So I am currently a freshmen in college. I am major in economics with no minor, but am looking to go to law school down the road. I was considering minoring in psychology, but would something like philosophy be much better? I also was told that writing does a good job of preparing you for law school itself, but I really have no interest in writing.
I am just looking for some opinions on what is the smarter choice here as I don’t have anyone at my current school to talk to or in my family.
@RogerJuice: If you have no interest in writing, why on earth would you want to be a lawyer? Lawyers are basically professional writers.
The best thing is to get a science or engineering major and then work in patent law or related contracts. But since that’s not your thing, it doesn’t really matter what you study, so do what is fun and interesting to you. Psychology can certainly help you understand clients and motives and all the people you would deal with, especially if you do litigation or deal with family law or criminal law. A foreign language would also help, especially Spanish. You could also consider what areas of law you are interested in – i.e., what type of clients in what type of industries dealing with what types of subjects – and select a related minor.
Do take the advice about writing seriously though. Even if you have a legal job that does not require writing much (few exist, but they do exist), you will still likely have to read a ton, and have superior reading comprehension skills. Great writers tend to also be the best readers in my opinion, and understand the nuances and significance of word choices in laws, contracts, letters, complaints, etc. – that gives lawyers their tools to argue their cases. Economics should be a great foundation for critical reading, but honing your writing skills in some way is also advisable.
I meant more that I have no interest in writing stories. Writing articles and the such are much more appealing. Also you can do more with a law degree than just bemuse a lawyer.
@RogerJuice: No, not really. Lawyer is pretty much all you can do with a law degree. Lawyers sometimes end up in other professions, but that’s generally in spite of, not because of their JDs. As for writing stories, that’s definitely part of at least litigation work and regulatory work. Not sure about the transactional side.
RogerJuice, being a lawyer requires a heavy focus on writing, ranging from short contracts or other documents to massive ones that contain 100+ pages of intricate detail, and a laser-like focus on details. Even when we’re not writing, we’re talking about what’s written, and discussing things so that they can be written down as part of those types of documents. You’ll need to be able to be very tuned into the nuance of a word on page 32 of a document that you write, and how it ties into the nuance of a word on page 121 of a document that you write; it’s that detailed.
Unless you’re up for that, don’t go to law school. Lawyers do end up doing things other than law practice, but usually because they hate working in law firms and somehow transition out of them.
Roger:
try out a bunch of different courses in different subjects. You need a bunch of A’s to get into a good law school, so factor that in to your thinking, and take courses that you enjoy. you do not need a minor. you could take 3-4 classes each in Psych and in Philosophy.
Phil is great for analytical writing, and it also includes a lot of dry reading – great prep for the LSAT, which is less fun than watching paint dry. But you do analytical writing in some other majors as well.