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I’m not a lawyer, but I have worked in the legal field for many years as a legal assistant and paralegal. I would disagree that the law and ADD don’t go together well. Legal courses are some of the only ones I could ever finish and really excel at. I would complete my case brief assignments at the absolute last minute and be told that they were the best my instructor had ever seen. My brain just gets law and I can hyperfocus like crazy when it comes to reading decisions, drafting documents, and editing. Although I do think any ADD lawyer would really need an excellent assistant (or 2).

I always wanted to go to law school and I truly believe I would get through it fine (with help from the school’s disability centre), but life has always gotten in the way and completing any sort of bachelors degree seems impossible. Although that was before I was diagnosed. Maybe it would be different now, but of course now I am 40 and I already defaulted on student loans in my 20s, so….

Anyway instead of law school, I decided to go into the admin side of law. Big mistake there. I did great in college and then sucked at the job and never knew why until now. The lawyers loved me because they could discuss their cases with me, but I needed them to keep me organized instead of the other way around. I would start reading the files instead of filing them and there goes an hour.

But I do think an ADD brain can do great with law. The quickness we have, our ability to see things other people don’t see, our intuitive nature about reading people, and our ability to hyperfocus on the subjects we love.

@garyrob I’d love to know how you got through school. Also how you get around your ADD at work.

 

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One of my best employers was a new age retreat centre on a remote island off the coast of BC. The job didn’t really suit me that much (I was their front office supervisor and at that time I still thought I was good at admin work. Haha), but everything else was awesome. My boss actually reminded to take breaks often, go for quick meditative walks in the garden, he encouraged me to quit coffee, we were discouraged from working more than 4 days per week because we needed balance in our lives, I had lavender growing under my window which looked out at the ocean, etc… Oh and everyone hugged each other. (I know my life was tough.) Also living a very simple life in a remote place was so good for me. Until I needed a car once I had my son, I walked, biked or hitchhiked everywhere. I was surrounded by nature. My lack of social skills was helped by belonging to a small community (1000 people) where you run into people you know everywhere you go.

It makes me think about about what Jennifer Koretsky was saying in her webinar about reducing stress. Extreme simplification of my life did wonders for me in many ways. (In other ways, it was not the best so I cannot live there anymore.) Maybe this is one of the keys to helping our ADD. Reduce the opportunity for decisions everyday. Reduce the stimulation. Be in nature.

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Russell Peters – Hilarious Comedian

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