Above all else, it was painful to read Joanna Litt’s essay about the suicide of her husband, Gabe MacConaill, a 42-year-old partner at Sidley Austin in Los Angeles. Whether you agree or not with Litt that “Big Law Killed My Husband,” elements of that story will certainly hit home with just about everyone who’s spent more than an hour in a big law firm.

For me, it brought me back to my days as a young associate decades ago—and the memories it unveiled were not pleasant. It took me back to a time when I felt constantly unsure, nervous and unmoored.