I'm not ashamed to say it: I love the law, and I love lawyers; though, as any good corporate attorney would be quick to point out, one does not necessarily follow the other.
For nearly seven years I owned a magic shop that I grew despite a myriad of mitigating factors, and at this point I am quite famous (at least in my own little circle) for declaring upon my sale of the business that I love magic but dislike magicians. The reason why was simple, and its essence is contained in a single joke that I used to find the most hilarious nugget of humor on the planet:
Q: What's the difference between a magician and a pizza?
A: A pizza can feed a family of four!
Now, don't get me wrong; it's not the party magician's fault that his art, and therefore his financial prospects, are declining in relevance with each passing day. It's just depressing to be involved in a business where one of your best customers can't scrounge together five bucks to buy a box of sponge balls.
Lawyers, thankfully, seldom need props to assist them in their miracle making; in fact, maybe that's why I love them so much: lawyers are sorcerers of sorts, too. Just practical ones.
They're our salvation when customers don't pay, but also when creditors come calling. They eradicate bad marriages, and establish trust funds that bad children will never be able to access all by themselves.
They advocate for greater civil liberties and for clearer case law. They review our advertisements to reduce the risk of lawsuit, and they settle out of court when someone files a lawsuit against us.
Sure, there are lawyers that fail to work with the public interest in mind (I call them politicians), but there are also magicians that molest small children and one (who used to work for me) that would hurl tying balloons toward young party guests and screech, "Here are the balloons - blow them up yourselves!"
No profession is perfect, or is populated by perfect people. But the practice of law, and the pursuit of truth and justice through due process, is noble, at least in theory.
So, if you practice law, especially as a public defender or for an organization such as the Legal Aid Society, good for you. You are making real magic happen, while I as a prestigitator am but a pallid pretender.
However, if you are an attorney that spends his days crafting more complex credit card regulations, restrictive recording agreements or student loan default documents, well - you are making magic, too.
Not all magic brings with it happiness, but that doesn't make it any less magical. It just makes it a little more painful.
Thankfully, it is the nature of the law that there will always be another lawyer - a defense attorney, opposing counsel - to advocate for you; long, long after the birthday party magician has produced a farm animal out of thin air, tossed his party balloons at you and sped away.