It depends on what context you are talking about. Lawyers are people, and they expect all sorts of things. They expect a court to rule a particular way. They expect their clients to hold up their end...
Yes. It is extremely stressful being a lawyer. I've practiced for 8 years now and find myself fantasizing about mowing highway medians or punching tickets on commuter trains instead of this.
The...
Yes, being a lawyer is competitive, since you are competing to get hired by a client against thousands of other lawyers who also want to get hired by a client. It is a very competitive job.