<p>My chosen career is to become a lawyer working as the legal counsel for children who are wards of the court, wards of the state, on probation.
I have no interest in doing anything other than this. </p>
<p>However, when I try to contact lawyers who work in this field to ask them some questiones, I'm given the run around by their secretaries. My College career center has no information whatsoever on this sector of the law and the careers associated with it. I've looked for books about the subject,and have looked everywhere for information about those involved in this career. When I do get a call returned, it's only one in which the person calling me is being very pessimistic about this area of law. They tell me that any sane person would never want to work with wards of the state by their own free will or juvenile delinquents. I am told to "stop wasting my time" on pursuing this career. </p>
<p>What is the big fat issue with pursuing a career where the pay is low, the work is hard and can be hellish? Don't some people recognize that there are certain people who actually want to pursue such careers, who could care less about the money and think that even if they only make a difference only once in their careers, that would be all the thanks that they'd ever want?</p>
<p>(Sorry about the venting!) </p>
<p>The other question that I have is in regards to what Law schools have great programs in Public Interest Law and the field (which I believe falls into the Public Interest law category....) that I am pursuing.</p>
<p>If you can help with an answer, that would be wonderful!</p>
<p>As for the first part... it is very possible that the people discouraging you from going into that area of law aren't talking about the money. They could be talking about a system which is so broken that they can't do their jobs. Maybe they are talking about a job that is too frustrating to ever be rewarding. Maybe they are talking about the realities of the profession: no matter how noble your intentions, you'll eventually get burned out. Consider, for example, that most special ed teachers (who clearly aren't in it for the money) last about five years, total. Many new teachers are the same way - and perhaps some lawyers. Not to be pessimistic, just giving you another side of the issue.</p>
<p>Formerly idealistic people are often the most cynical about any issue. As with anything, try to figure out where the cynicism comes from. </p>
<p>Not sure about specific law schools with Public Interest, although you could look at Northeastern (the one in Boston, not the one in Chicago), which is strong in that field. From what little I know about the field, it does seem as if a graduate of a top law school has no problem going into public interest, as that area is always hurting for good lawyers. You might want to (unless someone else is paying for law school) look at law schools with VERY strong loan repayment programmes. Law schools generally give out very little financial aid; expect to pay about $150k total to get out of most law schools for three years. </p>
<p>Beyond that - look for schools that have very strong clinical programmes in legal aid, defense law, family law, etc.</p>
<p>First, I don't think many people look down at public interest attorneys. I think Aries is right when she suggests that many people burn out after working in this area for a while and it may just be that the people you are talking to think you really don't understand how tough it is. (Yes, I've read your prior posts and I therefore know what prompted your interest.) </p>
<p>However, I'd really, really disagree with the idea that it's easy to get a job in this field. It isn't..at least if you want to get paid. I don't mean paid a lot. I just mean get paid. There are WAY more people who are interested in doing public interest law than there are funded positions in public service. The competition for jobs is fierce. To get some of these positions, it is virtually a requirement that you intern without pay at least one summer during law school to have a chance at a paid position when you graduate. Others will require that you have extensive supervised clinical experience--which you can get while you are enrolled in LS. They tend to hire people whom they've seen in action. </p>
<p>I'm not trying to be rude--it's hard to get "tone" to come through in a message--but I think your approach may be the problem. Attorneys in this field are overworked and underpaid and most aren't going to drop everything and spend time chatting with someone who is a freshman or sophomore in college who calls on the phone. </p>
<p>Scroll to the bottom of the page and you'll see an email address for volunteers. Even if there's nothing available through this organization, the staff might be able to tell you the names of other organizations that might need volunteer help. Stop by the volunteer center of the community college you attend and see if there's anything posted there. If you still haven't found anything, call your local bar association, find out if if has some sort of pro bono or juvenile justice committee, find out the name of the chair and write him/her a letter asking for advice. </p>
<p>For the time being, forget about asking questions like which law schools have good public interest programs. Come back when you have finished three years of college and have taken the LSAT. Again, that's not intended to be rude--it's just practical advice. I can tell you that NYU Law has an excellent public interest program--it really does--but if you don't have the gpa and LSAT to get into it, that info isn't going to help you. When you do have a gpa and LSAT, you can pose a question like this: "I have a gpa of 3.3 and a LSAT score of 159 (or whatever...I'm just making up #s). I'd like to practice in [name region of US]. What LSs in that area of the country have good public interest programs?" </p>
<p>I was under the impression that it was easy to get a job in something like public defense for capital cases... although I do recall hearing somewhere that positions in a prosecutor's office are very hard to come by. Perhaps it depends on exactly what you mean by "public interest?" (Says the diplomat in me. ;) )</p>
<p>Agree wholeheartedly with the last paragraph of Jonri's post... because GPA and LSAT are so very important in law school admissions.</p>
<p>Consider joining PAD (Pi Alpha Delta) once you get to law school.</p>