Has becoming a lawyer changed how you go through day-to-day life?
“Before I was an attorney, the world was riddled with rainbows and butterflies. Bad people only lived on Melrose Place, and nobody habitually lied or cheated,” Florida lawyer Jennifer Burby writes at her Champagne Supernova blog. “Being a lawyer has opened me up to the world of the worst.”
Burby writes that now that she’s a lawyer, she can’t shake the mindset that everyone is lying. It’s No. 5 on her list of “11 Ways Being a Lawyer Makes You Crazy.”
No. 1? Putting everything in writing. Every commitment is confirmed by text, email or fax. “A paper trail to a layperson is a documentary ultramarathon to an attorney,” Burby wrote. “There’s no such thing as someone’s word or handshake being ‘good enough,’ because when you’re a lawyer, you know it doesn’t count unless it’s in writing.”
So this week, we’d like to ask you: Has becoming a lawyer changed how you go through day-to-day life? Have your conversations become interrogations (No. 3)? Do you see the world in 6-minute increments (No. 10)?
Answer in the comments.
Read the answers to last week’s question: What is your sign-off on professional correspondence?
Featured answer:
Posted by Barry Zalma: “I say ‘Sincerely’ or ‘Regards,’ depending on the communication. ‘Yours Truly’ is a shorthand of ‘Yours Truly to command,’ which I never mean.”
Do you have an idea for a future question of the week? If so, contact us.
