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<p>…or he could join the National Guard, become a commissioned officer, and attend a public law school in a state with Tuition Waiver.</p>
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This is the credited response. You’d still have to consider the opportunity cost of law school. You lost 3 years of paid work (at 50k a yr for 3 yrs, that’s 150k lost), and potential to move up on the ladder.</p>
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<p>You often can’t really do this in law. If you start out as a contract attorney or something, biglaw firms are going to throw your resume in the trash. You can’t do low-paying insurance defense work for a few years and transition to high-paying M&A work or something. Starting in a crappy position can close a lot of doors down the road.</p>
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<p>I agree, and I should have been clearer. If you start out at a small law firm, it will not lead to anything prestigious like BIGLAW. On the other hand, you will still have the opportunity to build yourself up by bringing in your own clients and/or going out on your own. </p>
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<p>I agree with this too, but losing 3 years as a twenty-something is not a disaster in the scheme of things.</p>
<p>lskinner, I agree. Most of my peers would be missing out on $75,000 for all 3 years, max! And this is only if you need to give up your job to go to law school. I work from home on my own schedule. Considering that I’ll need significantly more study-time, I’d guess I’ll only miss out on half my potential income for those three years.</p>
<p>As a practicing lawyer approaching the final years of my career, I am often asked about legal careers by prospective law students. One of my kids is in law school too (I’ve come to realize that I should have done everything in my power to discourage this), and I’ve met many of his fellow students. I’ve also been a guest lecturer at a law school. I work with BigLaw firms almost daily, and am in-house at a Fortune 500.</p>
<p>One of the most common threads I see is that law students uniformly believe that the glut of lawyers won’t affect them. The myths abound. They will be in a T14 and have multiple job offers. They will be at the top of their class and at least have a few job offers. They have great connections or networking that will lead to a job. They don’t need financial aid so they can afford to take one of the many open, low-paying public interest jobs. They have more looks/personality/drive/enthusiasm than their classmates, so they will be selected if interviewed. They are in a clinic, work for a journal, are earning a certificate in a speciality of the law, or are on law review, so they’re much more marketable than their peers. They are pursuing jobs in tax, patent, or criminal law (or any other field of law that they think has more jobs), so they will find a job. They are going to a regional school outside of NYC, Chicago, Boston, L.A. etc., where lawyers are still finding jobs. Their law school advertises 90%+ employment, so surely there are jobs. They will take anything, so surely they will find a job. They don’t want to practice law anyway, but the law degree will help them in another career. They believe that lawyers are respected professionals (not realizing that the glut of lawyers has resulted in a downgrading of the perception of the job among clients and employers, and basic supply & demand principles are driving down the hourly rates whether working in corporations or in-house).</p>
<p>Law students are intelligent and used to succeeding. They are verbal and able to argue their positions reasonably well. They are happy to research and to find nuggets of information to support their positions…and obviously are motivated to argue that they didn’t make a stupid decision by going to law school. </p>
<p>I urge prospective lawyers to open their minds. Ask practicing lawyers about each of the myths. Listen to what they tell you. You still have an opportunity to make other choices. (Cartoon character screaming "save yourselves, save yourselves.)</p>
<p>Just looked at my post again, and discovered some careless typos (should be whether in-house or in a law firm, for example - not in-house or a corporation). Whoops. Wrote this quickly at 5 am in a hotel after 4 hours of sleep, taking a quick break on my way to another 14 hour negotiation. The joys of legal practice.</p>
<p>You do realize that you leave absolutely no options for any class of student except to not go to law school at all…this is the solution? The answer to all of our questions is that black and yellow handle situated between my knees?
<a href=“http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTFbQ2TKx38Ultd6y9_6gCKIWbe1XrgP1rfbFI07aIP694NbVRz[/img]”>http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTFbQ2TKx38Ultd6y9_6gCKIWbe1XrgP1rfbFI07aIP694NbVRz
</a></p>
<p>Hell, while we’re at it, why should anyone go to college either? I mean, the job prospects are even worse and its just day care for rich kids, right?</p>
<p>“Hope may not be warranted at this point.”</p>
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<p>I think the solution is to get a bona fide scholarship. For example, if your grades and test scores are good enough to get into the 10th ranked school, then there is a good chance that the 20th or 30th or 40th ranked school will give you a bona fide scholarship. </p>
<p>That way, if you cannot find a job or if you hate being a lawyer, or whatever, all that happens is that you have wasted a couple years. </p>
<p>If your grades and scores are too low to get a scholarship anywhere, then I would strongly advise you to not go to law school at all.</p>
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<p>I would give basically the same advice. Make sure that between family help; work; and financial aid, you will graduate with little or no debt.</p>
<p>Flyh the Helo - And your point is…?</p>
<p>Years ago it used to be a big deal to become a doctor or a lawyer. It’s still a big deal to become a doctor.</p>
<p>My point is that you should have told me this before I took my Bio degree and went to law school because I liked the intellectual challenge, the research and the history of it all. I would have gone to Med school, but no one I know actually got in anywhere good or close to home, and my friends were all great students and highly intelligent people.</p>
<p>My choice for law school, by the way, was a scholarship/family help $0 debt option, somewhere close to home and respectable, but not top tier.</p>