A Tale of Two Attorneys

Legal Blog Watch is all over this NY Law Journal article with two different takes on a three year study of work-life balance of New York attorneys.  From the article:

The committee's report, adopted unanimously by the Bar's House of Delegates on Saturday, concluded that being an attorney is an ever-more demanding profession in which practitioners are finding less time for families or for the citizenship activities that have been the traditional obligation of lawyers.

The committee worked for nearly three years on the report, which was based in part on nine invitation-only forums around the state.

The attorneys' responses, regardless of the number of years in practice, size of firm or practice setting, were consistent on one central point: "They all were having a very difficult time achieving a balanced life in the law," the study said.

Most attorneys told the committee they did not understand how demanding their jobs would be before entering the profession nor the stresses it would place on other aspects of their lives.

One contributing factor is technology. E-mail, BlackBerrys, cell phones and other devices make it possible for lawyers to be always on call to their firms and clients, Richardson said.

But it's not all bad news.  Despite the hard hours, the work remains rewarding for many:

Richardson, of Bond, Shoeneck & King in Syracuse, said attorneys overwhelmingly told the committee that they like practicing law and would enter the profession if they had it to do over again.

[JJ]