From Lawyer Insider: Life is Glamorous but Unsatisfying

A lawyer posted a comment that gives us a more balanced perspective of the law profession.

I quote him/her:

"While the upside is that lawyers have good job security and enjoy a glamourous image, this does not make up for the very unsatisfying nature of our work."

As for benchmarking to lawyers' salaries, "insider" has this to say:

"... benchmarking to the salaries of the top earners is very misleading as it ... ignores the fact that the life of an average lawyer is really very unsatisfying in terms of job satisfaction, work-life balance as well as opportunities for climbing the corporate ladder."

See the full comment here.

We thank "insider" for the informative comment.

http://www.salary.sg/2007/from-lawye...-unsatisfying/

I recently got a job interview as a fresh graduate. However, a firm doing civil lit wants me to work mon-sat with OT each day, and paying below market rate. If it was a corporate firm, i wouldn't mind as it would be easier to get into in house. Im still looking for other job alternatives at the mean time as being a lawyer is not my goal at the end of 10 years. Are there any other options for me?

Civil service?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I recently got a job interview as a fresh graduate. However, a firm doing civil lit wants me to work mon-sat with OT each day, and paying below market rate. If it was a corporate firm, i wouldn't mind as it would be easier to get into in house. Im still looking for other job alternatives at the mean time as being a lawyer is not my goal at the end of 10 years. Are there any other options for me?

ditch it. any firm that makes you work from Mon to Saturday is not worth your salt, and frankly, is full of ****.

you're a lawyer, not a call centre operator or a sweatshop worker in china

as a professional services firm, it is disgraceful for the firm to be stipulating that its employees work Saturdays.

sure, as a lawyer, hours are long. we get it. if that means staying until 3 am everyday for one month so that a deal is closed or a case goes to trial, so be it. you work for as long as required until the job is done.

but that does not mean they can extend official working hours until Sat.

we're members of a profession, not hourly wage workers

(No offence to hourly wage workers at all - my gripe is with exploitative firms like these who treat their associates like one).

Originally Posted by Unregistered

ditch it. any firm that makes you work from Mon to Saturday is not worth your salt, and frankly, is full of ****.

you're a lawyer, not a call centre operator or a sweatshop worker in china

as a professional services firm, it is disgraceful for the firm to be stipulating that its employees work Saturdays.

sure, as a lawyer, hours are long. we get it. if that means staying until 3 am everyday for one month so that a deal is closed or a case goes to trial, so be it. you work for as long as required until the job is done.

but that does not mean they can extend official working hours until Sat.

we're members of a profession, not hourly wage workers

(No offence to hourly wage workers at all - my gripe is with exploitative firms like these who treat their associates like one).

Come on, you join a law firm as a freshie doing long OT is expected. Want a 8-5 job go join the civil service.

Also Singapore is suffering from massive oversupply of law grads, those without experience are now begging for proper lawyer jobs. Many are taking up paralegal and contract drafter type of jobs, that is what I call 'exploitative'.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Come on, you join a law firm as a freshie doing long OT is expected. Want a 8-5 job go join the civil service.

Also Singapore is suffering from massive oversupply of law grads, those without experience are now begging for proper lawyer jobs. Many are taking up paralegal and contract drafter type of jobs, that is what I call 'exploitative'.

I'm the poster you quoted.

Read carefully. Where did I say that he should only accept a 8 to 5 job as a lawyer?

I'm saying that the firm trying to enforce a Monday to Saturday work-week is stupid and pointless.

no professional firm puts Saturday as its OFFICIAL working hours. to do so smacks of primary school disciplinarianism.

so is he expected to come in on a Saturday when there's nothing really much for him to do?

working adults are capable of planning their own workflow and meeting their deadlines without being compelled to come back on Saturday. what's next, coming in at 7 am for flag raising ceremony too?

even the most brutal financial services firms or investment banks don't stipulate an official Saturday workday.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I'm the poster you quoted.

Read carefully. Where did I say that he should only accept a 8 to 5 job as a lawyer?

I'm saying that the firm trying to enforce a Monday to Saturday work-week is stupid and pointless.

no professional firm puts Saturday as its OFFICIAL working hours. to do so smacks of primary school disciplinarianism.

so is he expected to come in on a Saturday when there's nothing really much for him to do?

working adults are capable of planning their own workflow and meeting their deadlines without being compelled to come back on Saturday. what's next, coming in at 7 am for flag raising ceremony too?

even the most brutal financial services firms or investment banks don't stipulate an official Saturday workday.

What difference does it make whether they include Saturday as "official"? Fact is it is expected in the industry for freshies to work 80+ hour work weeks without OT pay.

Does it make your balls feel song song if they tell you your workdays are Monday to Friday but everybody in the office knows you need to come back during Saturday or else means terminated?

You are just ranting on semantics that have no consequence. Market rules, nobody cares about what you think "should" be the reality. If you cannot accept it, just leave the industry and join a nice spot in the civil service.

I think lawyers are paid too much.

They don't need to be paid so much. As long as they can afford a 3 room hdb bto flat, they should be happy. Why need to buy condo?

Do you agree?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

What difference does it make whether they include Saturday as "official"? Fact is it is expected in the industry for freshies to work 80+ hour work weeks without OT pay.

Does it make your balls feel song song if they tell you your workdays are Monday to Friday but everybody in the office knows you need to come back during Saturday or else means terminated?

You are just ranting on semantics that have no consequence. Market rules, nobody cares about what you think "should" be the reality. If you cannot accept it, just leave the industry and join a nice spot in the civil service.

hello jackass. i'm not the OP and i have no beef in this game. I have pulled my weight in hours in this industry as an associate so this isn't about me.

what part of my posts is so difficult to understand?

If you think the difference between "officiall Monday to Friday" vs "official Monday to Saturday" is just a matter of semantics, then you clearly aren't a very good lawyer eh?


everybody knows that lawyers work far far longer hours than that and its part & parcel of the job. no one is disputing that here, so stop creating strawmans to argue about.

i'm saying that for a professional services firm to stipulate an official Saturday workday shows how shitty they are.

God I can't believe i'm repeating myself for the THIRD time here. is there something so cheem about this concept that you have problems grasping?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

hello jackass. i'm not the OP and i have no beef in this game. I have pulled my weight in hours in this industry as an associate so this isn't about me.

what part of my posts is so difficult to understand?

If you think the difference between "officiall Monday to Friday" vs "official Monday to Saturday" is just a matter of semantics, then you clearly aren't a very good lawyer eh?


everybody knows that lawyers work far far longer hours than that and its part & parcel of the job. no one is disputing that here, so stop creating strawmans to argue about.

i'm saying that for a professional services firm to stipulate an official Saturday workday shows how shitty they are.

God I can't believe i'm repeating myself for the THIRD time here. is there something so cheem about this concept that you have problems grasping?

You WOT rant like a PMS emo boy and now claim you have "no beef in this game". Don't wayang lah, pretend to talk to yourself. So unhappy just quit loh, come here scold your employer got what use...