Professor Lawrence S. Krieger with Kennon M. Sheldon, Ph.D.
83 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 554
This is the first theory-guided empirical research seeking to identify the
correlates and contributors to the well-being and life satisfaction of lawyers.
Data from several thousand lawyers in four states provide insights about diverse
factors from law school and one’s legal career and personal life. Striking
patterns appear repeatedly in the data and raise serious questions about
the common priorities on law school campuses and among lawyers. External
factors, which are often given the most attention and concern among law students
and lawyers (factors oriented towards money and status—such as earnings,
partnership in a law firm, law school debt, class rank, law review
membership, and U.S. News & World Report’s law school rankings), showed
nil to small associations with lawyer well-being. Conversely, the kinds of internal
and psychological factors shown in previous research to erode in law
school appear in these data to be the most important contributors to lawyers’
happiness and satisfaction. These factors constitute the first two of five tiers of
well-being factors identified in the data, followed by choices regarding family
and personal life. The external money and status factors constitute the fourth
tier, and demographic differences were least important.
Data on lawyers in different practice types and settings demonstrate the
applied importance of the contrasting internal and external factors. Attorneys
in large firms and other prestigious positions were not as happy as public
service attorneys, despite the far better grades and pay of the former group;
and junior partners in law firms were no happier than senior associates, despite
the greatly enhanced pay and status of the partners. Overall, the data
also demonstrate that lawyers are very much like other people, notwithstanding
their specialized cognitive training and the common perception that lawyers
are different from others in fundamental ways.
Additional measures raised concerns. Subjects did not broadly agree that
the behavior of judges and lawyers is professional, or that the legal process
reaches fair outcomes; and subjects reported quite unrealistic earnings expectations
for their careers when they entered law school. Implications for improving
lawyer performance and professionalism, and recommendations for
law teachers and legal employers, are drawn from the data.
UPDATE: Read the New York Times Coverage of This Article Here.
