to a certain socio-economic status and would not engage in mindless hedonism. Now I know people will say; ignore such people, but when you have to stay with such individuals for 12+ hours, it gets slightly difficult to not get bothered by such individuals. I also understand that dealing with difficult people is very much a part and parcel of becoming a sound professional, but honestly it gets exhausting when 75-80 percent individuals are snarky assholes trying to step on your toes or looking for ways to impede you.
I am really looking for some good advice from people who experienced something similar. What should I do? I'm honestly thinking about leaving this profession altogether because of people like this. I don't think it's that bad in other professions.
Most professions would have such people, the only way to keep your sanity is to be able to switch off after work. Focus on hobbies, interests, mediation, bettering yourself, upskilling so that the interactions that you have to do can eventually be narrowed down to fewer people.
Thank You for responding. I'm doing all that but honestly it is affecting my mental health. Minimizing interactions isn't possible because these people are my colleagues.
I'm so with you my friend. Sounds like you're in a corp gig since the lit world has people of all kinds and circumstances.
Ik it doesn't suffice to say just ignore these people, but that's def the most helpful solution here. To complement this, you will also need to be very good at your job and at networking outside your organisation to ensure that (i) you are atleast a little bit indispensable in your organisation so people will start staying out of your lane, and (ii) you keep building towards the possibility of switching to an independent or a smaller set up where you have a lot more autonomy and you can just focus on the work.
Lots of love and support and here's to a fulfilling career and life in this hellish profession (or ideally, a good escape from it).
I can't bro/sis. I have responsibilities to shoulder. Like I have pointed out I come from a middle class family, it's not possible for me to take a pay cut or go for an MBA after investing so much time and money.
Yes, you're right. I am in corp law. Thank you for sharing these insights. I'm doing everything in addition to excelling at my job because I love my craft and had it not been the case I would not have come this far in the first place. Thank you so much for your wishes. I hope things get better.
I am sorry you will have to face this in every profession. The only thing you can do is create a mental free space for yourself. For me it's home. Once I'm off work, I'm off work. I do everything that I did when I was a kid daydreaming..to watch countless movies, series, play with games, eat as much as I want etc. just be calm and enjoy life outside of work.
Thanks for sharing your experience. Sure, I agree that such people will be found in all professions but you are more likely to find rotten and morally corrupt individuals in this profession than in other fields.
Dont take things personally buddy and ignore all the nasty people you interact with. Dont be friends with them and just let them be your office colleagues.
Even I had no idea that people are like this in law firms. Did my 3 year LLB post under graduation and met the most insecure, dumb, toxic and worst people in the legal industry including Tier 1 law firms.
So take care of yourself. There is always a life outside work and people who care about you.
I do that. I ignore them but also give it back to them in a language they understand. They don't mess up with me would try to impede me and create unnecessary obstructions because I won't take bs from them and would give them a taste of their own medicine.
I'm reaching out to this community because I am trying to understand how to navigate through what I believe are significant challenges. I feel disillusioned with this field, not because of work conditions, long ass hours or pay but because of the kind of people who generally thrive in this profession. It seems to me that this profession attracts the worst human beings. People are extremely fake, would drag you into their drama, gossip about other individuals and pass value judgements on anyone or everyone. Most of these individuals also come from incredibly privileged families. More importantly most of them never seem to grow out of their law school time and bring in their toxic selves to the work place.
Here's the thing; I come from a middle class family who does not want to engage in office politics, want to live peacefully and gain skills that'll help me progress in this career. All these things become incredibly difficult because you have folks in your work space who would judge you for who you are, make underhanded comments about your competency because you belong to a certain socio-economic status and would not engage in mindless hedonism. Now I know people will say; ignore such people, but when you have to stay with such individuals for 12+ hours, it gets slightly difficult to not get bothered by such individuals. I also understand that dealing with difficult people is very much a part and parcel of becoming a sound professional, but honestly it gets exhausting when 75-80 percent individuals are snarky assholes trying to step on your toes or looking for ways to impede you.
I am really looking for some good advice from people who experienced something similar. What should I do? I'm honestly thinking about leaving this profession altogether because of people like this. I don't think it's that bad in other professions.
Ik it doesn't suffice to say just ignore these people, but that's def the most helpful solution here. To complement this, you will also need to be very good at your job and at networking outside your organisation to ensure that (i) you are atleast a little bit indispensable in your organisation so people will start staying out of your lane, and (ii) you keep building towards the possibility of switching to an independent or a smaller set up where you have a lot more autonomy and you can just focus on the work.
Lots of love and support and here's to a fulfilling career and life in this hellish profession (or ideally, a good escape from it).
Even I had no idea that people are like this in law firms. Did my 3 year LLB post under graduation and met the most insecure, dumb, toxic and worst people in the legal industry including Tier 1 law firms.
So take care of yourself. There is always a life outside work and people who care about you.
Thank you so much for sharing your experience.