The Destruction of Young Lawyers: Beyond One L Review

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The Destruction of Young Lawyers: Beyond One L ReviewDouglas Litowitz is an attorney, law professor and former associate at a large law firm. In this book, he describes the emotional, spiritual and financial pressures that have made many young lawyers desperately unhappy with their line of work. Litowitz makes many good points about the kinds of stresses that result from structural factors that are fairly new to the profession. While some of his recommendations are unnecessarily radical, he does seem to have a sound grasp on the malaise that faces the American legal profession at the dawn of the twenty-first century.
Young lawyers, he says, are suffering from high rates of depression and other forms of mental illness and substance abuse. There are several reasons for this. They come out of law school with little or no training in the practical realities of the law, saddled with enormous debts, steered toward practice in large firms that represent big corporations, spending long hours doing mindless and sometimes unethical work, chained to their jobs by technology that was supposed to liberate them.

I think the diagnosis is fairly accurate. While many of the cures he suggests seem worthwhile, I'm not sure all of his recommendations are worth following. Litowitz surprised me with his old-fashioned liberalism, bordering on radicalism. Whether describing the "alienation" of associates with reference to Karl Marx's theories, or deploring the inability of young lawyers to devote themselves to a career in public service, Litowitz seems to be calling out to us from the past. He is strongly opposed to nearly every feature of the present-day legal system. Litowitz recommends, for example, that we do away with the Socratic method in law schools, and the bar exam. He would prefer a more "user friendly" approach to law school classes, and a less "Mickey Mouse" approach to the conditions for entering the profession.
The problem with radicalism is that it tends to undervalue existing institutions. Could there be a reason for the "unfriendly" Socratic method? Let's face it, the law is not a touchy-feely profession. A lawyer in litigation practice is going to be pounded regularly with tough questions by unsymphathetic judges. He or she will have to defend his or her client's position, even when it seems untenable, against constant attack by counsel on the other side. As much as we hate it, learning to read cases and answer tough questions about them, getting pushed into untenable positions, is part of learning how to be a lawyer. It's more like boot camp than an encounter group.
I'm all for his recommendation about learning more practical skills in law school. When I was there, nearly twenty years ago, I volunteered for just about every practicum and clinical experience I could get. And still, of course, found myself lost when I actually started practicing law. Reducing debt loads for people just entering the profession so they have some control over their lives just makes sense. But we have to realize that being a practicing lawyer is never going to be easy, and that lawyers will never be loved for what they do.The Destruction of Young Lawyers: Beyond One L OverviewYoung lawyers are morosely unhappy by every conceivable standard. They arrive at our law schools brimming with enthusiasm, but a decade later they are reporting staggering levels of anxiety, drug addiction, and depression. In legal circles there is talk about a "crisis of professionalism" and a "decline in civility," but the problem goes much deeper. Through ignorance and greed, the legal profession has designed a complicated system of education, licensing, and practice that drives young lawyers into fear, alienation, and self-hatred. The author of this book—a law professor and practicing attorney—argues that young lawyers face a series of institutional absurdities built into the fabric of law school, the bar exam, and law firm practice. The current system is churning out a tidal wave of disaffected and bitter lawyers who see the legal system as a Byzantine maze, an endless artificial game totally disconnected from considerations of justice. The Destruction of Young Lawyers shows how these struggles can be reversed through massive structural change and is the first step toward diagnosis and treatment of the specific problems facing young lawyers.

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