Tiring of Litigation Forum

[Anonymous User]

Nearly a decade in, I find myself exhausted with the work. I still love research and writing, but get a pit in my stomach every time I realize that settlement discussions, depositions, and calls with opposing counsel are going to devolve into a shouting match or an argument. I absolutely hate hearings/trials, while it seems like many other lawyers get a ton of juice from those experiences. It doesn't help that I have a front seat to people getting absolutely demolished by the justice system.

Yes, I realize how damn stupid that is, because everything I just described IS the job I signed up for. It's embarrassing that this deep into my career I am just starting to understand how much easier it would have been if I chose a career that matched my natural disposition, rather than trying to mold myself into something I'm not.

Anyone else find themselves in this situation, and if so, how have you dealt with it?

[glitched]

Nearly a decade in, I find myself exhausted with the work. I still love research and writing, but get a pit in my stomach every time I realize that settlement discussions, depositions, and calls with opposing counsel are going to devolve into a shouting match or an argument. I absolutely hate hearings/trials, while it seems like many other lawyers get a ton of juice from those experiences. It doesn't help that I have a front seat to people getting absolutely demolished by the justice system.

Yes, I realize how damn stupid that is, because everything I just described IS the job I signed up for. It's embarrassing that this deep into my career I am just starting to understand how much easier it would have been if I chose a career that matched my natural disposition, rather than trying to mold myself into something I'm not.

Anyone else find themselves in this situation, and if so, how have you dealt with it?

I'm in a very similar boat. Litigation is funny because the endgame skills (e.g., depositions, trial advocacy) are completely different from the early skills. I really wish I did tax, but instead went IP lit. I'm at the same inflection point - I'll probably just go in-house.

Or I might try to just break my brain and stop feeling anxious about those public speaking opps. Everyone in the room is a person, and if you've made it this far, you're capable of talking/arguing to people. You don't need to be perfect - just have to get your point across.

[Anonymous User]

You could move into appellate litigation, where there is a lot more time sitting alone in an office poring over a trial court record and writing briefs and doing research. Appellate litigators appear in court far less and there's much less back-and-forth with opposing counsel and less client interaction. I know someone who worked at the Center for Appellate Litigation in New York (https://www.appellate-litigation.org/) who described the job as "monastic". If you don't want to defend indigent clients in criminal appeals, you could look into being a career clerk or staff attorney for an appellate court or go to a firm with a dedicated appellate practice.

For what it's worth, I think a lot of litigators secretly feel the way you do, but people get it in their heads that they're "supposed" to love appearing in court.