An editor at AboveTheLaw suggested some months back that I do a piece on the US News & World Report law school rankings. For whatever reason, this stodgy old weekly news magazine – which someone must still read – has created a sideline business publishing rankings of schools, including law schools. I’m not sure what [...]
Archive for June, 2010
Splitting Hairs
Posted in AboveTheLaw series, tagged ACLU, Columbia University Law School, competitive, Harvard Law School, hyper-critical, law school rankings, LSAT, Sullivan & Cromwell, US News & World Report, Yale Law School on June 30, 2010 | 8 Comments »
The origin of your personality
Posted in AskThePeople'sTherapistSeries, tagged awareness, change, learned behaviors, nature, nurture, personality flaws, shyness on June 26, 2010 | 4 Comments »
This week’s question comes from L, in New York City. She asks: Do you think that personality “flaws” (e.g. shyness, lack of confidence/self-esteem, being an approval-seeker) are entirely learned behaviors, or do you think that to some extent you are born with these characteristics? In other words, what do you think about nature vs. nurture [...]
I ♥ Law!
Posted in AboveTheLaw series, tagged Atticus Finch, billable hour, criminal law, economic downturn, Legal Aid, lifestyle jobs, Perry Mason, recession on June 23, 2010 | 26 Comments »
I feel self-conscious sometimes about the pessimism of this column with regard to law as a career path. That pessimism reflects what I see every day in my practice – miserable lawyers. My experiences might be skewed as a result of self-selection. It makes sense that unhappy lawyers would seek a psychotherapist who is a former lawyer and writes [...]
Not a task. A role.
Posted in Thoughts and Musings, tagged aptitude, career, job, role, talent, task, work on June 18, 2010 | 7 Comments »
My patient was clearly miserable in her job as a graduate student and laboratory scientist. But she’d worked very hard to get into this position. And she was only 3 years away from a PhD. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” she said. ”I’m just not good enough, I guess.” She was blaming herself [...]
Go Climb a Mountain
Posted in AboveTheLaw series, tagged chasing a dream, Stability, stasis on June 16, 2010 | 36 Comments »
My patient was telling me about his new job. On the face of things, there was nothing to complain about. He’d hated his old firm — a Biglaw institution that he called “soulless.” The new place, a New York City-based securities boutique, was different. The people were smart – practically cosmopolitan by comparison. And for [...]
Maintaining a self boundary
Posted in AskThePeople'sTherapistSeries, tagged competition, self boundary, toxic work environment, work environment on June 13, 2010 | 2 Comments »
This week’s question is from Laure, in Canada. She writes: Thank you for blogging about the various issues raised during your therapy sessions, I find it most interesting to read and learn from! I particularly appreciate your insight on lawyer patients, as I I will soon be entering law school, and all of your comments on [...]
The price of an addiction
Posted in Current Events, tagged addiction, alcoholism, Arnold Schwarzenegger, BP, British Petroleum, drug addiction, fossil fuels, Gulf of Mexico, Michael Steele, oil spill, Sarah Palin on June 11, 2010 | 4 Comments »
The phrase “addicted to oil” gets bandied about a lot with reference to the USA’s massive reliance upon – and consumption of – fossil fuels. It’s worth taking a look at what drives an addiction, any addiction. First, there is the physical element – the fact that, due to your genetic predisposition, you crave a [...]
Bizarro World
Posted in AboveTheLaw series, tagged Shearman & Sterling, summer associate on June 8, 2010 | 4 Comments »
I summered at Shearman & Sterling way back in 1996. Judging from my clients’ feedback, the summer associate “experience” at big law firms hasn’t changed much over the years. With the recession, it’s harder to get a summer associate position – but once you’re in, it’s pretty much the same old thing – or maybe [...]
Finding love online
Posted in Radio, tagged online dating, online profile on June 7, 2010 | 2 Comments »
This week, on “The Alternative” with Terry LeGrand, we talked about dating, and internet dating in particular, including some advice on putting together an online dating profile. Here’s a link to hear the show. I come on about 11 minutes in. You’ll probably end up sticking around to listen to the whole thing – it’s [...]
Listen. Don’t mind-read.
Posted in Intriguing Patients, Thoughts and Musings, tagged Beethoven, deafness, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, mind-reading on June 5, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
A lot of people thought Ludwig van Beethoven was an unpleasant person. He could be impatient, and often tempestuous. But most of the time, when people thought the composer was being gruff or imperious or rude, it was the result of his trying to hide the fact that he couldn’t hear a word they were [...]
Not a baby bird
Posted in AboveTheLaw series, tagged evolution, placing the fault within, regression on June 1, 2010 | 10 Comments »
Here’s a letter I received recently. Yes, it’s real, but I’ve removed anything identifiable to protect the sender: Hi Will, I read your thoughts of the legal profession on Above the Law and thought you neatly summarized my situation. I wish I was the type of person who could expel all the anger but instead [...]
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