The following article was first published in Law360 Canada on September 10, 2024, and is republished by permission of the author, Murray Gottheil, a friend, lifelong lawyer, and now retired law partner living in Ontario. Visit his Law & Disorder site for more insights.
“Work hard, earn a great living, get whatever you want out of life, have all the stuff you want. But there should be a ceiling on it — enough is enough!” ~ Sandy Duncan
I used to think that I was a fairly sophisticated guy. I got me an education. I was a partner in a law firm. I advised some successful clients. But since I retired, moved to the country and bought a pickup truck, I have been rethinking some things and I realize that perhaps I am, and have always been, more of an Okie from Muskogee, or in Canadian terms, a hick from Temiskaming. And I am happy to be one.
What has me ruminating about the excesses of law firm culture and has resulted in this diatribe was an exchange on LinkedIn with a retired Big Law partner who was, in the eyes of most of the world, a much more successful lawyer than I ever was. He referenced, in passing, hourly rates of $1,700 and partners with an annual income of $6 million. A light went on in my head. It turns out that despite spending 40 years in the legal profession and thinking that I understood it, I had never contemplated that people charged that much or earned that much.
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I certainly never made close to $1 million in a year and would have been deliriously happy if I had earned that much. And yet, despite having had a domestic reorganization and the financial setback that comes with that, I retired with more than enough money to feel secure, live how I want to live, and travel as much as I want to travel. I figure that having one or two more millions of dollars than I have would be nice. But would having many more millions of dollars make me happier? I doubt it.
I imagine that it is possible that you can get to the stage of earning well over $1 million in the legal profession without succumbing to the mental health problems that afflict so many lawyers. But surely, the pursuit of that type of money must explain more than a little bit of the alcoholism, drug addiction, stress, burnout, breakdowns and divorce that are rampant in the profession. And let’s not kid ourselves — it is not only the super-high earners who risk suffering the effects of this culture of greed. It is also all the people at the bottom of the pyramid who work ridiculously hard to support the mega-earners while they try to claw their own way to the top.
If practicing law is ever going to become a healthy endeavor, people need to start saying that enough is enough. They need to scream, as Howard Beale did in the movie Network, “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!” Instead, I imagine that any managing partners from Big Law who read this are going to be thinking, “The natives are getting restless again. Time to hand out some bonuses, organize a lunch and learn on mental health, and crank up the old marketing machine to remind everyone why they love being at the leading end of the profession.”
You can have it. I am going for a drive down to the lake in my pickup.
Paul here:
I'm a practicing lawyer who has lived or witnessed the personal damage that Murray speaks to, including suicide. We (EVERYONE, not just lawyers) have to honestly ask ourselves, "Why all my striving for more, simply for the sake of more, and is it worth the damage to me, my family, my colleagues, and my profession ?"
At what income are people able to live comfortably in the US? One recent study charted this number state by state for single adults and came up with a range of $79,000 - $116,000. At the same time, I personally know people who make less than that amount and, through careful management of their money, have made a very comfortable life for themselves. In any case, this range is far below what many of us might have been led to believe is needed.
One of the pitfalls of our current "maximize profit ethic" is that it has created among us a culture where we continually strive for more, regardless of our circumstances. There is nothing inherently wrong with reaching for a higher level of income; but if grasping at the brass ring harms others or has taken the joy out of the ride, what's the point? Isn't that outcome the opposite of what the grasping was supposed to achieve in the first place?
As the wise person who wrote Proverbs 30:8-9 stated:
...give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.
This ancient writing shows that the quest to strike a balance of enough (somewhere between too little and too much) has always been a human struggle. One of Better Capitalism's purposes is to assist you on your journey of discovering, determining, and moving into your right balance. As you find how to implement material and financial contentment in your own life, drop us a line at info@bettercapitalism.org. We would love to hear your story.
Tired of "profit is evil" vs "maximize my profit by exploiting others," as if those are the only two options?
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