Happiness and the Practice of Law Continued

And this from Prof. Brian Tamanaha:

"The thoughtful email response you posted from the lawyer was depressing, and carries the ring of truth.  It encapsulated the situation I described in Chapter 8 (Instrumentalism of the Legal Profession) of Law as a Means to an End--the lawyer even used this very phrase.

That's how it is, and I don't think much will change, as it is the product of deep structural factors (comptetive nature of legal business, huge student debt, pervasive instrumental view of law). 

The hard question is whether or how legal academics who teach professional ethics courses can bring this understanding of the situation into the course in a way that is relevant to their future as lawyers."

Any thoughts?  And, what about those of you with more positive stories.  How has law been a vocation for you?  How have you integrated the life of a lawyer into the rest of your life?