I felt the burn out creeping. But I ignored it. It started to whisper in my ear. But I ignored it again. Then it went away.

I started Jones Law Office in 2016. It’s a year I won’t remember too fondly in the future. The days were long and the billables were short. But I kept at it. 2017 showed surprising promise. My schedule was concrete: wake up at 6 AM, Calendar call at 8:30 AM. Court until whenever the final gavel banged. Chasing clients from 5 PM – 9 PM, research and review cases until 2 AM. Repeat. 2018 was the year of big return. And 2019 is shaping up to be a windfall year. But 2020 may see me bow out from the practice of law for good.

The burn out never really went away.  I just ignored it in the hunt for the next billable hour. All for money. It’s weird that we don’t talk about money. I actually brought this subject up in court when a judge categorized court appointed legal work as charity or “work from the goodness of your heart.”

Objection. No one works any job out of the goodness of their heart.  No one goes to school for almost 10 years, wakes up before the sun, drives 45 minutes through traffic to argue with other people for 8 hours a day over the lives of people they don’t know out of the goodness of their heart. We do it for money. It’s our livelihood. And it’s tiring because the money never matches the work we do. So, there’s the never ending push to do more in order to make more. And for what?

On paper? I do well. I would classify myself as a HENRY (High Earner, Not Rich Yet). But the earnings are too hard won and at this point, there’s no purpose to the daily grind that produces the income. I recently did a cost analysis of my life, and I discovered that nearly every expense I have (including personal) is directly connected to the practice of law. I also discovered that nearly every negative issue I have is directly related to the practice of law. It all has added to the burn out. 

I’m surprised at who I have become; a far cry from the free spirited young man who, just a few short years ago, sold everything I had and bought a big red Scooby Doo mystery van on Craigslist to drive around the world in 180 Days…or just to Los Angeles to live on the beach and write screenplays in coffee shops. We lose ourselves so quickly in this life. 

Closing Argument: I’ve lost the drive to practice law. I’ve also lost interest. I never wanted to be a lawyer anyway and I have no idea how I got here. The law is not a pleasant or an inviting profession. I wouldn’t encourage anyone to pursue this field. The legal profession has a pretty face and takes a perfect selfie. But beneath the filters and the Fendi foundation, she’s ugly as hell.

So, this is my notice to myself. A year from now, I plan to be doing something else. If you should come across this blog in June of 2020 and I am still practicing law, please hold me in contempt.

I leave you with this statute from The Last 5 Years:

Jamie is over

Jamie is done

Jamie decided it’s time to move on

Jamie has new dreams he’s building upon….