As someone practicing in Tier-2 city, I would say life as a practicing lawyer is equally dull, filled with clerical work and no intellectual triggering. Courtrooms are not at all those places where deliberations happen or justice is delivered. Everything is ridden with corruption and people are good at fakery.

Left that life for a WFH gig. Getting paid half, but working just 1-2 hours a day, That’s ALL. Almost the whole day free. Spend my days playing golf, reading and with family. Have made good investments, wife also earns well running a home business with light hours. Might make a baby one of these days. 😂

Misery in later life, a gradual (but crippling) sense of mental and intellectual impoverishment and lack of fulfilment, wasted potential (as courtroom advocates, judges, academics, legal philosophers etc), gradually increasing difficulty in engaging in anything remotely resembling serious or organised intellectual thought, declining interest in all cultural pursutes (except to the extent that showing off these are required for social clout purposes), a life devoid of meaningful human relationships, cerebral atrophy and a brain in which one can forever hear the sentence Sir P.G. Wodehouse rightly declares to be the saddest of all, ringing out as if in perpetual mockery of our foolishness: "It might have been".

Not sure where you worked, but to whoever is reading - it is not this fucked up everywhere. I will not say I have great work-life balance, but I do find time for what I love (family, friends, working out, travel) and I do not suffer from any major disease (except maybe lower back pain but that is the result of my own mistakes in the days of youth before law firms).

I see a bright future for young corporate lawyers, who are bright enough to peek into the future and word hard. Law firms are not the easiest places to be, but you can find your place if you look in the right places. The economy is booming, more foreign investors are coming in, and more and more independent corporate lawyers are finding it easier to set up their own shop. You are on the right track - in terms of realising the importance of being a specialised lawyer and having the skillset to go independent. Keep at it, keep ahead of the curve, and create your own niche. In any area of business, specialised products and services find it easiest to sustain and have lesser existential threats from bigger players.

IBS, Obesity, Back pain, sciatica, spondylition, Erectile dysfunction, PCOD, UTI, heartburn, flatulence, indigestion, insulin resistance.

Divorce, adultery, alcohol dependence, smoking addiction, vaping, substance abuse, psychiatric and mental disorders and constant medication.

Missing vacations, missing family and friends, missing weddings and celebrations and funerals.

Missed doctor appointments, delayed appointments etc.

As a corporate lawyer working as an Associate at a law firm, what are the roles one can expect in the future. As someone who has already worked in-house and so doesn't want to work in house. What is the best options for such a Corporate Lawyer? Should one in this situation diversify expertise to other practice areas to enable the possibility of working independently in the future?