I think there are posts that veer too far for and against the legal profession, especially in practice.

My 2 cents as a former practitioner is that yes firm life has long hours, and the eventual goal in a local firm is partnership. Some can stay the course, some don't. I stayed 3 years till my 4PQE before going in house. Long hours, difficult bosses, invariably other parts of life suffers. But it is what it is, you do find moments of comaraderie at work so it's not all that bad.

It's a zero sum game at the end of the day. If you sacrifice longer hours at work, then family friends etc suffers. Some people are ok with that, some are not. There is no right or wrong choice, just be aware of what you get yourself into.

Most people (me included) like the romantic idealistic idea of being a lawyer. Most realise that after actually working at a firm, that the bulk of lawyering is dog work, research, rechecking, triple checking, quadruple checking to make sure you don't make mistakes. It's very attritional, very very very much so.

It does merit intellectual satisfaction, and the most brilliant minds are in the legal profession. As with all work, the more practice you get, the better you get.

If I had to do it all over again, I would definitely still read law, still get called, and still experience firm life. Because you gain perspective and that's what holds you in good stead long after you leave practice.

Godspeed all!