You Don't Want to Make Partner
I'm always fascinated by the number of lawyers I meet who hate practicing law but never do anything about it.
Why do unhappy lawyers continue to be unhappy lawyers? I'm not asking why unhappy lawyers stay unhappy. A lot of other people talk about that.) I wonder why unhappy lawyers stay lawyers? Why don't they leave the law?
The philosopher Rene Girard coined the phrase mimetic desire. We learn what to desire by imitating others. The partnership track is a great example. You want to make partner because everybody else wants to make partner.
All associates are at different stages of the partnership track, but they all have the same goal: partnership. In law firms, you're surrounded by people who are all striving for the same thing or who have already achieved that thing.
I figured out that I was in a mimetic trap when I was talking with a newly-minted partner. He was only a few years ahead of me. "This sucks," he said. "I have so much business development stuff to do now.
Here, a graduate student in physics describes how he fell into a mimetic trap. He realized he was trapped when he couldn't say why why his work mattered.
Why do unhappy lawyers continue to be unhappy lawyers? I'm not asking why unhappy lawyers stay unhappy. A lot of other people talk about that.) I wonder why unhappy lawyers stay lawyers? Why don't they leave the law?
The philosopher Rene Girard coined the phrase mimetic desire. We learn what to desire by imitating others. The partnership track is a great example. You want to make partner because everybody else wants to make partner.
All associates are at different stages of the partnership track, but they all have the same goal: partnership. In law firms, you're surrounded by people who are all striving for the same thing or who have already achieved that thing.
I figured out that I was in a mimetic trap when I was talking with a newly-minted partner. He was only a few years ahead of me. "This sucks," he said. "I have so much business development stuff to do now.
Here, a graduate student in physics describes how he fell into a mimetic trap. He realized he was trapped when he couldn't say why why his work mattered.