A child of the ’90s, I always wanted to be an attorney, likely as a result of my exposure to network television programs. Shows like Ally McBeal, L.A. Law and, of course, Law and Order, made being a lawyer look suspenseful, profitable, and even glamorous. High-rise offices, mysterious fact patterns, and intraoffice love affairs were enough to get me to commit to the answer of “lawyer” when asked what I wanted to be when I grew up.
Honestly, at the time, I had little idea as to what being a lawyer entailed. Growing up, I did not know any lawyers. My parents were schoolteachers, and my friends’ parents were police officers, fire fighters, and small-business owners. To me, becoming a lawyer — that was making it big. That was the ultimate sign of success.
As a child, I saw television portray attorneys as successful individuals, comfortably compensated, and always busy. The prime-time episodes did not show the grittiness of lawyering, the exhausting law school experience, the excessive student loans, the mundane internships, or the employer frustrations. Yet despite now having witnessed the grave differences between real life and fiction, I could not imagine having any other career.
This past week, I had the privilege of returning to my high school to speak to the senior public-speaking class regarding my career path. The class, filled with ambitious students reminiscent of my own classmates, seemed honestly interested in my law career. Many of them stated confidently that they wanted to become lawyers. Niceties aside, they asked pertinent questions about which cases I found interesting, how I was trained, and, of course, how I was paid. What interested me the most were their specific desires to practice in specific fields including divorce, criminal defense and personal injury (sadly none stated elder law or trusts and estates).
I questioned the students who had expressed their desire to become attorneys. I wanted to know why they had chosen the field and why, at the age of 17, before any college coursework, they were so convinced that it was right for them. The consensus was that being a lawyer was deemed a good job and one that presented itself as stable and successful. Interestingly none of the students were able to specifically tell me what being a lawyer entailed. The day–to–day of lawyering was unknown. I explained that sometimes I write, sometimes I argue, and often I meet with clients and try to problem solve.
Without a doubt, stories of litigation entertained the students and promoted many questions. The drafting and research, not so much. In speaking about my educational path, I noted that I had always wanted to become a lawyer but had also loved theater, which became my undergraduate major and also the subject of a graduate degree before law school. Although I took a break from my childhood plans, I eventually returned to them and went to law school. Speaking with the students made me think about why. It was not easy to go to law school. I had a young family, I had a baby, I had loans, and I had other responsibilities. In thinking about it, the answer I came to was simple and in many ways the same as it was when I was in high school.
To me, being an attorney means being educated. The law requires that you learn how to write, something I emphasized to the students. It provides a method for thinking and analyzing. You may not always like the legal subject that you are studying, but being a lawyer gives you a path to attack the subject. The education promises success -– at some level — and a membership in an exclusive club. A legal education leaves you more intelligent, more worldly, and , hopefully, compensated.
One student commented that I seemed happy with my career choice. And I am. Part of that goes to the fact that I work for myself, I set my own expectations, and I control what I do. The other part is reminiscent of my childhood goals, and I cannot explain who or what or why I lawyer, except that for me it represents the gold standard in education and, with that, the embodiment of success.
Cori A. Robinson is a solo practitioner having founded Cori A. Robinson PLLC, a New York and New Jersey law firm, in 2017. For more than a decade Cori has focused her law practice on trusts and estates and elder law including estate and Medicaid planning, probate and administration, estate litigation, and guardianships. She can be reached at cori@robinsonestatelaw.com.