<p>Okay I am having a dilemma. </p>
<p>I want to be a corporate lawyer, I have wanted to all my life, but I recently heard that Law is not a secure career path. </p>
<p>So I was like hey, why not be a doctor, I'm a people person, and working in a hospital is cool!</p>
<p>But then I heard Med school is long, and tiring, and I wont even have time for a family.</p>
<p>THATS NOT WHAT I WANTT!</p>
<p>I'm confused...I need some advice please</p>
<p>Gee…we get to decide your life. jk</p>
<p>OK…let’s see…</p>
<p>Tell us more about yourself…your likes…dislikes…hobbies…interests…social life…your grades…your test scores…your favorite subjects…how dedicated or lazy are you…do you have a lot of stamina…do you like reading/learning…etc.</p>
<p>What is it about being a lawyer that you liked?</p>
<p>What is it about being a doctor that you liked?</p>
<p>What kind of medicine do you see yourself practicing?</p>
<p>Since you have a concern about family life, I suspect that you won’t like working weekends, nights, and holidays.</p>
<p>omgeee I feel like Im in a survery, </p>
<p>Well, I like a lot of things. I don’t like being treated in a hospital but I like helping people. The thing that attracted me the most about law is about US History and eventually becoming a judge in the supreme court(yes I’m dreaminghush) and </p>
<p>My fav subjects are MAth, history, and Chemistry=)</p>
<p>I’m not lazy, Because when I want to do something I just do it. I think I have a lot of stamina I’m an athlete and I love reading=)…learning sure if I have to lol</p>
<p>And I love that when your a lawyer you get to argue( hehehehehehehe) </p>
<p>I’m interested in corporate law with the big companies and take all their money!! lol</p>
<p>And with the doctor, I love anatomy! I wanted to be a surgeon, preferably a heart or brain surgeon. I enjoy being around people and helping. Knowing what to do if someone is injured and being able to cure them or treat them if their sick.</p>
<p>the only thing i absolutely hate about medicine and hospital stuff is…shots…lolbut thats for nurses so I’m good. I thought about pediatrics, but, I don’t want to have to be with a child thats dying…that would break my heart…but it would also give me passion to save its life it the situation occured. </p>
<p>But is it true that most new lawyers dont have a job out of law school because of the plethora of lawyers ?</p>
<p>The law field is crowded these days, and some may not be able to make a good living, but that may be because some people just aren’t that good at it (my opinion). LOL </p>
<p>It’s not a good idea to take on a bunch of debt to become a lawyer because it can take awhile to make any real money. </p>
<p>I must say that successful lawyers don’t have a lot of time for family either. My SIL is a law partner for a Chicago firm and she doesn’t get home until 10pm most nights and her weekends aren’t always free either. Her H quit his job to raise their kids. Yes, she makes a ton of money (7 figures), but there’s a cost to this kind of work as well. </p>
<p>Are you in high school or college? You could prepare for both fields, and then wait until junior/senior year in college and decide which route is best for you. You seem to have strengths that could go either way…but it does seem like you’re leaning more towards law.</p>
<p>Interestingly I had a meeting with my lawyer today to do some planning re: my D who’s starting med school. He expounded on why he thought that lawyers should have a formal internship/residency/apprenticeship period like doctors do. Because, he says, that most fresh-out-law-school grads really don’t understand the finer points of what lawyers actually do. They may be able to argue law, but they don’t have the experience to actually deal with the kinds of cases/contracts (and the varied individuals/companies involved therein) they will actually be handling. </p>
<p>BTW, unless you’re a trial lawyer, law is much more negotiation and very little actual arguing. (No, practicing law really isn’t like what you see on TV. Just like the doctor shows on TV aren’t at all like what doctors actually do.)</p>
<p>There is an oversupply of some types of lawyers. There are not enough of other types of lawyers. And whether you have a job when you graduate rather depends on you, where you graduate from, where you live, what you specialize in, what kind of a practice you’re interested in having, what kinds of resources (esp financial resources) you have available to you when you graduate and how much you owe in loans.</p>
<p>Re: choosing law vs medicine—have you actually spent any time shadowing either profession? They are two very, very different careers paths.</p>
<p>Liking to be around people and helping people is not a good reason to be a doctor. Lots of careers involve helping people. Lawyers help people too. So do teachers, firemen, and customer service clerks. “Curing” people is not like what you see on TV. Alot of time medicine is tedious and frustrating because patients are non-compliant and they make poor lifestyle choices that cause them to be sick in the first place. And some patients are going to die no matter what you do for them.</p>
<p>Momtocollegekids</p>
<p>I’m in high school right now. Im just trying to figure out what I wanna major in. Cause I was thinking psychology…I’m mean yes I’m leaning towards law, because thats what I’ve been wanting to do for like every. But i want to make some real mula!! I don’t want to be in debt. And that is true, if they are just not a good lawyer. </p>
<p>Wayoutwestmom</p>
<p>i think there should be a residency too! It would make me feel like I’m being more prepared for Law. What kinds of lawyers are have an oversupply? Corporate Lawyers?</p>
<p>Also, would law be a career path that might be around for a long time like Medicine?</p>
<p>I know there’s a shortage of good patent lawyers. (In fact a friend of mine who has a PhD in physics and had a 20 year career as a physicist with various computer companies got paid by his company to go to law school. He got tuition plus 60% of his previous salary for 3.5 years. When he passed the bar, he owed the company 3 years service at his much higher patent lawyer salary. Then he left to go to work for a competing company at still a much higher salary.) </p>
<p>Also a shortage of death penalty criminal lawyers. </p>
<p>There are too many general practice lawyers.</p>
<p>Have hear contradictory things about the job prospects in environmental law. (But I do know it isn’t as well compensated as many other areas of the law.)</p>
<p>Am not familiar with the job outlook for corporate law. </p>
<p>And I don’t think that law as a career will ever disappear. So long as there are two people who disagree, you gonna need a lawyer.</p>
<hr>
<p>You might try directing some of your questions to the law school forum. You’ll find a better knowledge base there.</p>
<p>“I know there’s a shortage of good patent lawyers. (In fact a friend of mine who has a PhD in physics and had a 20 year career as a physicist with various computer companies got paid by his company to go to law school.”</p>
<p>Almost did this myself until I was forced to read my own patents - boring! I couldn’t read more than a page without having to take a break.</p>
<p>So your a Doctor Doc?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>From what I have heard, a lot of it depends on where you went to law school. If you went to a top 10 ivy league law school, then you shouldn’t have too much difficulty raking in $$$. If you want to some no-name law school, it can be hard when you are first starting out. Prestige and reputation of your law school play a huge role in securing jobs at top law firms. My cousin graduated from UPenn law 2 years ago, and is now working at a top law firm in NYC. Her starting salary was ridiculous.</p>
<p>"So your a Doctor Doc? "</p>
<p>Exactly the same as the individual being referred to in the quote I referenced except I had 30 years instead of 20.</p>
<p>OP,
You need advice in what you want? Interesting…let me guess…well I have tried, do not see anything in my crystal ball.<br>
Seriously, how anybody can advise you in what you want.</p>
<p>^ Im not asking on what I want Miami DAP, I’m asking for aspects and experience on these two things. Maybe I should have rephrased. But I’m just confused on which and which. </p>
<p>What is Malpractice?</p>
<p>Malpractice: [Malpractice</a> - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malpractice]Malpractice”>Malpractice - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>Both lawyers and doctors are subject to malpractice liability.</p>
<p>Hey, I was just reading this and I had the same dilemma a little while ago. It took me a while to try to stop analyzing everything due to how much money they would make, because I decided that is not one of my top priorities. How would you rank your priorities? I used to think that money was my top priority, but when I stopped to think about it I decided that the things I want most in life are to either have a family, or travel. Of course I would need a well paying job so I have enough money to do the things I want to do, and not be in debt, but I couldn’t see myself working 8 am-10 pm days (my whole life).</p>
<p>PReMed, </p>
<p>Okay my priorities is to have a lot of money(for one. Sorry but it is), be able to spend time with my family, be able to go out when I wanted, travel, and be comfortable but a well living comfortable lol, and to enjoy what I’m going to do, and not be afraid that I’m going to be out of a job at any minute. </p>
<p>Thats one reason why I like medicine, you will ALWAYS have a job. Lawyer I’m not so sure.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Neither medicine nor law fits this description. Sorry.</p>
<p>^Well once again, its mt priorities. Might change over time though. And why dont you think so?</p>
<p>^The top paying medical sub specialties are the hardest to get into for two reasons; they either offer the highest potential income or the best lifestyle…a few offer a combination of both but not the best of either.</p>
<p>The period of time before you start making any real money is much longer in medicine and is a beating while at it. There are many other non medical fields that start paying good money almost right out of college like consulting and IB. Both fields will “own” your rear end but they pay well.</p>
<p>Big law requires a huge commitment of time…very long days and weekends…</p>
<p>In short, other than inheriting a lot of money or being the next creator of something like Facebook…there is no “easy” path to a big paycheck that doesn’t come with much sacrifice of both lifestyle and time.</p>
<p>^ eadad</p>
<p>I never asked for an easy way. I’m just saying which ones I was considering. </p>
<p>I dont want to get easy money. I just want to have lasting money. I don’t really want to be in the top medical specialties, because they take to long for me to actually start and get going. I was just thinking about doing surgery or family medicine.</p>