What does it really take to practice law?

Graduate School Law School
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<p>So, I need to decide whether law school is right for me. I'm a junior accounting major. Until now, I assumed I would finish my undergrad, find a small firm, and eventually take the CPA. But I am interested in tax law, so I've been considering law school as well.</p>

<p>I think my stats are on track--through 70 credits (of 120 to graduate, 150 to get CPA), I have a 3.96. I took a practice LSAT and got 165. Hopefully I could raise this with studying. I would expect my GPA to drop a little by application time; I still have a few grade deflating courses this year: finance, etc.,</p>

<p>But what would I be getting into with a career in tax law? Is there constant, heavy networking? I'm more a reserved person and like to keep to myself. A fast-paced, dense, even slightly aggressive career is fine. But if it's a career that will require excessive and consistent networking and charisma, I'd rather know now than later--that's not my strong suit.</p>

<p>Can anyone give me an idea what is typically out of tax lawyers or lawyers in general? Is it largely a connection-based system, or can merit alone get you in the door once you've finished law school?</p>

<p>Also, if law school is appropriate, would you recommend that an accounting major still complete 150 credits so that a CPA certification is still possible in the future? Or is this largely irrelevant with a J.D.?</p>

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<p>There are many tax law jobs that don’t require much networking at all–for example, working for the IRS or the Department of Justice’s tax law section. If you moved over to a firm from there, you’d mostly be networking with people you already knew from your government work. </p>

<p>Starting a firm would probably require some more social savvy (and becoming a partner at one would require even more), but I think the bar is much lower for transactional lawyers than litigators in the social skills realm. </p>

<p>Of course, you’d still have to GET the job, and having some basic people skills is useful for that.</p>

3

<p>Thanks for the info. I’m not socially inept, so I don’t think interviews will be an issue, etc., </p>

<p>Is their pretty keen competition for tax lawyers to get the government jobs you listed (IRS, Justice Dept.)? I’m wondering if, without a huge network to rely on, many tax lawyers ultimately return to tax accounting jobs or other careers that could be begun with just an accounting degree?</p>