I resemble that remark

The American Bar Association has been studying my graduating class of lawyers (class of 2000) for the past 8 years, much to my surprise. Apparently they have been following a slew of lawyers who graduated at the same time I did, and periodically poll those lawyers to find out where they're working now, what position they've achieved, and how happy they are in their role and their chosen profession. The results from the 2007 round of polling might surprise you:

76% of my fellow graduates are happy they became lawyers
9% are still at mega-firms with more than 250 lawyers (this includes me)
58% have changed jobs at least once
11% are now serving as in-house counsel
19% of female attorneys and 30% of male attorneys in small firms have made equity partner
6% of female attorneys and 22% of male attorneys in mid-sized firms have made equity partner
8% of female attorneys and 10.5% of male attorneys in large firms have made non-equity partner (large firm equity partnership tracks are often longer than 7 years)

The satisfaction numbers obviously come from a time before the recent economic slump and associated law firm layoffs. I would expect that satisfaction to drop somewhat if my graduating class were polled today. But it is still interesting to see how people with my experience level are crafting their careers.

Like many of my colleagues, I have changed jobs 3 times since I graduated. I returned to a mega-firm 3 years ago after going to a small trial boutique for 2 years. Why? I learned that whether I was at a small firm or a big firm, the pressures and problems were largely the same. I still had the pressure to bill bill bill hours, to turn out top work, to make myself available to clients at all hours and produce perfect results. So if I was going to have all that pressure no matter what, why not have top notch resources behind me and make twice as much money? If I voluntarily leave this job, it will most certainly NOT be for another law firm. Much like a hefty chunk of my colleagues, my greener pastures (should I choose to seek them) will be of the governmental or in-house variety.