Comments on: Stressed lawyer jumps to his death http://dangerousintersection.org/2007/04/27/stressed-lawyer-jumps-to-his-death/ Human Animals at the Crossroads of Culture, Science, Religion and Media Fri, 05 Dec 2008 08:44:04 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 By: jane http://dangerousintersection.org/2007/04/27/stressed-lawyer-jumps-to-his-death/#comment-14512 jane Sat, 29 Sep 2007 02:53:03 +0000 http://dangerousintersection.org/?p=1259#comment-14512 As a 1 year qualified lawyer in the uk I have suffered stress recently. My firm gives clients a direct line to my phone. That means I can't get my secretary to screen calls and 50 per cent of my calls could be dealt with by my secretary. As a consequence some days I can get no work done as I am busy on the phone all day long. I deal with property law and know moving and buying a house is stressfull for clients but their stress ends when the purchase is complete. Mine continues onto the next case(s) . No one is available to cover me if I go off sick (last week I was off with stress)and I came back to a pile of work. Additionally, clients have no respect for lawyers nowadays. I found a really good tip a few months ago. Only check email 3 times daily. 9am then lunch then around 4pm. Otherwise you answer a client's query and they come back with another one a couple of minutes later. It really works so I hope that helps someone else. Other than that well, it is 3.51am and I can't sleep so I got up and did some housework, yes, I work full time plus at least 2 hours exta daily and then go home to a family and end up doing housework. aaaaaaaaaargh! As a 1 year qualified lawyer in the uk I have suffered stress recently. My firm gives clients a direct line to my phone. That means I can’t get my secretary to screen calls and 50 per cent of my calls could be dealt with by my secretary. As a consequence some days I can get no work done as I am busy on the phone all day long. I deal with property law and know moving and buying a house is stressfull for clients but their stress ends when the purchase is complete. Mine continues onto the next case(s) .

No one is available to cover me if I go off sick (last week I was off with stress)and I came back to a pile of work. Additionally, clients have no respect for lawyers nowadays.

I found a really good tip a few months ago. Only check email 3 times daily. 9am then lunch then around 4pm. Otherwise you answer a client’s query and they come back with another one a couple of minutes later. It really works so I hope that helps someone else.

Other than that well, it is 3.51am and I can’t sleep so I got up and did some housework, yes, I work full time plus at least 2 hours exta daily and then go home to a family and end up doing housework. aaaaaaaaaargh!

]]> By: Erika Price http://dangerousintersection.org/2007/04/27/stressed-lawyer-jumps-to-his-death/#comment-11995 Erika Price Sun, 29 Apr 2007 16:39:36 +0000 http://dangerousintersection.org/?p=1259#comment-11995 I noticed that several people on that site crack some jokes about the suicidal lawyer, and then ask "too soon?" I don't find it too soon, even when nervous college students joke quietly about the Virginia Tech shootings. Humor has a way of decompressing those things that frighten us or make us horribly depressed. With an uncomfortable thing looming over us, like a suicide, a shooting, or a national disaster, humor has a way of bringing issues into the open for discussion and analysis. If we can laugh about it, maybe it can't hurt us after all. Maybe mockery asserts our dominance over tragedy. I noticed that several people on that site crack some jokes about the suicidal lawyer, and then ask “too soon?” I don’t find it too soon, even when nervous college students joke quietly about the Virginia Tech shootings. Humor has a way of decompressing those things that frighten us or make us horribly depressed. With an uncomfortable thing looming over us, like a suicide, a shooting, or a national disaster, humor has a way of bringing issues into the open for discussion and analysis. If we can laugh about it, maybe it can’t hurt us after all. Maybe mockery asserts our dominance over tragedy.

]]> By: Mary http://dangerousintersection.org/2007/04/27/stressed-lawyer-jumps-to-his-death/#comment-11979 Mary Sat, 28 Apr 2007 22:54:50 +0000 http://dangerousintersection.org/?p=1259#comment-11979 I think that the suicide of anyone will make an empathetic person's heart ache, even if his/her life is peaches and cream. In other words, Erich, I did not misconstrue your message, but do understand the human need to ruminate on such tragedies. I think that the suicide of anyone will make an empathetic person’s heart ache, even if his/her life is peaches and cream. In other words, Erich, I did not misconstrue your message, but do understand the human need to ruminate on such tragedies.

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