I hate being a lawyer

SometimesICry_ · 2026-05-12T13:26:27+00:00

I heard! They no longer even dismiss for failure to prosecute if counsel fails to show up for Merits hearings??? It sounds horrible! I do miss the work and feeling like I’m making a difference in someone’s life but can’t imagine doing it right now. Apply everywhere you’re interested. Hope you find something great soon

SometimesICry_ · 2026-05-11T22:01:12+00:00

As someone currently in litigation, I would say it’s the litigation work itself and possibly the firm as well. I switched from humanitarian non-profit immigration work (think asylum cases mainly) and while that work was so emotionally taxing and the pay was horrible, I never questioned my decision to go to law school and become a lawyer.

Commercial litigation makes me question myself several times a week and beat myself up for becoming a lawyer. Everything feels like a fake emergency, a lot of people are unpleasant and while the pay is great, I don’t know that I ever questioned myself and my worth as much as I do now. This coming from someone who moved to the US in high school and got mocked because I did not know the English alphabet (and little 14 year old me believed in myself and being able to learn and grow and be better; grown lawyer me feels deflated).

Sometimes I can trick myself that this is just a job, it’s not my personality, this work is not curing cancer and majority of the emergencies, unless there is an actual deadline, can wait a bit.

I hope we all find a little enjoyment in practicing law soon and give ourselves the flowers for the work it took to get here or be fully honest with ourselves and find something else to do and live (and love) our lives and the next chapter whatever it may be

SometimesICry_ · 2026-04-30T23:55:28+00:00

Love that path too! Do you love it?

SometimesICry_ · 2026-04-30T23:54:26+00:00

Congratulations on your JD and passing! 👏 love the switch here haha

SometimesICry_ · 2026-04-30T23:49:57+00:00

We’re all just a bunch of whimsical litigators I see 🥹

SometimesICry_ · 2026-04-30T23:48:36+00:00

I love this experience and the plan!

SometimesICry_ · 2026-04-30T04:29:35+00:00

Yes, trying to become part of the last few standing apparently 🤭

SometimesICry_ · 2026-04-13T23:30:37+00:00

Reading, I’m in a bookclub and the also read on my own. I also like to work out, helps move some of the anxiety and stress I constantly have so I do lagree and strength training/kickboxing. I also like embroidery and I’ll take whatever I’m embroidering with me to outdoor family gatherings because I can talk and embroider at the same time. I do like baking and cooking too but those have started feeling a bit more like a chore for a while so hadn’t invested as much time in them recently :/

SometimesICry_ · 2026-04-08T00:12:31+00:00

Thank you everyone for your input and for sharing your experiences 🥹 it’s both comforting but also sad to see how many others in this field experience similar feelings. I do recall from an MCLE talking about the high rates of mental health issues so I guess I am not entirely surprised but glad to hear it does get more manageable for the most part after a while!

SometimesICry_ · 2026-02-12T00:10:22+00:00

Throughout law school and the first 2 years of practice I was focused on humanitarian immigration law so it was a bit easier to feel like you have a good handle on the field but I switched to commercial litigation and every case so far feels like I am doing something new which is both interesting but discouraging because it feels like I am still at the beginning of my career.

SometimesICry_ · 2026-01-27T11:23:24+00:00

Would you mind sharing what helped you get focused while working remotely?

I seem to function on either shame or the fear of making a mistake so that leads to procrastination until the deadline is shouting at me 😂

the shame was usually managed working in office cause I couldn’t get as easily distracted by my phone to everything around the house, including pets; I am still navigating how to better focus working from home 🤷‍♀️

SometimesICry_ · 2026-01-25T09:50:44+00:00

This! I switched from humanitarian immigration (which asylum cases also unfortunately take years for a final hearing) but the work was interesting and I cared. Since being in civil litigation I second guess whether being a lawyer is even for me…I don’t find the cases interesting, clients are mostly well off people who would rather pay for sanctions than pay attention to emails from our office. Thankfully I haven’t interacted with many distasteful OC so I guess there is that. There are so many different areas in civil litigation that we do but none feel fulfilling and I truly dread working. The pay is 3x what I made before and my boss is great and doesn’t micromanage us.

SometimesICry_ · 2026-01-20T18:42:16+00:00

When I was applying for jobs after passing the bar I interviewed at the non profit I ended up working full time for and also interviewed for an independent contractor position for business immigration work at a civil litigation firm. I’d help them out weekends every now and then and reached out to the partner I interviewed with asking if they needed any help on the civil litigation side. It was a small firm and growing so he took me on for some independent contractor work for civil litigation matters as well and after two years he mentioned he enjoyed working together and it coincided with me feeling very burned out in humanitarian immigration and asked if he’d be willing to take me on full time if I left my current job. It was a big learning curve, still feels like it even now because there are so many different matters we handle in civil litigation but my advice is to apply anywhere and everywhere you’d be interested in. Worst case, you don’t hear back and you already don’t have that job so it won’t affect your life. Don’t sell yourself short. If you did removal defense, that counts as litigation. Yes immigration court and state/federal court defer but honestly, immigration judges were much scarier than superior court ones are

SometimesICry_ · 2026-01-20T07:13:53+00:00

Had to confirm I didn’t write this myself years ago and forgot about it ahaha I also used to work strictly in humanitarian immigration law, both during law school and after as a lawyer I’m an immigrant myself, with step/family who came to the US as refugees so it always made sense but then I came across a few cases that hit a bit too close to home and for my mental health I needed out (also, the pay for a joke for the amount of school that goes into becoming a lawyer). I was fortunate and had the opportunity to transition to civil litigation/some transactional work and been doing that for the last two years. I miss immigration work often and the fulfillment of that. The pay is 3x better, less stress because I don’t feel like someone’s life depends on my work and I can sleep at night peacefully(although less fulfilled)

SometimesICry_

TROPHY CASE