Color me crazy, but I just don't understand this fella's suicide, or, I don't buy that it was because his job stole his soul. On that same general line, I don't understand the dissatisfaction everyone seems to express concerning working at big law firms (no one is forcing them to work there?). I'll do my best to articulate, but no promises.

Concerning Gil first. If he was so unhappy with his work then why didn't he simply quit? I mean, the author of the article obviously had a very similar experience, and instead of sitting there taking it day after day, quit and became a psychotherapist. Yes, ok, so instead of quitting Gil started stealing money, and that was supposed to express his rage/make it better? I'm going to assume that Gil, being able to pull off the insider trading scheme to the tune of millions of dollars, was a pretty bright guy - so wouldn't he, at some point, realize that stealing money from a company he hated wasn't making it any easier to sacrifice his time and energy, his life? I suppose I mean at some point before hopping off a bridge. Additionally, since he had the money from his inside trading scam, it seems he would have been able to quit his job straight up and still live a life of absurd material wealth. I feel like, in this case at least, the suicide had to be something outside the hatred of his job. It would have been too easy to walk away and start over.

Ok, on to rambling about generally everyone who works at a big firm and hates it. This may confuse me most of all. Mainly, because there's no good reason (read: huge debt) for them to be working there after a fairly short time. Let's go with your nameless student graduating from Columbia Law and starting up at whatever big firm in NYC, at the going rate of $160,000. Humor me for a second and let's just keep that figure static. Also, let's say that they make it out with debt in the ballpark of $150,000. Given these figures I'm here to tell you it should be possible to work at a big law firm for three years and eliminate damn near all that debt if you live modestly. And, for goodness sake, who can't do something they hate for three years to own themselves? It seems to me that there's no good reason for anyone to work at a big law firm and hate it after about three years or so, five at the most.

Here are my numbers. No, they're not exact, but should be close. Income tax, all told, should add up to around $16,679 for NY/NYC, and $52,800 for federal, totaling up to $69,479. That'll leave the lawyer with $90,521. Take out $12,000 for food (being generous here and assuming take-out/eating out) and $15,000 for rent (though it would be easy to find cheaper housing, again I'm being generous), that leaves $63,521. Assuming an interest rate of 13% on the $150,000 across three years, that'll end up being $208,500 (I didn't bother subtracting the amount possible to pay every month and then recalculating the amount of interest that would be added the next month because I don't feel like that much math). The lawyer, in this three years' time, can expect to have saved $190,560 if unnecessary expenses have been avoided. That'll leave $17,940 worth of debt in three years, assuming no bonus, no pay increase (though no deductions for retirement/insurance/very expensive fun). That's a pretty easy sum to handle across the remaining years (probably more than 20) left in the payment period.

So, why do people work at a job they hate, making money they don't need, and let it eat at them till they seek solace in the distance between the edge of an overpass and a dry creek bed? Ya got me.

-- MichaelHilton - 22 Feb 2010