Work sucks

I am a lawyer. I have finished law school and passed the Law Society exams. I am not a fully qualified solicitor because I have not done, and will not do, the two years of training in England that would be required. The main reason is that I no longer wish to practice law. Someday I may change my mind and go back to do constitutional law or human rights law or something interesting and worthwhile, but corporate law is mostly dull and uninspiring.

On top of tedious work, the hours can be horrific. My personal record is 33 hours without leaving the office. I know lots of people who have done more. When I woke up on Saturday, I found an e-mail from Jono – he was still at work in London from Friday, going on 24 hours and merely hoping to be able to leave within a few hours. Last time Jono came to Prague for a visit, he had to tell people at work that I was getting married and that he was doing a reading at the wedding, all just to guarantee that they would not make him cancel his weekend away and make him work instead.

I have just had an e-mail from Howie, an English solicitor who is working in Prague: “been through a spate of working until 2am for 6 days a week and then dying in a corner for the 7th.” Nice.

Almost all of the lawyers I know hate their jobs and would like to find something else to do. I know two lawyers who have left corporate law for criminal law, which is infinitely more interesting. One of those is a public defender in LA and he has got some incredible stories. He also gets to go home around 5 p.m. every day. Two of my limey friends have recently made their escape from corporate law and will be opening an independent bookshop in Bath within the next few months. So many more only dream.

Max’s escape is in the planning…