Just to clarify, I don't actually think that working in a law firm is enjoyable. What I was trying to convey is that, despite knowing that firms are sweatshops, the vast majority of us still sign up for OCI. Even worse, we soon start to measure ourselves based on just how high we can reach in the firm pecking order. I'll guarantee, come next fall, people will be debating the relative merits of working for the no.4 litigation firm in Chicago vs. the no.23 firm in New York. As though these rankings actually have meaning.

In short, I was trying to remark upon the transformation that a lot of law students go through, and which I was starting to observe in myself. Suddenly, the game of where you can get hired becomes an end in itself. Suddenly, our sense of self-worth becomes tied to the relative prestige of a job offer, even though no one you know outside of the law bubble has ever heard of these firms. And the biggest irony of all is that most of us don't even want these jobs. That the firms can be so successful, despite the fact that we know these jobs are barely short of hellish, speaks to their great skill at playing off of our fears and anxieties. They present us with a manicured image of success, and we bite.

-- RonMazor - 07 Feb 2010