Attorneys are too Serious Part I

First, a little background on why I believe the title of this post is true.  I was once asked (nevermind whom) what feeling I have felt or most strongly felt my entire life.  This was an easy question.  The answer is : different.  Not different good, not different bad, just different.  Specifically, as far back as I can remember I have looked at the world in ways that are different from most.  I call this vision, others call it eccentric, some insanity, a few charismatic (I like these people a lot), and far too many call it bullshit.

Anyway, virtually everytime I pursue a new endeavor, I quickly realize that I'm likely thinking about things for the most part outside the norm.  A good example was law school.  I started law school at age 27, about a year after I left the Army.  I hadn't been in a classroom (Field Artillery OBC excluded) in 5 years.  I really didn't know much about the law.  I had no idea was law review, moot court, inns of court (still don't know what this is) and/or mock trial were.  I certainly didn't know that the preceeding what were all the smarts kids did.

I remember one of the big fears first year was getting "called on" by the Professor and asked questions you clearly couldn't possibly answer.  I'll admit this was a little unsettling to me, but it didn't really inspire me to study more or less than I already did -  I mean I did my best to learn the material but if I didn't get it or whatever and I got called on, so what?  What was the worst that could happen?  Probably look stupid.  I think this bothered many people a lot more than me.

Same thing will finals.  It was a little stressful, I suppose, but again all I can really do is my best.  If I get a shitty grade so what?  I figure if I learned something than I can't complain too much.  Now, I can say this is decidedly a very, very minority attitude in law school.

Most people care a lot about their grades.  This is because good grades get you good jobs (see large firms, clerkships) or more appropriately good grades plus "activities" get you good jobs.  I had no idea about this, I figured with an accounting degree, four years of service as an Army officer, and decent grades, that'd be all I needed.  And seriously, while I didnt get straight A's (B+, I looked at my transcripts to verify) nor did I participate in any activity not involving softball or beer, I felt like I learned the material pretty well.  And at the end of the day, I was ok with that.

I think the broader point here is I didn't take law school seriously, or more specifically, I didn't take it seriously enough.  Or perhaps it is better phrased, my level of outward seriousness towards law school was much less than the average level of seriousness of my fellow students.

Sadly, this concept of "serious-ness" carries over to practice.  Part II will discuss my observations on practice.