Hugh Brown
Pro: Money.
Pro: Information. As an ‘insider’ in the system, you have access to information that mere mortals do not.
Pro: Status. People treat you with respect (but see the Cons below) – and many will actually fear you.
Pro: Power – actual power to make changes in society. It’s addictive and corrupting sometimes.
Con: People tend to think that since you are a lawyer, you must know all about X (never mind that your area of knowledge is restricted to Y).
Con: Some people are afraid of you – this can be good, but also not so good. My in-laws are migrant farmworkers. Every time I walk into a room the conversation stops. I’m just a guy, but sometimes I get treated like I’m some kind of freak.
Con: Alienation. This can be true of doctors, accountants, software engineers or other kinds of specialized professions. Your spouse, family and friends can’t relate to or often understand what you do or why you are tired or irritable. It may all seem like smoke and mirrors to them. Beware of talking shop with other lawyers when civilians are around – it drives them crazy.
Con: Hard work. Being a lawyer involves a great deal of boring, studious work on a daily basis. The hours can be very, very long.
Con: Confrontationalism. Sometimes it is hard to leave the brutal cross-examination method at work. Trying it out on your wife, kids and/or pets is not a good idea. You will find that you hold people to precise definitions, and say things like ‘but what evidence do you have that I ate the last twinkie, eh?’ The divorce rate for lawyers is very high.
Con: Stress. Yelling at people and getting yelled at, not to mention being relied upon by desperate people whose lives or livelihoods are going to be directly effected by your performance, can give you heartburn, heart attacks, baldness, alcoholism, etc.
Con: People hate you for no other reason than the fact that you are a lawyer. If you win a case, at least one person hates you. If you lost, at least two people hate you.
Con: Forced socialization. Being diplomatic all the time is a real pain in the butt. Most days I want to come home and crawl under a rock for a few hours. You will experience periodic loss of faith in humanity (another side effect of knowing people’s ugly little secrets).
Con: Not all lawyers make decent money. In fact, considering all the trouble you have to go to, starting salaries are really bad.