<p>I like law, I like writing, but I want to have time for my family. Should I be a lawyer? What types of law are there out there for someone to make a decent living (i'm not talking like, 200k or anything crazy like corporate law) while still having time with kids?</p>
<p>you may find the following thread of interest:</p>
<p>Thanks to the link to that thread. There are some great viewpoints represented there, although there don't seem to be too many corporate law viewpoints. I would like to add mine. </p>
<p>I love practicing law ... most of the time. I find that practicing law is challenging, interesting, diverse and most of all, ever changing. All together, these qualities make for a truly stimulating career where there is always something new to learn, either because your practice leads you to a new area or industry, or because the law simply changes. I like that often, my clients come to me with something novel that's like a puzzle that needs to be solved. Every day, I come up with solutions for my clients, and I appreciate my close partnership with them. There are also occasional days when I want to go home and never come back to work again -- but I think that many people in many different industries experience that every so often.</p>
<p>Now, that all said, the environment in which corporate law is practiced can be brutal. The hours, the politics, the business generation, the juggling and the unrelenting pressure of always being at your best, even if it's 3 a.m. after you pulled an all-nighter the night before, unquestionably grate on you. I think that corporate law can be particularly difficult for women for a variety of reasons, one of which is the lack of female mentors (and the unwillingness of many women who have "made it" the hard way to make it easier for women just starting out to make their way up the ladder). There is still a lot of boy's club attitudes and actions out there. </p>
<p>The money can be fantastic. I came out of school with a tremendous amount of loans from both undergrad and my JD/MBA program, which I have been able to pay off over the intervening years because I have been well compensated. Yes, the first few years of practice were a struggle financially, even with the high salaries paid to junior lawyers in big NYC firms because of how many loans I had and how high my rent and other expenses were. After two or three years, though, I was able to buy a home, a car and begin to seriously pay down my loans in big chunks. One of the most fulfilling moments in my life was when I made those final payments on my student loans -- what a sense of accomplishment. Bliss. I worked for several years in a large NYC law firm and then went in house in search of better work/life balance. I didn't find it at first in house (worked 90+ hours a week for a Fortune 100 company), but, for the most part, I have found some balance now (meaning that I work only 60ish hours a week with regularity, and I can plan vacations and weekends without too much worry).</p>
<p>Practicing corporate law, in my opinion, is not for the faint of heart, for those who merely want to make good money, who don't know what else to do after college or for those who place a lot of priority on their interests/family/friends outside of work -- at least at the beginning. I have made tremendous sacrifices along the way, and there are plenty of people who I've cared about dearly in my life with whom I no longer have much contact. Understandably, many people who are not lawyers, investment bankers, doctors or in similar industries just can't understand why you are always cancelling plans because something suddenly came up or not returning calls because you literally don't have 5 free minutes in a day to do so. I once had to skip the reception at my college roommate's wedding, where I was a bridesmaid, after the ceremony to get back to work. My firm had a car waiting outside for me No, this wasn't even unusual or regarded by my colleagues as worthy of sympathy. The hours can be just outrageous, and pulling all-nighters while somehow being expected to function at a high level is not unusual. Planning vacations, weekends, dinners with friends, organization meetings, etc. can be difficult if not impossible. Corporate law firm associates live in fear of that 4:30 p.m. Friday afternoon phone call that ruins their weekend at the last minute. Clients can make unreasonable demands and you can't argue, but merely meet their expectations. I've done deals in Japan that required my presence on emergency 3 a.m. phone calls (which I've received at home after getting home from work only an hour or so earlier), and I've flown on a moment's notice to places around the world to deal with whatever issues come up. I used to pretty much keep a bag semi-packed at home so that a car could stop at my apartment for 10 minutes, which was long enough to throw a clean suit into my bag, before rushing to the airport. There was definitely a thrill involved at first, but believe me, it quickly wore off after my third trip in a week to an industrial town two hours outside of Paris. </p>
<p>That all said, I would do it all again. The knowledge and experience that I gained by working through all of the craziness is what allows me to be successful in my job now. I still put in a lot of 10-12 hour workdays, but the work is interesting and challenging and my colleagues and clients are decent, smart and diligent people who also want to have some semblance of a life. That works for me.</p>
<p>sallyawp, where were you educated?</p>
<p>thanks for the post sallyawp!</p>
<p>I got my JD/MBA at Penn/Wharton.</p>
<p>sallyawp:
First, I'd like to thank you for your post.</p>
<p>Secondly, what did you do as an undergrad (major)? Did you always know you wanted to be an lawyer? What made you decide?</p>
<p>Also, did you work between your undergrad/graduate school experience? If so, what'd you do?</p>
<p>I really don't want to turn this thread into the sallyawp show, but suffice it to say that I changed majors several times, finally graduating with a degree in a major that I'm sure would not impress most cc'ers, two minors and a ton of classes in everything from graduate level landscape architecture to organic chemistry. I worked for three years in NYC before heading back to school. I don't think I would have had any chance of getting into the MBA program without work experience (you apply separately to both programs and have to be admitted to each in order to do the joint JD/MBA).</p>
<p>From what I have read, being a lawyer can be downright awful in terms of the amount of work.</p>
<p>In conclusion, I will enjoy academia while it lasts.</p>
<p>Oh yeah, academia is much less onerous...</p>
<p>wow that sounds really intense. i am afraid i won't have time for my friends and such. ah!</p>
<p>Sallyawp now did you have to wait before getting accepted to the jd/mba program? how many years?</p>
<p>I worked for three years before applying to the JD/MBA program. I was actually had some of the least experience among the MBA candidates in my class. In fact, among the students in my JD program, I believe that something like 50% had full time work experience before entering law school. </p>
<p>I see comments on cc often about the people who go straight through from college to business school. First, it is quite uncommon and usually is allowed only because the candidate has gotten some incredible experience somewhere along the line. Second, the hiring process during and coming out of the business school would be a really tough road for someone without full time work experience before business school. It is also becoming increasingly common for law school students to work full time before entering law school. While it is certainly not a prerequisite for law school, at least in my experience, the law students with a couple of years out in the real world under their belts were disproportionately represented on law review, in Order of the Coif (an honor at graduation for law students across the country) and in obtaining the plum summer internships and permanent positions.</p>
<p>When should a student take the LSAT if they plan to apply to law school after several years of employment?</p>
<p>As soon as possible. Since LSAT scores expire after 3 years, if you don't do well, you can just retake it again safely.</p>
<p>Diogenes, that is not accurate. Most law schools accept LSAT scores from tests administered any time within the 5 years prior to application. In fact LSAC, the organization that administers the LSAT, reports scores of all LSATs that you have taken since 2001 to any schools to which you apply. According to LSAC, you may not take the LSAT more than three times in any 2-year period, and your scores are averaged and reported separately on the report that is sent to the law schools to which you are applying. As far as I am aware, most students do not take the LSAT more than once. My understanding is that law schools often average your LSAT scores, rather than looking at your best scores, if you take it more than once.</p>
<p>My recommendation would be to take the LSAT while you are still in college, though if you plan to work for a couple of years or more before going to law school, I would wait until senior year (second semester, if possible) to take it.</p>
<p>While I agree with Sallyawp, on the time -- it is 5 years --, I agree with Diogenes on the strategy: take it as soon as possible. This applies especially to those considering working after college, before law school. Of course, when I say take it as soon as possible, it's under the assumption that the student would have prepared for the test thoroughly and, thus, would not be losing anything or foregoing productive preparation time.</p>
<p>Do they expire after 5 years then? I did know that you are only suppose to take the LSAT once and you will be lucky if your school even allows the average of 2 scores, but I've heard anecdoctally of people not doing well the first time, working for a while and then retaking it and doing better but I may be wrong in this regard.</p>
<p>They may do better the second time around, but the new, higher score is not viewed apart from the lower one. It is much more do or die than, say, the SAT.</p>
<p>It really depends on the school.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.BLANK.com/multiple_lsat.php%5B/url%5D">http://www.BLANK.com/multiple_lsat.php</a></p>
<p>Substitute "lawschoolnumbers" for "BLANK".</p>