More & More Young Lawyers Leaving The Industry ‘Cuz Of Long Hours & Stress

You know what they say, right?

Good things don’t come easy, and that’s doubly true for lawyers in Singapore.

Image: pinterest.com

Back when you were still studying and impressionable, becoming a lawyer is a dream job your parents have for you.

That or a doctor.

Well, if you’re a lawyer today, you might be cursing and swearing at your parents.

More & More Young Lawyers Leaving The Industry

Image: straitstimes.com

And the reason? The long working hours and work pressure.

Straits Times reported on the statistics of young lawyers leaving the industry and it seems to be pretty dire.

Lawyers, in general, have long working hours. We’re talking about 12-hour work-days, especially before a big trial.

It’s not unusual to see a lawyer working till 2 am every day, even on weekends before a big trial.

Even a training stint might be enough to put off aspiring lawyers for good as they’re expected to be “on the ball”.

Add in the fact that the work load is crazy and complex as hell and you’ll have people working to get out of the industry instead of moving up.

Mid-tier lawyers make up less than 10% of the profession in the last 5 years

Image: channelnewsasia.com

At 2016’s Mass Call, Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon gave statistics showing that mid-tier lawyers (those with 7-12 years of experience) make up less than 10% of the profession in the last 5 years.

About 8% of practising lawyers do not renew their practising certificates every year.

Both don’t present a good image of the situation. You either have an entire bunch of new people without experience or you’re having an ageing population within the legal industry.

A lose-lose situation either way.

 

Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon has called for legal companies in Singapore to make it a priority to lessen the amount of strain on junior lawyers.

Too many aspiring lawyers in Singapore cause more stress for junior lawyers

Image: straitstimes.com

And that’s not the only problem.

The other problem is that there are too many lawyers in Singapore. So much so it’s hard trying to get a training contract or associateships.

Plus the fact that the legal industry is getting increasingly competitive between the companies so lawyers (even junior ones) have to work even harder to get “repeat customers”.

Add that all in and you’ll have junior lawyers who have no life.

What do you think? The workload getting too crazy or just strawberries being strawberries?

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This article was first published on goodyfeed.com

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Featured Image: straitstimes.com