Lawyers operate … with a very high level of urgency. What that can mean is that they can become impulsive. They can become irritable [and] argumentative because they’re always operating at 11. … It can also cause somebody to be a very poor listener, because you’re just trying to get to the point.
We’re the ones to whom people come for answers. Asking for help becomes very difficult. Strong relationships are reciprocal by definition. If you can’t show vulnerability or ask for help, then it can make a relationship very one-dimensional.
— Stacey Dougan of Stacey Dougan Counseling & Consulting in Atlanta, Georgia, commenting on why some lawyers “suck at relationships.” Dougan is a former Greenberg Traurig shareholder who became a therapist, and she now counsels attorneys and law students.
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Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.