I am probably out of the norm because my practice actually does have a lot in common with law school. I do criminal appellate work, which means lots of research and writing with the occasional oral argument. I hated law school a lot, but I didn't find the reading to be tedious or boring. I found that part fairly fascinating -- it was my fellow students who made me miserable.

Since there are so many different types of law out there I think it is pretty hard to guess whether you will enjoy the profession, but in general I would say that these are the questions to ask yourself:

1. Are you a good writer? This is more important in my line than in many others, but law school and passing the bar require a lot of writing, and most types of law require writing, and if writing is a major struggle for you, you are probably going to be unhappy.

2. Are you bad at confrontation? I mean this both ways -- can you engage in confrontation calmly and rationally, making your point without flying off the handle? Shrinking violets don't do well in the law. If you have a panic attack at the thought of calling your bank to dispute a charge, don't bother with law school. By the same token, if you are always getting into arguments with store clerks and waitresses and bank tellers over minor things, do the profession a favor and stay out. (Man, I hate those people.)

3. Can you find joy in the process of working through a problem, even if you aren't ultimately successful? I have been doing this for almost fourteen years and a I know a lot of lawyers, and I think this is the secret to happiness. You like wrestling with the problem, you like strategizing, you like most of the daily bits of whatever field you go into: interacting with clients, preparing for trial, negotiating, researching odd areas of the law. Most areas of law don't have a lot of "winning" or "losing" (mine does, but it's all losing, all the time!) and a lot of young lawyers are sort of counting on that kind of gratification. It's mostly not going to be there.

As for the daily crap that everyone hates, oh yes, it's there. Billable hours are the bane of every lawyers life. I do so much admin work that sometimes I want to chuck it all and do something else. But you know what? Every job has drudgery. Take that part as a given.