Anyway, joking and snide comments aside, I actually know more lawyers or soon-to-be-lawyers than any other profession (well, except 'bum', my friends tend to go in one direction or the other). I understand that this is all anecdotal evidece, but I figure I'll add what little useful comment I can.
I've personally known some of those substance abusing lawyers. They're not very friendly or happy people and it strikes me that they may well have had problems in other careers, but that law exacerbates the issue, with its long hours and stressful lifestyle. It's a mixed bag of blame, really.
A great part of the reason legal stress is different than stress related to other professional careers is the generally negative public opinion people have of lawyers. And it's not just that the public thinks of you differently than they might a doctor, no. Lawyers are not bred out of some kind of strange frog-cow hybrid DNA and then raised in total isolation, they are the same as any of us and many of them go in with the same preconceived notions about law and many of them are very disappointed when they get there.
I also know people who are happy in law, but in fairness, my anecdotal numbers
are roughly 50%. HOWEVER, of that 50%, some have found other routes to happiness. Some have gone on to teach law, so that they can still be involved with 'pure' law without having to deal with the legal profession. Another is setting himself on a fast track to becoming a judge.
And of course there's always Politics.
The most important thing I can tell you is this: Do not under any circumstances go into law, unless you have some appreciation for it as a pure social and linguistic science.
Forget that horseshit about being a defense lawyer, prosecutor, professor, adjutant, subspecialist, judge, or whatever. Take Engineering for example. Think of all the different categories and subcategories under the heading 'Engineer' - that's a lot of space! But no matter what, you should not ever be urged to go into engineering if you have no instinct at all for logical thinking, thoroughness, detail, systems planning, or any of the other traditional 'Engineer' traits. By the same token, someone who is all logic and no speculative imagination should probably not have anything to do with art, nor should the antisocial and silent have anything to do with teaching. There are exceptions of course, but these tend to be unique, readily obvious individuals. Not so much the "Well, I've been thinking of going back to school" kind.
If you want to go into Law, you need to appreciate Law in and of itself at least on
some level.
Only you will know for sure what the correct level of engagement is. Thad, on these boards, I've seen a high degree of logic and legal-type thinking from you, but at the same time, I haven't seen you mention a legal career before, so I have no real basis for saying this is a good or bad idea for you personally. Though based on my views, I would
not go in simply because you think "the world needs more [IP] lawyers who 'get it'".