Best environment to work in as an introverted lawyer? Forum

[anonanonny]

What types of environments are best for lawyers who don't like to be around other people? Besides biglaw (as that's not an option for me)?

[lolwat]

You'll have to get over not liking being around other people.
Biglaw sucks giant fucking balls for us people-hating people, anyway, so don't worry much about that.
The best, though? Probably some sort of career clerk/research attorney (for judges in California) type position. If you get lucky you literally deal with like, 5 people your entire life -- your judge and their staff.
But that's a bit extreme.

[MKC]

God it was such a disappointment when I realized all the cynics trying to dissuade people from going to law school were lying.

"It's not like Law & Order/cliche TV lawyer shows!" they said. "You'll just sit alone in an office doing research and drafting all day and never talk to anyone!" they said.

And then I get to my 2L summer and realize interpersonal skills are critical for interacting with partners and clients and opposing counsel.

It's bullshit I tell you. The whole reason I signed up was so that I wouldn't have to deal with that.

None of this is sarcasm, although I got lucky and my firm is great so it worked out anyway.

[anonanonny]

God it was such a disappointment when I realized all the cynics trying to dissuade people from going to law school were lying.

"It's not like Law & Order/cliche TV lawyer shows!" they said. "You'll just sit alone in an office doing research and drafting all day and never talk to anyone!" they said.

And then I get to my 2L summer and realize interpersonal skills are critical for interacting with partners and clients and opposing counsel.

It's bullshit I tell you. The whole reason I signed up was so that I wouldn't have to deal with that.

None of this is sarcasm, although I got lucky and my firm is great so it worked out anyway.

I had the same experience of people telling me that and it was a selling point rather than a turn off lol. I'm definitely capable of being around other people it's just my preference to work alone more often than not... The firm I'm summering at has a bunch of a-hole partners so I couldn't see wanting to interact much with them. Maybe I'll get lucky with a good firm! Already started the post-grad job search for 2018 with the hopes of not being stuck at my summer firm...

[TheJanitor6203]

A judicial career clerk would be a great job for an introvert. You'll interact with your judge and his staff of 2-3 other people and that's pretty much it. I interned for a judge one summer and absolutely hated it because I was locked up in an office all day by myself with no one to interact with. It also didn't help that I didn't get along with his staff either...

[Abbie Doobie]

doc review

[deepseapartners]

Many lawyers would probably consider themselves introverts rather than extroverts, if that's any comfort. I assume you're referring more to "what's the work environment where I am least forced into socially interacting with other people," in which case, I'd say a smaller tax practice (or other specialization-based advisory practice) with only a few legacy clients, especially if you are hired as a staff attorney.

Or

doc review

[ndp1234]

How about government at a non-litigating agency (basically anything except DOJ or Attorney General Offices)?

The best types of positions for introverts would probably Freedom of Information / Records Access Attorney.

Some agencies also have general admin law attorneys who handle things like rulemakings.

Everything you would have to do is through paper so minimal interaction. At best you would have to talk to requesters or client divisions - but you could probably delegate that to someone.

[Roy McAvoy]

If you have the background for patent pros, you can easily spend 95% of the day in your office with the door closed.

[Barrred]

Westlaw reference attorney in Eagan, Minnesota (Read and categorize cases all day)

[conker]

What types of environments are best for lawyers who don't like to be around other people? Besides biglaw (as that's not an option for me)?

I thought the general first answer was "appeals"?

[Bluem_11]

If you have the background for patent pros, you can easily spend 95% of the day in your office with the door closed.

Or 100% working remotely once you get some experience.

[Civilservant]

You don't like dealing with people? Skip ahead and become a Judge.

[Roy McAvoy]

If you have the background for patent pros, you can easily spend 95% of the day in your office with the door closed.

Or 100% working remotely once you get some experience.

Yup

[lolwat]

What types of environments are best for lawyers who don't like to be around other people? Besides biglaw (as that's not an option for me)?

I thought the general first answer was "appeals"?

Not necessarily. For appellate lit you still have to deal with your client, trial counsel, other appellate lawyers at your firm; then you eventually have to attend oral argument, etc.....

It's more specialized stuff like being a career clerk or research atty on a court that puts you in a position where you have very limited contact with anybody outside of the few ppl you work with/for.

[conker]

What types of environments are best for lawyers who don't like to be around other people? Besides biglaw (as that's not an option for me)?

I thought the general first answer was "appeals"?

Not necessarily. For appellate lit you still have to deal with your client, trial counsel, other appellate lawyers at your firm; then you eventually have to attend oral argument, etc.....

It's more specialized stuff like being a career clerk or research atty on a court that puts you in a position where you have very limited contact with anybody outside of the few ppl you work with/for.

Hey, interesting. As a 0L I think some of the local attys. mislead me sometimes. We don’t have grads from national schools around here, and the attys. have some misconceptions. Thanks for helping me understand more.

[A. Nony Mouse]

What types of environments are best for lawyers who don't like to be around other people? Besides biglaw (as that's not an option for me)?

I thought the general first answer was "appeals"?

Not necessarily. For appellate lit you still have to deal with your client, trial counsel, other appellate lawyers at your firm; then you eventually have to attend oral argument, etc.....

It's more specialized stuff like being a career clerk or research atty on a court that puts you in a position where you have very limited contact with anybody outside of the few ppl you work with/for.

Appellate for state government is pretty chill. Lots of cases don't go to oral argument (pretty sure that even in a firm you're not going to oral arguments very frequently) and you don't have a client to deal with (or, frankly, much to do with trial counsel).

[Nebby]

What types of environments are best for lawyers who don't like to be around other people? Besides biglaw (as that's not an option for me)?

You're not gonna be a good lawyer if you can work around and with other people. Get over yourself

[Nebby]

doc review

This is basically the only answer to OP. What a career!

[A. Nony Mouse]

What types of environments are best for lawyers who don't like to be around other people? Besides biglaw (as that's not an option for me)?

You're not gonna be a good lawyer if you can work around and with other people. Get over yourself

Dude, this is kind of harsh. Don't like = social anxiety just as easily as thinking you're better than others or whatever this assumes.

[Nebby]

What types of environments are best for lawyers who don't like to be around other people? Besides biglaw (as that's not an option for me)?

You're not gonna be a good lawyer if you can work around and with other people. Get over yourself

Dude, this is kind of harsh. Don't like = social anxiety just as easily as thinking you're better than others or whatever this assumes.

I agree. I probably shouldn't have phrased it like that.

[anonanonny]

Thank you everyone for the responses, they've given me some ideas. After reading some replies, I might add that it isn't that I am incapable of working with or around others--I do just fine. Prior to law school, I was in leadership positions and worked well with teams. I posted this because I'm an introvert who doesn't enjoy spending most of their time around others (it exhausts me). I generally enjoy it when I can be alone so I thought if I could find a position where I maximize how I work best then even better. FWIW, I will also add that I am not one who has to "get over" herself although I can see how only reading someone's posts can lead one to draw conclusions.

[lapolicia]

How about government at a non-litigating agency (basically anything except DOJ or Attorney General Offices)?

The best types of positions for introverts would probably Freedom of Information / Records Access Attorney.

Some agencies also have general admin law attorneys who handle things like rulemakings.

Everything you would have to do is through paper so minimal interaction. At best you would have to talk to requesters or client divisions - but you could probably delegate that to someone.

This isn't really accurate. As a government attorney in a non-litigating agency (or non-litigating role in a litigating agency) the vast majority of your work will be giving legal guidance to internal clients (agency staff). You'll often be the only lawyer at a big meeting and people will rely on you (and your social skills will play a big role in your success or failure). For rulemaking lawyers, half the job is going to meetings with policy people at your agency and other lawyers. FOIA is probably better, though many agencies like my old one used contract attorneys and/or non-lawyer "analysts" for much of that work.

[sublime]

God it was such a disappointment when I realized all the cynics trying to dissuade people from going to law school were lying.

"It's not like Law & Order/cliche TV lawyer shows!" they said. "You'll just sit alone in an office doing research and drafting all day and never talk to anyone!" they said.

And then I get to my 2L summer and realize interpersonal skills are critical for interacting with partners and clients and opposing counsel.

It's bullshit I tell you. The whole reason I signed up was so that I wouldn't have to deal with that.

None of this is sarcasm, although I got lucky and my firm is great so it worked out anyway.

[ndp1234]

How about government at a non-litigating agency (basically anything except DOJ or Attorney General Offices)?

The best types of positions for introverts would probably Freedom of Information / Records Access Attorney.

Some agencies also have general admin law attorneys who handle things like rulemakings.

Everything you would have to do is through paper so minimal interaction. At best you would have to talk to requesters or client divisions - but you could probably delegate that to someone.

This isn't really accurate. As a government attorney in a non-litigating agency (or non-litigating role in a litigating agency) the vast majority of your work will be giving legal guidance to internal clients (agency staff). You'll often be the only lawyer at a big meeting and people will rely on you (and your social skills will play a big role in your success or failure). For rulemaking lawyers, half the job is going to meetings with policy people at your agency and other lawyers. FOIA is probably better, though many agencies like my old one used contract attorneys and/or non-lawyer "analysts" for much of that work.

Obviously not all agencies run the same - it depends on whether you're at a small agency or a large agency; whether you work in an agency with contentious and heavily regulated issue areas, federal vs. state etc.

I'm an attorney at a small agency at the state level, and our issue areas are usually not very contentious so I can say from experience that our rulemakings are mostly paper pushing. Yes, there are definitely meetings with program staff, but the pool of people you generally deal with is limited as opposed to the private sector. I still think it's an option for introverted people. Not saying you will cut out all interaction with other people, but much of what you do can be done via sitting at your desk (whether via email, written correspondence, or electronically). A lot of the older agencies are still dinosaurs and get much done through written correspondence.

As the other poster said there is differential depending where you end up.