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Job Satisfaction Among Legal Professionals

May 17, 2012 | Peaceful Divorce Practices

Legal professionals have concerns about job satisfaction according to recent surveys.

Surveys conducted by the American Bar Association within the last five years have shown that disenchantment among both new and seasoned lawyers is widespread. Almost half of the respondents reported dissatisfaction in their careers and less than half said they would recommend the legal profession to others.

A majority of the lawyers believe that law schools are not adequately preparing students, especially in teaching them about the realities of the job. Consequently, many law students are expecting a career as a lawyer to bring them glamour, prestige, and big bucks.

Although there are highly compensated lawyers, they are primarily employed by very large firms that only make up about 1% of all law firms. Most lawyers make a lot less working in small firms, the public sector, and in government.

As for a glamorous life, the normal day of the average trial lawyer is not spent in courtroom trials. It involves many hours of tedious work such as gathering documents, document review, research, and drafting briefs, memorandums, and letters.

Another sector of the legal community is paralegals, and in contrast to lawyers, surveys show a high level of job satisfaction among them. Many report that they enjoy the challenges and constant opportunities for self-education, and most say that their salaries are satisfactory or excellent, although this varied in different parts of the country. But, there were also some complaints of salaries not being commensurate with duties, citing instances of paralegals doing the same work as entry-level attorneys, but being paid much less for it.

There were other areas where many paralegals desired improvement. High on the list was the desire to be more valued and appreciated by the lawyers they supported. Another drawback mentioned was lack of advancement opportunities.

If you are looking for a rewarding and challenging career in the legal profession, you may want to explore opening your own divorce services business. When you are working for yourself, some of the negative aspects, such as lack of respect for one’s work and lack of advancement opportunities, are resolved. In addition, your income is not limited to what an employer is willing to offer.

One key to the success of a business is to find a niche to specialize in – for example, peaceful divorce services. Specializing in a niche business enables you to be the expert in your field, drawing your target clients to you. That is what the Divorce With Dignity Network is all about. And if join us, you would have a lot of the work of starting a business already done for you, plus you will receive personalized training and mentoring to make sure you are set up for success. We invite you to explore the many benefits of becoming a Divorce With Dignity Network Provider. Find out why Divorce With Dignity maybe right for you.

Cindy

Cindy Elwell
Founder, Divorce With Dignity
 Network

Our Founder started DWD, after years in the legal field, because she wanted to help people going through a divorce to do it peacefully – the way she did – and provide a safe place for them to do so. In 1995, she opened the first DWDignity office in Alameda, California and since then, she (along with her expanding network of Providers) has helped thousands of people obtain an amicable divorce.