How is the legal profession for INFJs?

[karenk]

The idealist in me thinks law would be great for an INFJ because we could promote justice/help the underdog. However, I wonder if the profession itself might burn-out an INFJ? Any experiences/opinions?

[nolla]

Yeah, why not if you can deal with all the details and accept that law is not same as justice. You might get trouble when your own sense of right and wrong face the hard law book.

[sophiedoph]

Originally Posted by karenk

The idealist in me thinks law would be great for an INFJ because we could promote justice/help the underdog. However, I wonder if the profession itself might burn-out an INFJ? Any experiences/opinions?

OMG. Run away fast.

I am an INFJ who did and thought the same thing. I regret my choice every single day. I hate my job and am doing everything in my power to get out of the legal profession yet still make enough money to pay my now $105k student loans.

The judges don't care about social justice. The nonprofits that are legal-related are so filled with politics... they are also all bedfellows so good luck trying to clean it up.

If I could go back I would probably be a research psychologist in the area of housing conditions and mental health or some other poverty-related issues, and try to get appointed to policy-making boards.

The way INFJs think and the way everyone else you will meet in the legal field think are so vastly different, you can't even imagine. Also, although you expect to fight for social good, what you don't realize is that you are surrounded by TTTTTT lawyers even in your office. They are not supportive, they try to sabotage you. They think and act like lawyers AGAINST you-there's no support.

I'm not even just biased against my organization. I was seeking to transfer elsewhere--anywhere--in the state and heard this about most places.

I am so sorry to tell you all of this but I wish so much someone had told me before I went to law school.

[Peguy]

Try this simple excercise: get yourself a copy of the Penal Code. Then glance through and try to discern the significant differences between 2nd and 3rd degree murder; 2nd and 4th degree assault; assault with the intention of doing major bodily harm less than murder; and not to mention the regulations concerning the proper preparation of kosher food.

Then imagine having to do this for a living. Try this, and tell us how you feel afterwards.

[sophiedoph]

^^

Yes, basically.

Then give yourself a lobotomy in a different spot in your skull everyday for five business days and see if you can handle the migraine that results from the inevitable conflict inherent in the profession every working day for the next 30 years.

I never had a migraine--not once--before I started working. Now they occur regularly, and when they come, I can't get rid of them until I go to bed for the night.

There is soooo much office conflict in law

[sophiedoph]

Actually, I will say this for the law: When you have a JD, and you speak about something, people listen. Prior to my graduation, if I called a local housing authority and said, "Someone told me that one of the property managers will reduce the rents of the tenants if they let him grope them" they would write me off as another baseless complaint.

If I called them up now and made the same report, they would jump.

If I call up a housing authority and recommend they make their contracts with landlords more stringent--any foreclosure breaches the contract and immediately affords the tenant the opportunity to move--they are very interested in implementing it.

You have a lot of say. You have a scary amount of power. You also have bills and an unsupportive office environment that can (and often will) toll your emotional and physical health, as well as your relationships. (I am not the only one this has happened to--I could write a book of names of other NF lawyers who fit this profile.)

Last April-mid-July there were times I thought I would wind up in a mental health ward from a nervous breakdown. One of my friends lost 40 pounds from the stress--went from slightly heavy-set to skin and bones. Both of our relationships went on the spritz. Another coworker who finally left my office--she was so severely depressed for months and months that she only slept when not working (despite two kids and a husband).

There's much to do. But I think there are other ways to accomplish social good as well. Social work is a huge thing, you can really, REALLY directly impact the lives of so many. (I thank God for, and keep close relationships with the social workers to whom I refer my clients. I always know my clients are going into good hands, ones that will help them change their lives for the better.) Again, research in the area of poverty--the research that exists I believe is biased by politics, especially the housing research. This researh plays a big part into the decisions poverty law offices make regarding impact litigation.

Don't get me wrong--there is a need for INFJs in teh legal profession. But that is my selfishness speaking. My heart would say to you (as if you were me, 4 years ago), you would probably be much happier elsewhere, and you would still feel fulfilled.

[hiddengem]

I'm not an NF, but worked in law firms for almost 18 years as a secretary/legal assistant. I ended up in estate planning because it was the least confrontational aspect of law that I found. At least until someone died...then the weirdest stuff came out. I found that interesting from a human nature aspect. The other areas seemed too adversarial for me.

What was hard to observe were those lawyers who had to represent a view point that they didn't beleive in. You aren't always on the side of right. Sometimes you have to advocate for the scumbag because that is what you are paid to do. Some people didn't have a problem with that, they loved a fight. They would take on any fight even if they were ultimately in the wrong just for the pleasure of seeing if they could win.

Those that had a hard time dealing with the lack of actual justice, the long hours, petty infighting and meat grinder aspect usually ended up leaving private practice and went on to become in-house counsel for a company they found more in line with their personal value system. But a lot stayed with it and I think in the end will pay the ultimate price for it.

By the way, I now work for a state art agency helping to give state money to artists. It doesn't pay as well as a corporate law firm, but I don't take my job home with me and I feel good about what I do.