Please allow me to rant here. Please don't read/comment, if you are overly in love with this profession. This profession attracts the worst form of human beings and dealing with them everyday is a mental health hazard. People work incredibly hard and get absolutely nothing in return. This is the only industry where I have seen people gatekeep everything. Almost everyone is jaded, bitter and hollow from within. What baffles me is the absolute lack of values. I hate that this profession glorifies arrogance and stepping over others as a virtue. More like it's a code for succeeding and honestly I don't blame people who resort to these things because it is a well tested formula for success. I sometimes feel I should have never been enticed by the allure of a tier 1 college brand. Not one day goes where I don't regret joining this career option. I wish I was less nice and empathetic, that way I would have adjusted well with the wider culture in this industry. I wish I spend less time sharpening my core legal skills and spend more time learning how to ingratiate seniors because I think that is the only thing that seems to get people ahead.

Rant over. Trolls stay away. ( Don't want to hear how I'm an entitled brat for not putting up with BS)

Completely agree OP. Choosing this career was the biggest brain fart of my entire fucking life.

Corporate culture especially is toxic as hell. Colleagues don't feel like humans but hardwired mindless dummies. Seniors are rude as fuck pure unethical. I dread waking up going to work, no life outside of it. I can't do this for the next 20-30 odd years without getting a few stents and aneursyms. Anything even remotely related to this profession. Litigation equally sucks balls with the shit pay and judiciary is just a rat race. It's like being gangbanged for poor choices. I wish I were good at math during school.. heck even extra curriculars.. to make a career in anything but this line of work.

Law is anti-meritocratic by nature. By conception it should be easily comprehendable and readily indulgeable by the average joe, but is the opposite. A couple of clever cunts have made out a whole field out of the subject capable of generating money. The reason these people gatekeep is because theres not much to gatekeep. Unlike, lets say tech, where all resources and short cuts are readily propagated by the community so that there is a level playing field which leads to the most talented and dedicated getting to the top, law perpetuates a cycle where only the biggest asskissers and conformers are provided access to the scant resources their predecessors had inherited from theirs. All of this 'special knowledge' these 'legal luminaries' possess can be easily learnt and applied by any guy in a week if only it was readily available. But if they let this "special knowledge" openly available how would they justify encashing 5L a month when they pay their junior 10k. Hence, they identify people similar to themselves, who are as shallow and as vicious, and after the ritual asslicking, let them in the in group. They hate meritocracy with a fervor because it threatens the very structure they have created. the biggest guy in the room, in law, would just be the guy who knows the right people, not who has true merit.

Cent percent true. Also in tech you have a plethora of options; and that too well paying options. Contrast that with law, everyone competes for corp law jobs because that is the most well paying option. Lit is a long term thing and is not financially viable for most people. Why should people be made to compete for breadcrumbs because even in a law firm setup you make a fraction of what your partners make. Also, let's just let go of the myth that every hardworking or a meritorious student from a top law school makes it to the top in a corp setup. That is only true for the initial appointment, post that so called social skills, aka asskissing, taking credit for others work etc. helps one propel one's career to the top.

Have you ever been taught how to read? (I doubt it, the absolute horror of somebody "typing" Hindi by using a keyboard comprised of English letters should be indication enough.) Didn't the OP specifically instruct trolls to stay away? What are you? A nepo kid who thought the rules don't apply to them?

Don't give me the usual bullshit about free speech. Remember that the exercise of any right - including free speech - has consequences. Exercise that right of free speech you have, just like everyone else. But if you're a fucking knob, expect to be told as much (and I'd happily tell you to your face that you are that, next time I'm home from England, because that's what I believe you are, and will remain, for the duration of your miserable, lonely, bitter, sad existence).

If you had had even one drop of basic human decency in you, you would never have used your privilege in this way. You'd have either chosen to do something other than law, or done something to help people who were either first generation lawyers or, perhaps even more significantly, those who were the first in their families to attend university.

"What's wrong in it?" I'll tell you. Most nepo kids don't have any level of self awareness or ability to reflect. That's what. Therefore, any possible good they could have done to our society by virtue of being a nepo kid is totally not done.

I totally agree. I have seen my fellow lawyers brag endlessly about the work they have been getting when in reality they dont do shit. They have 10% of the work they have been bragging about. I am not one to call them out because its an utter waste of time when the other person is not going to accept it. Lawyers are always pretending to know stuff they have no idea about. And they do it with such conviction. Do it in court and you are the hero- but the problem is that they adopt this trait outside courtrooms in Offices and casual conversations which is toxic af. I am a oracticing advocate - fairly new to this profession - but can say it whole heartedly that this is a nauseating profession

i have met some of the most wonderful humans in my good for nothing law college. i am on my second litigation internship and i see that you are right to say all this but opposite is also true. maybe it is about the people who you are around(energy vampires)? this may all be true in how legal profession works in some way but i dont think you are giving yourself the opportunity to see the entire picture. if you are in highly competetive environment of course that can take a toll on your well being. it really is such a rewarding field. there is just so much help to give but if you stay at the wrong places around wrong people with wrong incentives feeling like this is to be expected.

Good to see my old post blowing up. I don't know man, my experience has been really bad and I won't sugarcoat, it's been super tough seeing cunning people with ass-kissing skills whizz past me while I slog and try to give my best without being a sycophant. I'm happy to hear you had a good experience. Not a lot of us do.

Hey OP.

I empathize with you. The things you have mentioned are so freaking true. Like you and many others out there, I am a victim of false propaganda which was perpetrated in the name of premier law schools. I am a practicing lawyer with almost 2 years of experience now. My experience with work has been as bad as yours. Neither have I justified the huge investments that my parents made during law school, nor I can explain to people that my work has larger meaning or purpose, because in reality it isn't even close to it. Quite contrary to that, I frequently encountered instances where I had to compromise on my ethical and moral compass. I saw my seniors enjoying the luxuries of attending conferences and planning trips & visiting foreign countries, while I was stuck in the office doing their clerical work and receiving the 'to-do' list on regular basis. You encounter how the practitioners, the established ones, are finesse in handling the court clerks or staff in registry departments of courts/tribunal. They are bribed. To pass necessary information, to get some essential work done, to refer cases and so on. You witness how advocates play a double game with litigants, trying to enrich themselves from both ends of the parties involved. And then the corruption happens in silent mode.

While you may decide at one point of your career to go independent and bring in ethical and merit oriented work ethic yourselves, but in essence you may not be able to do so, even after leaving the law firm/chamber that you were working in. Because the scent of immorality and depravity is all-over. It is ubiquitous. And then it is guaranteed: You cannot survive the ordeal, let alone sail through the professional hurdles, without adopting to their mechanisms and 'code of success.'

Be it corporate workspace or litigation, if you are one with futuristic outlook with reasonable moral standards and believe in hard work & integrity, then you will certainly not survive this profession. You may survive for some days/months/years, but eventually you will be compelled by your inner being to dump all of this, and start over in a different space.

Naa. I am not investing in degrees anymore. MBA jobs are as shit as corporate legal jobs today. We are in 2025, and the degrees have lost their relevance. I know people, who graduated alongside, went on to pursue higher studies abroad, and coming back to India they have been unable to find jobs in their specializations. The quality of work is bad shape in India cumulatively. Irrespective of the industry. It may be worse for some and better in others, but overall it is bad. In such a scenario, jumping careers to your inner calling, may or may not be a good idea. It is subjective. That is why said

Law can feel so cold and corrupt, and someone with a kind heart like you can feel completely lost in it. But I honestly believe someone with your integrity can still find or create a place that feels right. Maybe you’ll meet others who share your values, or find a way to use your skills doing something that truly matters. Hang in there, you’re not alone and the world really needs people who care as much as you do.