<p>This a question for current/past/future law school students from someone who is considering law school in the distant future: </p>
<p>Why did you decide to go into law? Do you enjoy it?</p>
<p>Greybeard, concerneddad, you are currently lawyers, correct? Where did you study? Where did you work?</p>
<p>I'd really like to know the life stories of these interesting "mammoths" and "dinosaurs." They're so sage!</p>
<p>I decided to go to law school in the last semester of my senior year (I was an older student, and went to college late) when the only job I could get with an B.A. in Anthro was teaching first year intro courses in Sri Lanka. So much for the all the hand-wringing about what major to declare. </p>
<p>I did not enjoy law school, I personally found too many of the profs. to be mean-spirited, and working all day, and going to law school at night, was just too grueling to be called fun. </p>
<p>But, I did, and sometimes still do, enjoy the practice of law. I began working in small boutique firm, briefly worked in a very large firm, and have now been in practice by myself for 11 years.</p>
<p>I went to law school in Los Angeles.</p>
<p>I'm majoring in American Studies and German Language. </p>
<p>What the heck am I going to do with that other than work for our government?</p>
<p>That's why I'm thinking about going to law school.</p>
<p>andrewtdx, maybe you can end up specializing in some international law field with your german language degree... like international business law in germany (with any company that does business with or in germany), or working for the state department in german speaking countries, or european law/politics (perhaps in austria too), or be a lawyer for german immigrants (not necessarily immigration law). just to show that your german language degree isnt worthless. </p>
<p>american studies on the other hand, im not sure about</p>
<p>CD, which law school did you go to?</p>
<p>i would prefer to go to a big name law school because i am interested in international law or business law. however, that is very far in the future for me and expenses may be a factor for me. how are the other law schools in the area-- their reputation, their job placements, etc. if possible, compare against ucla and usc since those are the LA-area powerhouses. </p>
<p>Loyola
Southwestern
California Western
Chapman
Whittier
Pepperdine</p>
<p>if you know about these, how are they also?
U of Pacific
Golden Gate
Thomas Jefferson
U San Diego
U San Francisco
Santa Clara</p>
<p>thanks</p>
<p>I went to Boalt Hall (UC Berkeley).</p>
<p>I first decided to go to law school in the fourth grade, after reading that most US presidents had been lawyers. I planned to practice law on route to the White House.</p>
<p>Bit by bit, I scaled back my ambitions over the years. By the time I started law school, I was thinking I would be better suited to being an associated justice of the US Supreme Court.</p>
<p>By the time I finished my first year of law school, my main ambition was to become a second year law student. I wanted to finish what I had started, but was pretty sure I didn't want to be a lawyer. I thought about going into advertising, and started working on a portfolio.</p>
<p>During my third year of law school, I wrote a series of scripts for a law firm that wanted to advertise in a foreign language that I had learned to speak. (I did this free of charge, as a way of demonstrating my abilities to advertising agencies.) I appeared in the ads as a spokesperson.</p>
<p>The ads turned out to be quite successful, which led to a job offer not from an ad agency, but rather from the law firm whose advertising I had written. I worked there for two years, doing a really broad range of work (personal injury, landlord-tenant, family law, immigration, bankruptcy, criminal law, partnership agreements, wills, a trademark application - basically whatever came through the door).</p>
<p>After two years, I left to start my own firm with a former colleague. We started the firm on a total shoestring budget: we each put in a thousand dollars. We narrowed our focus quite a bit; we both worked on personal injury cases, I did landlord tenant, and my partner did immigration.</p>
<p>Five years later, I was starting to get bored. Somewhat impulsively, perhaps, I sold the practice to my partner, and decided to focus more on my parallel career as a professional musician.</p>
<p>The peak of my musical career was opening for has-beens. It occurred to me that even the lucky musicians who had a few hits could usually look forward to spending the rest of their working years on the road, playing in progressively less glamorous settings for progressively less money. I supplemented by income as a musician working as a sole practitioner.</p>
<p>I then launched what I suppose is my third career. I got a job through a friend reviewing in-bound software licensing agreements for the procurement department of a large corporation. Two years later, I went in-house for a software company. I now work in-house for a larger software company, where I'm regional counsel for the Far East.</p>
<p>I love my work these days. At other times, when I found that enthusiasm for what I was doing was waning, I've managed to gird myself for the task of making what were pretty disruptive changes.</p>
<p>Of those on your list kfcu, Loyola my alma mater) is the cream of the crop</p>