There is regular discussion in the legal community about the current generation of associates and aspiring lawyers. They are (or will be) objectively better paid than their predecessors. Technology gives them (arguably) more freedom than at any point in history. And, at least recently, associates have been employed in a frothy legal market offering multiple career options. Those advantages notwithstanding, the reportedly low level of satisfaction among these “millennials” remains a mystery to many.
The answer to their perceived apathy was clear to me on line in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on Dec. 5. In the interest of full disclosure, it was 3 a.m. and I was freezing, so that clarity could have been frostbite playing tricks on my psyche. Borderline hypothermia aside, I, along with 50-something others, was outside waiting for a ticket to hear the oral arguments in Boumediene v. Bush and Al Odah v. U.S., which were consolidated. In the makeshift camp of sleeping bags (some of the resourceful attendees brought tents, but the court’s marshals prohibited their use) and teeth-chattering conversation, there was palpable excitement about the court, if not the law in general.
