Who said you can't do good in this field? I totally disagree.
I work as a senior associate at Bird & Bird's Commercial practice, which means that I focus on drafting and negotiating commercial contracts.
I also work with our corporate team on M&A-related assignments. I find my work important because facilitators are needed to bring balance between contractual risk-sharing between parties. I think it's a precondition for a sustainable business relationship. One could say that my job is to create value for my clients by helping them mitigate their risks and provide useful legal advice.
In general, our work has a link to the economy on a larger scale. For example, when I support a Finnish start-up with arranging their legal and contractual matters "by-the-book", it allows them to focus on creating and developing their business – and eventually perhaps creating new jobs and livelihoods for people.
I like my work because I can work with such a wide variety of clients and legal matters. Furthermore, the learning curve here is steep. One of the things I really appreciate is that this firm is truly international. I work with my colleagues in Europe and overseas on a weekly basis and we meet regularly with our overseas colleagues.
People around here are dynamic, ambitious and have high-level expertise. Even though we all are somewhat different personalities, we have quite similar attitude towards life: we all want to deliver best possible quality to our clients, but also feel "at home" when coming to work in the morning.
Even though I work at a commercial law firm, I have a life outside work. Certain flexibility is however needed at times to get the job done. In the end, lawyers are responsible for managing their own time: we are all in the driver's seat working towards a common goal.