Just what are they smoking? I ask because I find the sky-high scores in The American Lawyer’s Midlevel Associates Survey to be baffling. Those third-, fourth- and fifth-year asso­ciates seem abnormally giddy about their jobs: They gave their firms a satisfaction score of 4.23 out of 5. That’s practically an “A,” an unbelievable grade for any job, much less one fraught with stress and uncertainty.

And they continue the praise in their comments to our survey. “Amazing work, brilliant partners and awesome clients” sums up many of them. Associates also brag that firms really, really care about work-life balance. When asked what they would tell managers, some responded: “Thank you!” One gushes, “Just keep doing what you’re doing!”