As you prepare for law school, it’s important to spend some time thinking about your values — after all, working in an area that aligns with your values is an important part of having a satisfying law career. Because you might have significant student loans to pay off (as most new lawyers do) after graduation, it can be tempting to take the job that pays the most money. But a high salary won’t keep you from being unhappy with your career if you aren’t doing something that reflects the things you care about.
You may have heard or read that many lawyers are unhappy, and it’s true that high levels of addiction, depression, and burnout have been measured in the lawyer population. Why? Part of the reason is that new lawyers sometimes feel obligated to take jobs they don’t really want, or they find themselves in jobs that they thought they would like but that end up conflicting with their deeply held personal values. It’s hard to be happy when you’re doing work — often hard work — that feels inconsistent with what you want and value.
Determining Your Values
Often, law students don’t yet have a strong sense of how their values relate to their work or their future profession. Before you enroll, ask yourself: Why do I want to go to law school? Why do I want to earn a law degree? What am I doing here, and what do I want to get out of this experience? The answers to these questions may change many times before you graduate, and there are many “right” answers, but keeping the questions in mind throughout your legal education can help you find clarity when it comes to your values and goals.
Some other questions to consider when thinking about values:
As a lawyer, do you want to represent people, or do you want to represent businesses and corporations? (Remember, there’s not always a clear line between the two.)
Do you want to represent a particular community or kind of people? Do you want to use your law degree to work toward social or political change, such as via democracy-building?
Are you interested in the rights of certain people or groups, such as patients, doctors, or children? Or are you interested in animal rights?
Are you motivated by issues related to the environment and climate?
Do you want to work in criminal law enforcement or prosecution? Or do you want to defend people accused of criminal activity?
Is there an industry or profession that you have prior experience in and want to be able to use in your legal career? Or are there things that you have mastered or enjoyed in your education so far that you want to continue to pursue?
Would you like to be a lawyer for an educational institution, such as a college or university, or for an arts organization?
Does food safety, consumer safety, or an interest or experience in health care drive your interest in law?
Are you interested in artificial intelligence or other new and emerging technologies?
Are you interested in sports management and representation? The fashion industry?
Are there certain kinds of clients you would not want to work for?
Identifying Your Preferences
Here’s another line of inquiry to explore with yourself: What kind of work setting do you like? The following questions can help you figure that out:
Are you an introvert or an extrovert?
Do you like working as part of a team, or would you rather take on a project on your own, with little contact with other people?
Do you find you need encouragement and affirmation from others as you work, or is the work itself often enough reward for you?
Do you enjoy research? Do you enjoy public speaking? Are you a confident writer? Are you a good listener?
Do you want to go to an office every day, or would you rather be able to work from home?
Do you have other responsibilities — for people, animals, businesses, or an organization such as a church or charity — that will require time in addition to your “day job,” whatever that turns out to be?
Do you want your work life and your legal career to be your top priority, or your second priority?
Is faith, justice, fairness, or profitability the most important thing to you?
Whatever your answers are to these questions, there’s a law career that fits you — but only if you do the work ahead of time to learn the answers. If you don’t, it’s easy to end up in a job that’s inconsistent with what’s important to you. Thankfully, there are a practically infinite number of ways to practice law or make a law career.
Finding Work That Makes You Happy
Here’s one more thing to think about: What makes you smile?
What brings you joy in life? What life achievements have been the most rewarding to you?
How do you spend your time, money, and energy when you’re not pursuing your studies?
Where have you volunteered or donated money in the past, or where would you like to have been able to volunteer or donate money?
If you can find a way to practice law that makes you smile, you will have found a way to shape a legal career that is consistent with your values. Of course, you will not always smile during your law career — sometimes, even often, practicing law is very hard work. There are times when you will be exhausted or have worked many more hours than you wanted to. But the most important thing is whether or not all of that hard work made you feel good, whether or not you feel that the time and effort you put in was worthwhile, and that you’ve accomplished something you’re proud of.
Where to Get Advice
It’s not always easy to figure out what your values are, and sometimes you need help. Luckily, there are lots of tools that can help you do that. Some of these are assessments you can take online to give you insights about the answers to some of these questions. Your undergraduate career center will have access to some of these, and once you get to law school, your career services center will as well. (The Strong Interest Inventory and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator are two of the most well-known.) Conversations with friends, family members, and co-workers can also be helpful in discerning your values and goals as they relate to your professional life, as can mentors and sponsors.