Anxiety increasing among associates at U.S. firms

Higher anxiety levels can be attributed lower salaries and reduced career experiences
Higher anxiety levels can be attributed lower salaries and reduced career experiences

A recent New York Times article by Alex Williams about life for associates at major U.S. firms notes the sharp downturn since 2007 in young lawyers’ salaries and early career experiences. The result: a surge in reports of depression, lowered morale, and an increasing sense that many associates are in the midst of an “existential crisis.”

Williams writes:

It is more than dips in income that are reshaping the law firm culture. The prestige and self-identity of being a lawyer are in play. Pre-shakeout, lawyers could tell themselves that they were, if not exactly Masters of the Universe like investment bankers, perhaps Major-Domos of a Mid-Size Galaxy.
As a young lawyer, you could get through 1 a.m. due-diligence sessions by reminding yourself that you were following in the tradition of Louis Brandeis, Clarence Darrow or, at least, Ally McBeal.

Read the full article here.