Most of the lawyers I know are happy to be lawyers.\u00a0 They take pride in their work, and they feel good about their role in the justice system.\u00a0 Life as a lawyer isn\u2019t easy, but it\u2019s rewarding and fulfilling.<\/p>\n
But it seems like there\u2019s a perception that has intensified in the past decade or so that lawyers are miserable\u2014that we feel alienated from the profession and that justice rarely plays a role in our tedious, all-consuming work.\u00a0 There\u2019s a stereotype of a \u201csoulless\u201d lawyer who works to pay off debt or make more money but who feels no satisfaction with the job.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0I\u2019m not sure how true this stereotype is (see above), but it\u2019s prevalent and widely discussed.\u00a0 (Raise the Bar:\u00a0 Real World Solutions for a Troubled Profession<\/em> is an interesting book published by the ABA <\/em>that contains multiple essays exploring the \u201cmiserable lawyer\u201d question.)\u00a0 I want my law students to become lawyers who are happy in their chosen profession, and this blog seems as good a place as any to consider happiness and lawyering.<\/p>\n What is it about being a lawyer that can make us happy?\u00a0 Surely, individual lawyers will have individual answers to that question, but I want to think about the question broadly from a \u201cvirtue ethics\u201d perspective.\u00a0 Virtue ethics focuses on character.\u00a0 Happiness is having the right character.\u00a0 In other words, lawyers will be happy when they act according to virtues that are necessary for good lawyers. (But, you say, lawyers have different conceptions about virtues necessary for good lawyers; that\u2019s true, but we\u2019ll turn to that conundrum in a moment.)<\/p>\n In some ways, \u201cvirtue ethics\u201d is best understood by contrasting it with other ethical frameworks.\u00a0 The virtue ethics perspective is not<\/span> consequentialist, meaning the end result is not<\/span> the most important aspect of happiness.\u00a0 A consequentialist would say that happiness for a lawyer happens when the lawyer receives more \u201cof the good\u201d:\u00a0 more money, more praise, more clients, more name recognition, more \u201cwins.\u201d \u00a0I\u2019m not opposed to any of these goods, but I can see how a lawyer who bases happiness on achieving these goods might quickly become unhappy.\u00a0 Sometimes despite really excellent lawyering, you don\u2019t win; you don\u2019t make money; you get criticized instead of praised.\u00a0 And even if you do \u201cwin\u201d and get a large share of \u201cthe good,\u201d your happiness is fleeting.\u00a0 You have to keep getting more and more of the good to sustain happiness.<\/p>\n In contrast to this consequentialist (result-focused) framework, a deontological framework \u00a0focuses on rules.\u00a0 A lawyer achieves happiness by doing her duty and making decisions according to the rules.\u00a0 In a deontological framework, the lawyer is honest because the rules governing lawyers require her to be honest. (In contrast, for a consequentialist, a lawyer is honest because honesty brings in more \u201cof the good,\u201d and dishonesty can have disastrous consequences.)\u00a0 I am all<\/span> for following the ethical rules of our profession (I do volunteer work for the Office of Lawyer Regulation), but following the rules as a foundation of happiness in the profession seems insufficient.\u00a0 If our only source of happiness is in doing our duty according to rules, I can see how some might be unfulfilled.<\/p>\n In a virtue ethics framework, a lawyer is honest because she believes<\/span> that good lawyers must be honest, and she makes decisions according to that virtue (not because she gets a good result for honesty and not because rules require her to be honest).\u00a0 Virtue ethics is usually an introspective project, so what matters to your happiness is your conception about what it means to be a good lawyer.\u00a0 What virtues do good lawyers live by?\u00a0 What if we don\u2019t agree about that?\u00a0 (Now I\u2019m talking about the objection raised above). If your conception of appropriate virtue is bizarre (good lawyers are dishonest), then consequences and rules will help keep you in check.\u00a0 Absent bizarre conceptions of appropriate virtues for lawyers, though, you are responsible for your own happiness.\u00a0 And it\u2019s not enough to say what your virtues are, you have to put them into action; you have to live by them.\u00a0 According to Aristotle, you even have to seek out opportunities to live by your virtues.<\/p>\n You could see how virtue ethics might work for law students, too.\u00a0 You could study hard because you want to get a good grade or because you want to avoid flunking out (consequentialist).\u00a0 You could study hard because that\u2019s just what law students do.\u00a0 It\u2019s your duty (deontological).\u00a0 Or you could study hard because your conception of a good law student is one who diligently pursues excellence, and you are developing habits according to that virtue (virtue ethics).<\/p>\n I want law students and lawyers to discuss what virtues are essential for a good lawyer.\u00a0 I bet we agree about honesty and diligence, but are there other virtues we widely agree are necessary?\u00a0 Are there some we disagree about? That would be a fun and potentially useful conversation.\u00a0 Originally I had planned to write a blog post about service to poor people as a virtue, but this post has already gotten long.\u00a0 And it\u2019s about lawyers and happiness, not about the way in which being a lawyer makes me happy.<\/p>\n To be sure, external circumstances can affect our happiness in the legal profession, but for those who feel alienated and unhappy in the profession, thinking about virtue ethics and the kind of lawyers we want to be might reveal some insight.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Most of the lawyers I know are happy to be lawyers.\u00a0 They take pride in their work, and they feel good about their role in the justice system.\u00a0 Life as a lawyer isn\u2019t easy, but it\u2019s rewarding and fulfilling. But it seems like there\u2019s a perception that has intensified in the past decade or so […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"on","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[34,72,36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-legal-education","category-legal-ethics","category-legal-practice","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11786"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11786\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}