What Advice Do You Have for the Over 50 who wants to Become a Lawyer

Graduate School Law School
21

<p>Pursue your dream if you want----just be aware that it probably makes no economic sense to do what you want to do.</p>

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<p>floridadad:</p>

<p>I disagree, and I don’t know how many people wd agree with u - that wd be interesting to note.</p>

<p>I believe any form of education at any age can make ‘economic sense’ especially if you share it with others. Law is something we use in our daily lives especially in our country where the law applies to everything that is said or done. </p>

<p>Not because you do not have to work for a law firm or with lawyers, mean that your law degree cannot be valuable at any age. People are always looking for help with court matters or simple paper work. Not everyone can afford the high costs of lawyers today, so there is still a need for people to do charity or volunteer work and I think that makes economic sense. </p>

<p>Note: I have also had 30 years + working in a Law firm and the courts throughout the country, 10 years with White & Case and 20 years with the Los Angeles Superior Court.</p>

22

<p>Carol, I don’t yet have any advice for you on how to achieve your dream. </p>

<p>This is partly because the questions you’re asking are mostly out of my expertise (I went to law school at age 24).</p>

<p>But this is partly because I don’t think we understand your dream very well. When you say you have wanted to be a lawyer since you were a little girl, what precisely do you mean? When you close your eyes and picture that dream, what images come to mind?</p>

<p>Do you picture yourself on a stage in a graduation robe, eyes aglow, with the pride of your classmates and family knowing that you’ll be able to sign your name “Carol, J.D.” into the future?</p>

<p>Do you imagine yourself in a courtroom, arguing before the Supreme Court, arguing for the kinds of changes that can make a difference to millions of individuals all at once? Or – do you picture yourself on the Supreme Court itself?</p>

<p>Do you imagine yourself prosecuting criminals, defending them, litigating for the little guy, or maybe litigating for sensible business laws?</p>

<p>Do you picture yourself in a small office attached to a homeless shelter, helping veterans with mental health issues receive the social security/disability benefits they’re entitled to? Will you be content (and financially secure) volunteering in this role, or do you absolutely need to be employed?</p>

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<p>Each of these dreams is very different, and they require different paths to get there. I think we need a better handle on knowing what you want before we can really know exactly how to advise you.</p>

23

<p>At my age, I don’t see the economic side of law like you see it. I see the more social side. The side where a young man or woman needs a signature on a document from a lawyer but does not have the enormous per hr. fee to help him. I see the single mother who needs a legal letter to take to her next court date but does not have to money to pay for one. I see the hard working illegal immigrant whose paycheck cannot afford a lawyer to represent him/her at their upcoming appointment and more…</p>

<p>These are some of the things I see in my dream.</p>

24

<p>OP, you don’t need a JD degree to help those in your dream. you could extend your help to more people by doing the little things. rather than spending countless hours in the classroom and study at home, you could help those who are in need. since you have already made up your mind about law school, good luck with it.</p>

25

<p>Carol, are you financially well off so you could afford to attend law school and won’t need a paycheck?
We are speaking about reality in the above scenario. Can you afford to live your dream?</p>

26

<p>Carol, re post #23, those are all very reasonable things to SEE.</p>

<p>But what we need to know in order to help is: what do you picture YOURSELF doing? Are you suggesting that you would like to operate a pro bono legal clinic?</p>

27

<p>Ok guys, I would like to become a lawyer to be the person one can come to, without thinking about the huge bill they will incur. </p>

<p>As I said I always wanted to become a lawyer ever since I could remember. In my late teens my priorities changed - instead choosing to raise a family. That I did and now my kids are all grown and gone I believe this is a good time to do what I always wanted to do and that is to become a lawyer. I was fortunate to inherit a rental income from my deceased parents, which takes care of my everyday living, and I run a small business to keep busy. But I still feel I need to accomplish my childhood dream - and it haunts me everyday. This is my situation in a nutshell.</p>

28

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<p>Are you offering that you will charge NO bills to friends and family? Small bills to strangers? No bills whatsoever, but you will work only for people you think have worthy causes?</p>

<p>Again, I ask the extremely basic question: Are you envisioning that you will start a small, pro bono legal clinic?</p>

<p>Again, I’m trying to figure out precisely what it is you want because these are crucial differences and they affect the sort of path you ought to take.</p>

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<p>Maybe I should start with more specific questions:</p>

<p>(1) Do you need anybody, ever, under any circumstances, to ever ever pay you for legal services? Or are you willing to always, every single time, offer your services for free?</p>

<p>(2) Do you plan on operating a formal business (whether you charge money or not), or will your life pretty much continue exactly the way it is now, except that you will be able to help when you happen to run across somebody with legal needs?</p>

<p>(3) Do you plan on seeking employment under somebody else’s supervision, under any circumstances, ever? This could be for a non-profit, a non-revenue, a government agency, whatever.</p>

<p>(4) Do you want to learn new knowledge and skills, or do you merely find it annoying that some things require a “lawyer” and want to be able to help people fill out paperwork which doesn’t actually need a lawyer’s expertise, just somebody to SAY “I’m a lawyer”? Note that I’m trying to describe the situation from a possible perspective of yours, and not from one of mine.</p>

29

<p>Let me give you a hypothetical reason why I am asking all these questions, which seem to be annoying you.</p>

<p>Imagine that you had said, “I want the respect carried by lawyers.”</p>

<p>I would then need to know: whom do you want to respect you? Because if you want OTHER LAWYERS to respect you, then you ought to try to attend a very prestigious law school, clerk for a well-known judge, work at a major law firm, and advance quickly along the partner track.</p>

<p>If you want other PROFESSIONALS to respect you, then you ought to try to attend a very prestigious law school, but the clerkship will be unnecessary and the work experience need not necessarily be at the very biggest firm.</p>

<p>And if you want your NEIGHBORS in, say, a small town to respect you, then it’s likely that the nature of the law school you go to will not be so important.</p>

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<p>This is why seemingly nitpicky details are so important. Do we need to advise you to take the SAT, go back to college at a well-known institution, finish your undergraduate coursework with honors, then take the LSAT aiming for a 175+, and push for a Hamilton (full tuition) scholarship at Columbia University (#4)?</p>

<p>Or should we advise you to go online, pick whatever “law school” is cheapest and easiest to get into, and do the absolute minimum necessary to get bar certified?</p>

<p>Or something in between?</p>

<p>Because you aren’t telling us (either because you don’t want to share, or because you don’t know yourself) precisely why you want a law degree, we don’t know how to advise you along that continuum. And it makes a HUGE difference.</p>

30

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<p>My advice is to focus on the helping people part of your childhood dream and not the being a lawyer part. You could use the money and the time it will cost to go to law school and do a lot of good things with them.</p>

31

<p>My neighbor who is 60, recently became a doctor. She had a BA, but none of the science courses other than what was required to get her Liberal Arts degree, many years before. So she took what courses she needed at the local community college, and then moved on to the local state school, taking several years to get all of the pre med requirements. She did not get accepted first time around for medical school, but did the second time around. So there are those who can do this. IF you can find an in state Law school; are lucky enough that one is within commutable distance, the cost would be greatly reduced. If you can afford, it, go for it. Take some paralegal programs too, to get some experience.</p>

32

<p>Want to add, my brother was in his 40s when he decided to go to law school. Now owns his own very successful firm and he is in his late 60s. Looks and moves and acts like he’s well under age 50. Doing what he loves.</p>

33

<p>There’s attending some sort of program and there’s becoming fully knowledgable, sharp and highly analytical. And, tested in a classroom context, by the most able profs. Big difference. There’s being able to serve in a quasi-legal capacity and there’s being fully certified. If you want to help people, you can do it under the auspices of an attorney- as I’d bet you know. In the end, if you really want to think and operate like a lawyer, now’s the time to show your stuff, through the research into the requirements and processes. You have to have the skills now, to get yourself immersed, not on a thread. Sorry. </p>

<p>If you want to practice law [Admission</a> Requirements](<a href=“http://admissions.calbar.ca.gov/Requirements.aspx]Admission”>http://admissions.calbar.ca.gov/Requirements.aspx)</p>

34

<p>You can volunteer at Legal Aid or for a similar community service.</p>

35

<p>cptofthehouse:</p>

<p>Thank you so much for your response, I think you really understood my question and responded to it with some efficiency.</p>

<p>The question was directed to people who achieved their goals ‘over 50’ or knew of others who did and was willing to share how they did it. How difficult was it, how easy was it, how long did it take, the pros and the cons, that’s what I was looking for. So thank you for telling me about a doctor who did it at 60, then I too can do the same.</p>

<p>Good Luck to anyone ‘Over 50’ who wants to pursue their Dream! Whatever that is.</p>

36

<p>I think that the process is more important than the end result. My former neighbor knew that the odds were against her in getting accepted to medical school. But she wanted to give it a try and enjoyed taking the courses, gaining the knowledge and experiencing the process. So did my brother in studying law.</p>

<p>There are many who start on new things at an older age. Few, very few attain Grandma Moses type fame, but any of us can try these things and work on them regardless of age.</p>

37

<p>Here’s the thing, and if I come out wrong, I apologize. My neighbor is in his 50’s and he’s working on a doctorate in physical therapy. His story might give you some inspiration, but he’s different in this respect: The guy has a BS/MS/MBA. CPT’s neighbor already has a BA and his BIL, I am almost sure, already has an undergrad degree… You haven’t finished your undergrad yet. Frankly, it’s hard to think the level of academic challenge for an AA is the same as a BA or BS, let alone law school. Employers want a BA or BS for most professional jobs, and it’s not for nothing, right? That’s why I think you ought to finish college first. See how it goes, how well you cope with academic challenges before talking about law school. It’s sort of like you want to run before you even walk.</p>

38

<p>If this is in any way feasible, someone else is alive who is also doing it. Find that person and ask them for advice. </p>

<p>If you have already established that your perspective is different from everyone else’s on here, why do you keep arguing with them and standing up for yourself?</p>

39

<p>Berkeley Law has a “Joanie Caucus” scholarship they they aware annually to an older woman. (It’s named for the Doonesbury character who applied to Berkeley as an older student in the seventies, and was admitted off the waiting list.)</p>

<p>The woman in my class who won the scholarship had taught kindergarten for many years, and was about 45 when she started law school.</p>

<p>You do have five years of school ahead of you. (And it bears repeating that nearly all law schools are very expensive now. Your next step should be to apply to a four-year college or university as a transfer student.</p>

<p>It is possible to become a lawyer in California without going to law school, by studying with a lawyer or judge: [Law</a> Office or Judge’s Chamber](<a href=“http://admissions.calbar.ca.gov/Education/LegalEducation/LawOfficeorJudgesChamber.aspx]Law”>http://admissions.calbar.ca.gov/Education/LegalEducation/LawOfficeorJudgesChamber.aspx)</p>

<p>Given your interest in volunteering to help poor people with their legal problems, perhaps you’ll be able to find a legal aid office that has an attorney who would be willing to supervise your study.</p>

<p>You would need to sit for the “baby bar” in California after the equivalent of a full year of law study to be eligible to sit for the full bar exam. </p>

<p>The three people who qualified for the California Bar last July failed the exam, but two of the three who took it in July of 2011 after qualifying in this way passed the bar exam.</p>

40

<p>It is possible to become a lawyer in California without going to law school, by studying with a lawyer or judge: Law Office or Judge’s Chamber</p>

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<p>I had plan to discontiue posting as some posters became very personal and impolite. But, after reading what Greybeard had to say, I had to make this comment. </p>

<p>This is exactly what I am talking about, what I wd like to do if I ever get my law degree. I wd love to be that lawyer that could say I helped someone else to become a lawyer, ‘what’s it called - giving back’. If we can all do this in every walk of life, we will all make this world a better place.</p>