Law school: yes or no?

Parents Forum
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<p>I know that quite a few parents on this board are lawyers. I'm basically looking for advice to pass on to new college grads who are considering law school. The field is complex and broad, and I'm sure a law degree is helpful in a lot of areas. Still, it's a big investment in time and money. I know a couple of people who have practiced law for a few years and decided it wasn't for them. Two of them are doing something completely different and making a lot less money, which is hard when paying off loans.</p>

<p>My question, basically, is, how can a young person really make an informed decision whether law school is right for him or her? Would getting a low-level job at a law firm help? Doing volunteer work? Shadowing a lawyer? Any suggestions would be most appreciated.</p>

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<p>I am not a lawyer, but considered law school a long time back. I had gotten a job in the library of a large law book publishing company, and then did some coursework in legal research leading to better law librarian jobs. In the course of all that the idea of law school for me rose and then fell. I realized I didn’t really like the law/business environment. It wasn’t a good fit for me, and I went in a completely different direction after that.</p>

<p>Now my son is toying with the idea of law school. I’m suggesting he take some time off after he graduates from undergrad. I’d like to see him pursue his interests in varied ways for at least a year or two. And if he is drawn to law school, to first work in some capacity in a firm or a legal aid agency or something along those lines, even if it’s as an unpaid volunteer, for a decent period of time before making a final decision about law school. It is a LOT of money (debt) and there are many unemployed and underemployed young law school grads out there in the world right now.</p>

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<p>I’ve hired for law firms for twenty years (I’m doing a different task right now, though) and I wouldn’t suggest that anyone go to law school unless they’re independently wealthy or spectaculaly hooked. It’s a terrible time to have be a young lawyer.</p>

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<p>Top 20 or bust.</p>

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<p>S is currently a law student in a top 20 school and it is incredibly tough right now for even those students to find summer jobs, permanent positions, etc. I spend a fair amount of time with crossed fingers that it will be better by graduation time next spring, particularly since he is not independently wealthy or spectacularly hooked as mentioned by zoosermom!</p>

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<p>Here is an article by WSJ on tough job market for even the tippy top law school grads.</p>

<p>[Law</a> Graduates Face a Tough Job Market - WSJ.com](<a href=“Law Graduates Face a Tough Job Market - WSJ”>Law Graduates Face a Tough Job Market - WSJ)</p>

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<p>H and I are self-employed lawyers. We have been practicing for almost 30 years, the last 19 on our own. We make a good living - especially for our area. D2 is a freshman in college and is starting to talk about law school. Although we never encouraged her in that direction, I will do so now that she has expressed an interest. I believe that a professional degree is an important asset and a law degree can be used in a variety of careers. Here are some considerations for your son.</p>

<p>Pros - Law degree is pretty versatile (you can use it not only in public or private law practice but teaching, government work, corporate work, to name a few); law degree allows you to work for yourself (although I wouldn’t advise it right out of law school)(this has allowed great flexibility for us in raising kids-H even coached HS track team); law school can be enjoyable and challenging for the right people; lawyers are really fun people when you get them together -there is a nice sense of collegiality in the profession (despite what people see on tv); the work is never boring.</p>

<p>Cons - The job is stressful whether you work for someone else or yourself; law school can be expensive and it can take a while to make a decent living at it (some people never do); the job market appears to be particularly tough to break into right now.</p>

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<p>One shouldn’t go into this thinking you’ll be working at a big firm that pays $150k to start. Most lawyers never earn that. </p>

<p>The question is really whether a person wants to be in law and related fields. Criminal justice, which can mean prosecution or defense. Politics and many staff positions in politics often value law degrees because the law is the foundation of civil society. Patent law if you’re an engineer. </p>

<p>Or a person may not want a boss. Lots of people work on their own or share office space and develop a client base. They do estates, litigation, real estate, etc. and some make a very good living, others not. That’s a form of independence. One can also do this as an accountant. </p>

<p>There isn’t one job as a lawyer. It’s what attracts a person to the various things that lawyers do.</p>

9

<p>I would recommend it. The job market is tough for most professions. When you *can *get a job it tends to be a pretty good job - indoor work, nice environment, free coffee…more importantly, the oppotunity to think at work, to work on more and more complex matters as your career progresses, the opportunity to be your own bosss (answering only to clients, not to a “manager.”)</p>

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<p>LurkNess - I see that I didn’t not directly answer your question about how a young person can make an informed decision about whether to go to law school. I am not sure that working in a law office or shadowing will give him the answer. A law office does that transactional work will be so different from one that does family law. A small town office will be entirely different than a big city one, just as a criminal prosecutor’s office will give a totally different impression of practicing law than an in-house corporate position. It certainly wouldn’t hurt to check a couple different settings out, but I’m not sure he will come away with a clear answer. Talking with different lawyers about their careers might give him some insight. He might also try sitting in on a couple law school classes and talking with some law students to get an idea about whether he would enjoy the 3 year law school process.</p>

<p>Additionally, he should consider whether he enjoys a lot of reading and a lot of writing because he will be doing both in law school and later as a lawyer. As for law school, the work is tedious and time consuming and is best suited for people who really like to be students. A creative, flexible mind helps as well - in law school and beyond.</p>

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<p>is that true?</p>

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<p>Lawyers are among the 10 top most dissatisfied professionals. That being said, it is a very good education. You really learn how to think, and especially for women, it teaches you not to be intimidated by anything! </p>

<p>The work itself is tedious and boring. As a group, lawyers are fairly intelligent people. </p>

<p>Before law school, I took graduate course in education and got A’s in my sleep. Law school was much more challenging. The individual concepts are very understandable… it’s the complexity and uncertainty of the application of the principles to the individual set of facts and circumstances that makes the law interesting and complex. </p>

<p>Most lawyers do not get rich. There is public interest law, and criminal justice and law for the common man. It is often difficult to be a member of a profession that is reviled.</p>

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<p>How does law school mesh with library school, if at all? I have been seriously considering library school, because I’m interested in structure and thus cataloging (which most people would consider “tedious and boring”). My parents have been encouraging me to attend law school instead. I don’t really know much about it, or whether it’d be a good idea. FWIW, I will almost certainly be a humanities/soft socsci major in college.</p>

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<p>I have been a lawyer since 1982. I have worked full time in a big firm, a medium sized firm and in a small firm. I also wokred 2 summers as a law student in city government. I am an “intellectual property” attorney (aka patent attorney). I started out writing patent applications. Now, pretty much all I do is patent litigation. The money has been pretty goo, though in other areas of law, the pay is better or worse. The BigFirm where I worked primarily hired paralegals with a college degree who were thinking about going to law school. Being a paraglegal is tough (a lot of dull work), and can be boring, but one sees a lot of what the attorneys do, and one gets paid. Last fall, law school graduates from June 2009 were told by their hiring law firms to show up for work in January 2011. Among law firms, there have been wide spread lay offs due to lack of work from corporate clients which are cutting costs.</p>

<p>IMHO law school has nothing to do with the practice of law. Many law school profs use the Socratic method where they never answer a question but only ask the students questions that are meant to lead the students to the correct conclusion. As part of this game, so many law school profs profess to understand nothing. If you like law school, you should become a law school professor. Most students in law school are bored to tears after the first year and cut classes thereafter for part-time jobs, if they can get them. In litigation, one needs to be able to write and communicate well. So if your potential law school weenie can’t do that, well … Law school classes are huge. THus law schools are money makes for the associated universities.</p>

<p>As far as litigators go, they are a slimy lot. Usually there is incredible un-called-for nastiness directed the opposing counsel. One also has to watch one’s back, even among “friends”. Hopefully, in other legal fields, things are better. There is a saying among lawyers, thing would be great if we just didn’t have to have clients. Clients, you can’t live with them and you can’t live without them. They are often very demanding and unforgiving, yet without them you’re living on the street.</p>

<p>My D is starting college in the fall. She has no interest in the law. And I would not encourage her to enter the profession.</p>

<p>Ultimately, the sercret to a successful career in the law is to have a network of friends and acquaintances, hopefully from college, high school, a religious place, law school, etc. In private practice, these friends will become clients, or they will put you in contct with clients. Without clients, you cannot start your own law firm, or if you work at a law firm, you cannot rise in the ranks and in salary. Also, these friends can help to get you a job if your law firm fires you or if you get bored and fight with the wrong person.</p>

<p>Being a lawyer in a law firm is having golden handcuffs. You may want to leave, but the pay is sufficiently good that it’s hard to leave. Also, it seems that in life one either has money or time. Usually not both. Being a lawyer, you will have money.</p>

<p>Would I do it all over again? Probably not.</p>

<p>By the way, there is a separate forum on CC for LAW SCHOOL. Check it out.</p>

15

<p>I agree with the posts about the profession offering a vast array of possible careers, and that’s one of the best things about going to law school. It’s also true that many lawyers struggle with stress and pressure and feeling trapped by a job where they make more money than they can walk away from. But there are many very happy and engaged lawyers.</p>

<p>I think that a student who has her eyes on a BigLaw job would be smart to try it out by working at a large firm as a paralegal. That will either confirm her interest, or convince her that public interest work or government work is the only way she would enjoy being a lawyer. Without work experience, I agree that the curious student can get exposure by meeting with law students, sitting in on classes, etc. - though it’s true that working as a lawyer can be very different from law school. </p>

<p>Personally, I thought that law school was so interesting that I would have happily done it even if I never intended to practice law. It was such a luxury to be totally immersed in one subject matter, and to be surrounded by such smart and interesting people. I learned so much about the institutions that make our country tick and the ways people weild power. It was fascinating! </p>

<p>That said, I don’t know that I would recommend law school to a student who can’t make it into a top 50-ish law school, unless there is some reason to think that this student will be employable despite going to a less prestigious law school. There aren’t that many great jobs out there, and competition is fierce. And not everyone will like law school as much as I did.</p>

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<p>DD is starting law school in September. She took a year off from college looking for something else to do because everyone has been so discouraging.</p>

<p>However, there is nothing else in life she has ever wanted to do.</p>

<p>She wants to do public interest law and is attending CUNY where the tuition is very reasonable. I am happy she’s following her dream, but we are not looking at it as a practical decision any more than acting school would be.</p>

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<p>You don’t have to go to a top 14 (that’s the general thinking in law school rankings, although I personally like top 20) if you KNOW where you want to practice. For example, if you plan to settle in Kansas City, I would not hesitate to go to KU. Same with Nebraska, Oklahoma etc. The problem right now is that law school is VERY expensive and jobs are VERY scarce. I think it will be better in about 3 years, but right now it is a nightmare. I have been a lawyer for over 30 years and have spent my entire career in-house (General Counsel’s office of corporations). I have been the chief legal officer for several corporations. I have liked my career, despite a few really bad positions. Right now I happen to love it. That said, grads now rarely go directly in-house, and have to pay their dues at a law firm first. Firms have drastically cut back their hiring, so you need to be at a top school or the tippy top of a lesser or regional school. I think law school offers a neat education. I enjoyed it. I went to a top 5 law school and it STILL opens doors for me (shockingly).<br>
My son was planning on law school but decided against it due to the current economy and debt that he would incur. He’s sort of burned out on school. He may reconsider at some point.</p>

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<p>Are any of you practicing in the entertainment industry or the medical field? Those are the two fields I am considering so any info would be great!</p>

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<p>Keilexandra, if your passion is library school, by all means pursue it! (I’m in library school right now). The degree is very flexible for all sorts of libraries and information fields. However, if you want to be a law librarian for a top-ranked school, almost all require a MLIS/JD (especially in reference services).</p>

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<p>^I wouldn’t say necessarily that my passion is library science… more that my passion is theory, and I’m a tad compulsive about organization. So it’s a good fit, and I certainly wouldn’t mind it, but I’m not extremely attached to the plan.</p>