I never saw "Paper Chase" but the book is excellent, especially for kids who are thinking about law school.
My own views are colored by the judges I know. Tradition has it that the A students become judges but the C students make all the money.
I have had some sort of personal contact with many judges before they went on the bench. Most did not come from big firms, and I have no idea what their GPA was, either, but they are definitely not social butterflies. Just ordinary middle-class (or upper middle-class) people only very serious, well educated, good minds, and somewhat introverted.
The money isn't great but the benefits are good, but what motivates them, I think, is public service. I guess that sounds naive but that really does seem to be the case. Most have big hearts. They also love getting kicked a few notches up the social scale.
Sometimes my poor husband will come to lawyer wing-dings with me, mostly because the food is good and the drink is liberal. Otherwise, he's bored senseless. I joke that "lawyers having fun" is an oxymoron, sort of like Republicans getting wild. ;^) |
