I've learned one thing as a child witnessing these fast-moving events/emotions in the past ten years. Family becomes my first priority. I hold this principle dear to my heart and swear to not let this happen to my own family in the future.
Then there is Principle: "a fundamental proposition that serves as the foundation for a system of belief or behavior or for a chain of reasoning". At times, we may be excused to lose sights at what matters the most to ourselves. Some bystanders defend their actions, arguing that we make up principles at different phase of life and sitting on one may be extremely difficult. I've noted that Positive Principle created rules governing one's personal behavior. At the heart of the debate is the issue about how principles are discovered and noted. Many may never display the principles they actually have. Who can blame them? We love to distort the events in our favor, measure righteousness with monetary currency. I can give many examples of how Positive Principle means in making decision, not just in a business sense, but in everyday life. That said, my mother's company could maybe be spared of a litigation only had my brother recognized his Positive Principle, if there's even any.
A few days ago, I withdrew from law school. At the very last minute, I could not phantom the term "client advocacy". People told me that I focused too much on that silly term. And there is always the question of what I plan to do if I leave school now (before school starts)? Still, compared with the challenges facing my core principles of advocating for clients who I must fight regardless of any empathy for the defending party, and vice versa, leaving law school is unlikely to cause much more than a hiccup. I have written many posts advocating for the cause, which essentially means the Principle on which our intent to law school was founded. Mine is for Just, for the ideology to move the society forward. Not the money or the prestige.
I want to tell my mother to look deeper into her Principles, and not let any distraction misalign her values. I wish I could pass the message to her and to all of us children to really care for family and to stop interrupting our principles with the prospective prestige and profit. We are not fighting to become any super woman; look at the incentive for receiving what we want if only we know what matter the most to us.
Sorry to hear that you dropped out of law school. As someone who has a super ambitious/money driven almost 60 year old mom from Taiwan that made/allowed me and my brother to have piano and abacus lessons as well, I'm not sure what I'd do if I were in your position of family wealth suddenly being in jeopardy.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with your assessment about the law profession forcing one compromise one's own Positive Principle (or at least not more than any other profession), especially if a high salary is not a major goal, however I'm sure you made your decision with much deliberation with regards to your own personal situation.
Best of luck to you and your family.
There's always a story behind every family. But I thank you for listening to/reading mine.
ReplyDeleteWhile asking my mother for advice about law school, she left me with a question: why did I want to attend law school? My answer was simple: to help people. She then gave me her examples of how ambition coupled with monetary reward can lead to family sacrifices, especially in the legal field where 100 hrs/week is too common.
I am not saying that all lawyers must compromise their principle. There are good ones, but that's minority. Ultimately, I suppose I can decide which case to take on, but my calculation tells me that as a young legal associate, I may not have the luxury to defend my integrity.
You might note that not all business people are ethical, but at least they are in the better position to make decision (I know I can say no), rather than depending on the decision from someone who pays you. That to me is a conflict of interest on my principles.
But again, I am assuming my hypothetical clients are skunks. Law is not for faint of heart. The few cases I read, though I found legal reasoning for the outcome, I couldn't help to factor in empathy in my decision. But then should lawyers have cared that the litigation is going to strip every penny the defendant's got, his house, his job, his life?
I guess we have different ideas about law. After three years of working in business I also thought (and maybe it's too idealistic) that law school would be the correct route to take for justice and helping others. I was tired of doing pretty much the same boring thing every day with the occasional 'fire fighting' just to make my company a bit more efficient to keep up with the competition so that the end consumer ended up spending a bit less.
ReplyDeleteFor law, I do think that the jobs that make more money and force you to work longer hours probably don't have a lot of 'justice' involved, but I don't think a law degree necessarily pigeon holes one in a narrow set of choices after law school. When I was talking to my mom about possible law professions after school, I brought up state prosecutor, immigration lawyer, and some kind of political aide working on reform, and her reply was that she didn't see much money in any of those jobs. My mom has always placed a lot of emphasis on money, and I personally find that money does not equate to happiness. So I find it a bit odd that she still considers money to be the most important thing to keep in mind when money hasn't brought her life much joy (though it has brought security).
I think a law degree could give one the license and power to do some things that one wouldn't think of as 'the right thing to do', but one could also use that law degree to help others, whether it's through public service, pro bono cases, or just representing smaller clients. I also think I'd have a hard time compromising my principles. If I were a judge and a defendant wasn't arguing his case well and the laws on the matter were outdated but I thought he/she was on the right side, I think I'd have a hard time saying "damn the laws and the trial, I rule in favor of the side that deserves to be right." I also think I'd have a problem advocating, or at least giving 100% for a client if I thought that they didn't deserve it. Hopefully there's an answer for this, but I think in life, a lot of compromises have to be made, even if it's not ideal.
Again, good luck with the family issues. I would think that most people think of their family first. Also good luck with whatever it is you decide for your career. I think most people a few years out of college have doubts or think and rethink whether they're on the right path. You seem to be an intelligent and thoughtful person though, and I'm confident that whatever it is you decide to do you will make a positive impact.
I went through the same thought process as you. So it's interesting that you brought up the three legal careers that deal the least with compromising Positive Principles. I debated at the last minute if I wanted to commit myself in those three careers. Here's my take:
ReplyDelete1) Immigration Lawyer- my first business dealt a lot with immigration issues, and frankly it's because I saw 100 desperate emails/day that made me first think of law school. Many sad stories. But I also learn you don't need to pay a lawyer $3,000 to extend a work visa.
2) State Prosecutor: you need to be elected for this position with a lot of politics and networking involved. Being a 100% 1st gen Asian, I don't see myself stand a good chance of winning it anytime soon.
3) Political Aide- this is a plain right joke. A lot of politicians go into this field for good intention, but true politics changed them and them too have to compromise principles.
When I finally narrowed down my career choice to public interest law, I asked myself why I would need to spend 100k on this career when I can already start helping out people, such as feeding the homeless, mentoring students, caring for elders without being in debt?
I suppose many people complain about their jobs to be routine work, and think that entering law might be something that can spice up their life. I admit that it was part of my reasoning in the beginning too, though just a small part. But you see, I was very proud of what I did before at work, and of all I did it without compromising my principle.
Yes, any license is powerful. But I see lawyers as vultures. They need to go after money because well what other skills can they offer besides client advocacy? At the end of the day, when you have to choose between bread and values, with 100k in student debt, what do you choose? Most people would convince themselves that they would overlook their Principle only once... just once
*If I am not mistaken, you probably are on your way to a law school application or haven't graduated into a real lawyer. And oh~ I remember the time when I was drunk in the pretty law picture I painted... in order to prompt more of my interest in law.