If you’re not familiar with Will Meyerhofer, a Harvard BA/NYU JD, former Sullivan & Cromwell associate, and now a psychotherapist in private practice in Battery Park City, I’m here to tell you you should be. Will writes at The People’s Therapist, and his pieces are often cross-posted on Above the Law. Most of his patients are law students, lawyers, or ex-lawyers, and his insights into the underbelly of the profession are without peer.
He’s just come out with Way Worse than Being a Dentist: The Lawyer’s Quest for Meaning, which I have in my hands (thanks, Will!).
Although mostly a compendium of his published online pieces–“fully updated and expanded with exciting new filler,” as he cheekily notes on the back cover–even loyal readers, myself included, will be nearly undone by the cumulative power of reading about his patients’ dilemmas (strict confidentiality duly observed) and his reflections on how polite, studious, ambitious, and very smart people seem to consistently get themselves into dark nights of the soul in pursuing our profession.
I could go on and on about Will’s insights, his patients’ extreme array of dilemmas, joined together at the hip by the pressures of practicing, but I think this review from Amazon (reprinted in its entirety) tells you what you need to know:
I read this book in one sitting. It is a must-read for anyone thinking about working at a big law firm in New York, anyone currently working at a big law firm in New York, anyone who has ever worked at a big law firm in New York, and anyone close to someone in one of the above three scenarios. It is so powerful to know that I am not alone in my experiences. I feel incredibly validated. My only wish with regard to the book is that Will would discuss the feelings that many people have after they leave big law and how those people figure out what they really want to do – a possible next book? Thank you for writing about these issues, Will. So many people are too afraid to speak out.
And one more quote, from a brilliant piece in the book called “A Little Chat:”
My client recently received a lesson in partner communication.
The firm was dead slow, and she was dedicating her time to a big pro bono case. An email suddenly arrived announcing a new policy: you now needed special permission to bill over 250 pro bono hours annually. In two months, she’d billed 220, and the case was coming to trial.
She called the pro bono partner.
“You’re close to the limit,” he noted.
Last week, there was no limit, she explained. This is an important case, coming to trial.
“You’ve nearly exceeded the cap on hours,” he helpfully re-noted.
She inhaled deeply, and re-explained the situation.
He ingeniously pointed out that the 250 hours cap was the firm’s new policy…
…at which point she snapped, and did the unthinkable: she said what she really thought.
“I didn’t know there was a new policy. No one communicates at this place. And what is the point of this crap? Look at my hours – it’s not like I have anything else to do!”
There was a lengthy pause.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” said the partner.
He hung up – and she began to harbor second thoughts.
I’m sorry to hear that.
And there you have it. When you hear, “I’m sorry to hear that,” it’s not the partner, of course, who’s sorry at all.
