Do you love practicing family law? Are you passionate about it. Do you find yourself reading litigation tactics books on vacation? Are you studying collaborative law articles while in the bathroom? Do you pore over every edition of Family Advocate?

If you don’t then you should get out. You should move on. You should find the thing you’re truly passionate about and go do it.

Family law is way to hard to do if you don’t have it in your bones. You can’t stand up to the client abuse, the judicial abuse, the peer abuse if you aren’t totally getting off on what you’re doing.

Far to many family law practitioners sit around the courthouse whining about the clients, the judges, the difficulties of managing associates, the challenges of collecting fees. They seem to hate what they’re doing. They seem to find little joy in helping a client, in performing in court, in pulling the rabbit out of the hat in a mediation.

Here’s the deal – if you’re not happy, you’re never going to do well. You’re not going to make money, you’re not going to find satisfaction in your work, your not going to find contentment. You’re screwed. Be miserable or get out – pick one.

I’d suggest you get out. Run, don’t walk, toward something else. There are lots of other possibilities. Maybe one of them is your thing. Maybe one of them will get you firing on all cylinders. Maybe one of them will keep you up at night with excitement about the next day. Seriously.

Some people love what they do. They’re always going to succeed in some form or fashion. If you hate it – you’re going to fail. Life’s too short.

If you’re that person complaining, think about what it means. Think about whether you hate family law or just love to complain. If it’s the former then pack it in, move on and find the place where you belong.