Public DefenderStress

You will never be at a loss for excitement. Public defenders spend most of their days in the courtroom, not reading contracts and reviewing paperwork (real estate lawyers do that sort of thing). Albeit exciting, the job can wear down one’s moral fiber the way a cheese grater takes down a block of Parmesan. Sticking up for drug dealers, small time thieves, wife beaters, and vandals can test your nerves.

Your saving grace will be the occasional defendant who has been framed…like Roger Rabbit. You will get to expose the wrongdoing, reveal that the actual criminal is the judge himself, and win over the hearts and minds of the entire town. To do that, of course, you will be working 100 hours a week with little help. So yeah, it’s stressful.