<p>Although I am 33 yrs old, w/ no college degree as of yet, I have always loved law and for the past 10 yrs or so I've been reading books and judgment decisions as much as I could.</p>
<p>I am a successfull professional (director in a high tech company) w/ lots of drive. I got here by lots of hard work. </p>
<p>Question is: Is it too late to start over and go to school to get my law degree?</p>
<p>I have a full time job and a familly so this would be part time (2-3 classes a semester). One of the reasons I want to do this is that in my profession, the older one gets the harder it is to find a job, especially w/ no formal training, plus I am tired of all this geeky stuff :) Other reason is that I just love this stuff (law).
My interest would be (in order of prefference): constitutional law or business law.</p>
<p>short answer - no it is never too late. :) i had a couple of people in my law school class who were in their 40's and 50's.</p>
<p>but longer answer -- its not easy. you really have to think carefully about whether you want to do this. its an enormous time commitment. and then when you are done, you are a brand new attorney ready to start at the bottom -- is that really something you want?</p>
<p>also there is a big difference between the study of law and the practice of law. the study of law can be fascinating, as you have discovered. constitutional law is really interesting - but there's not much of a market for consittutional lawyers out there. a constitutional issue may come up only on occassion in normal practice. a lot of legal practice, especially for a new lawyer, can involve fairly mundane things.</p>
<p>you really need to get a handle on what the PRACTICE of law is like - and you're not going to get that from reading books and judicial decisions. there was a thread in the parents forum recently where lawyers expressed their thoughts, positive and negative on the practice of law -- that would be a good place for you to at least start to get an idea of what issues to consider. here is a link to that thread: <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=78046&highlight=lawyers%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=78046&highlight=lawyers</a>
don't just look at it to see if people like or dislike the practice of law - read carefully WHAT they liked or disliked so you can consider what might or might not be relevant for you and what issues you might need to explore to determine whethet this career move would be right for you.</p>
<p>and then you should try to talk to lawyers about what they do so you can see if it is really something you would want to do AND something that is worth the time and energy at this point in your life.</p>
<p>if you don't look into it, you may regret not pursuing it. but don't pursue it until you've done your homework to really understand what the practice of law is all about.</p>
<p>As far as I know, at every ABA-accredited law school, a part-time program must be completed in four years. In some of those programs, you may "only" take 3 courses some semesters, but you can't stretch law school out over over more time the way you can with undergrad courses. Yes, you can take a semester or year off. But as far as I know, you can't limit yourself to two courses in a given semester. If you don't finish the requisite number of courses at the end of the first, second, or third years you are enrolled in a part-time program, you'll be kicked out. </p>
<p>I don't know if I'm explaining this clearly, but law school usually takes three years to complete. If you go part time, that 3 years is stretched out over 4 years or 8 semesters. (I know that concerneddad went to LS that way and so I'm sure he's in a better position than I am to explain to you how difficult it is to do that.) To the best of my knowledge, it cannot be stretched over more time than that, at least at any ABA-accredited law school.</p>
<p>I apologize in advance if you are already aware of that fact. Reading your message, I'm not sure you realize it.</p>
<p>jonri is correct, although as he noted, extenuating circumstances can result in some extra time to complete the program.</p>
<p>What my experience taught me is that the four-year profram is grueling, but do-able. Classes are taught 4 nights a week, and you can generally get all of your reading done over the weekend. I always reserved Friday night for "date night" with my wife -- except during exam periods. Also, there is a mandatorySummer session.
I worked a full-time job during the entire time, clerking at the D.A's office. After work I would straight to school, eat dinner, and then go to class. I would get home around 10:00 pm. Many, if not all, of my classmates were in the same boat. </p>
<p>You learn to adapt, and years later you have interesting stories to tell your kids: like driving from LA to Santa Barbara and back to study for a crim. law final because your new born would not sleep anywhere but in a car!</p>
<p>For me, economically, I had no choice but to go at night. While I would not wish that on my kids, if that is the only way to go, go for it!</p>
<p>Thank you for your replies. I have read the discussion in the thread mentioned and it just re-inforces my wanting to do this. At the very least, it should help with my corporate carrer. As my next move it to change fields from engineering into product/program management or marketing.</p>
<p>I also went to law school "part-time" and had many classmates in ther thirties or even older. It is doable, but there are a couple of additional things you should note.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>In addition to law schools setting the course schedule so that you complete what is a three-year full time course in four years, some state bars set an overall maximum on the length of time that your overall legal education takes, such that even if the law school allows you to proceed at a slower pace by taking some leaves, the state bar (which controls admission standards) may deny credit for any courses taken, say more than five years before applying for admission.</p></li>
<li><p>If your job requires more than a standard 40-hour workweek, you will not have time for working, studying, and seeing your family. Even on a 40-hour-a-week schedule you will have to carefully use your time to have some with the family (over a 4-year period).</p></li>
<li><p>Before getting very far, you had better check with local law schools about the lack of a college degree.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Of course not. Actually there is a term for older students going back to school..."sexy." I not kidding. The word in academia is older students bring more to the table and are typically more dedicated to their studies. Do it!</p>