I’m two years out of college and starting to think about going to law school. I’ve decided that I hate how success in my job (at a newspaper) benefits the company’s shareholders way more than it does the people we allegedly serve. I’m a cog, the pay stinks and I never see my fiancee.
Set aside whether I can get into or afford law school. Any lawyer or law school types out there who can tell me if they’re happy, fulfilled, working for good and not evil, etc? Or is my impression of such a career change totally skewed?
I’ve been a trial lawyer for 15 years (and I was an editor at the UCLA Daily Bruin).
My advice to prospective lawyers is only go to law school if you want to be a lawyer with great certainty in your heart.
Being in the news business is a lot more rewarding emotionally, and most lawyers don’t make more than reporters.
From what I understand, any amount of time you do manage to put aside for seeing your fiancee will disappear if you go to law school. If you want free time, law school is one of the last places to find it.
From a small sample of observations, an MBA seems worth more.
well, often a lawyer is “the woman”
Yes.
IANAL, but thought I’d be one for awhile. I’d gone through most of undergrad life thinking I’d go on to law school. In my senior year I had the grades and the LSAT score to proceed, but had a sudden (I remember the day) realization that I had no particular love for that career. So I passed (and became a geophysicist?).
I know a mess a’ lawyers, and there are so many ways that career path can turn out.
I know a couple of attorneys who work for the state - one makes good bucks, the other makes average bucks. I think both of them like their gigs. One assists in setting state policy and one is a state-funded advocate for those without resources to pay for an attorney. Guess which one makes the good bucks.
I have one formerly close friend and former business partner in acquaintance who is a dedicated PI lawyer. He’s fucked up, but he makes a lot of money. A memorable conversation I had with him on the day the Phillips refinery exploded went:
Ringo: Hey, man, how’s it goin’
Him: Great Man! Bagged a Phillips widow and I’ve got two more in the chute!
Eewww.
My best friend (and I’ll admit to having a half-dozen) of years stretching back to elementary school, oh, and did I include college roommate and attorney of record, hung out his shingle after school and has been a general attorney. He’s made money off of real estate and oil deals and lost money taking care of friends’ daughters’ and sons’ journeys through the criminal justice system. He’s kind of a GP.
Hope this helps.
IANAL, but I work in Family Court.
If you can, you might want to spend some time hanging around a real life courthouse watching how things really work. Better still would be if you could get a part time job in one. (Most positions in NYS courts are civil service, but there are a few that are not. Check postings at your local court, ask how hiring is managed.) If court work is what you desire, you will soon learn the following:
- There is a lot of waiting around involved.
- A large percentage of attorneys are (is?) incompetent boobs.
- No one in the real world will be impressed by your law degree except for you and (maybe) your mom. If that’s what being “the man” means to you, you will be disappointed.
- There are way too many lawyers out there right now. Money is scarce for a new attorney.
- The law is FRUSTRATING. You may know what’s right. Your client may know what’s right. The judge or referee may know what’s right. That doesn’t always mean things are going to work out that way if the statute doesn’t agree. A lot of things in the law are based on statute, not equity. Knowing the law and “doing good” are not always synonymous, unfortunately.
- If you want to do good and aren’t looking to be rich, there is still a place for you, but you will work VERY hard and will NOT get rich. God bless you if you are one of those people. You may become a very popular member of a law guardian panel, or an elder lawyer or any of a dozen other things. But you will NOT get rich by a long shot, so please do what you’re doing – investigate thoroughly before diving in.
[list][list][list][list]The grass is always greener
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We have been through this before. The law is a satisfying career. I’ve been doing it for more than 30 years. It’s not for everyone. I have seen more than a few people who hated it once they were in and had burnt most of their bridges behind them.
The intellectual rigor of law school can’t be matched any where else, not excepting medical school. Lawyers make the best companions and the best company. There is nothing like getting together with a bunch of other lawyers and telling war stories about how well/ poorly we are doing. Justice O.W. Holmes, Jr. put it best when he said the law is a jealous mistress. Be prepared to have any social life go down the tube for the first two years of school and for the first four or five years of work. It’s a lot like being a monk in an order that changes its rules every few days.
I cannot recommend the law as a career change just because you can’t think of anything better. If you are not prepared to become the servant of the system and the client while being no man’s mouth piece, consider going into the ministry.
It is not a good way to meet women.
Remember that not all lawyers are trial lawyers. Even within the law, there’s a wide diversity of jobs. My father, a lawyer, hates court and will do anything possible to avoid it. He’s the in-house counsel for a real estate development company, and loves his job. He feels that in court, somebody wins and somebody loses, but in his line of work, everyone walks away from the table happy. The buyers want to buy, the sellers want to sell, and there are no losers.
Why isn’t going to law school a good way to meet women? IIRC, more than 50% of law students now are female.
Hmm. Don’t know that I agree with that. During law school I did well, and after even better, until I got married.
7 years into it, and I have to say, it gets easier the older you get. I quit after my first two years because I hated it so much, and took a year off. I went back to the law for lack of anything better to do. Now I work in Hong Kong’s largest law firm and intellectual property practice. My job is fun and interesting, and I get paid well. I recommend it.
hey grammarninja…i’m in the same boat as you…i’ve only been out of school for a year but i’m moving into my second year of out-o-undergrad and applying to law school right now. The only thing worthwhile that I can respond to (since I am not a lawyer yet) is that having visited some friends in law school currently…umm, you don’t have ANY free time. They schedule stuff like “make out with boyfriend, 40 minutes” so I would say if you want to work hard and do well in law school (b/c they assure me this is the only way you get anywhere unless you’re like steven hawking or something) more free time doesn’t come hand in hand with law school.
Hey, if you have some specific law school questions I’ve found the straightdopers to be inordinately helpful…I tend to post mine on General Questions. There are so many lawyers and law students on these boards…I was very surprised.
Also…I’m going to be the WOman.
Anu
I’m one. I really like my job, I work for good and not evil, and I’m doing something I always wanted to do. I’m a prosecutor. I occasionaly get called “The Man”, but that’s usually in the context of “The Man is trying to keep me down.” The greatest thing about my job is that, at this point in my career, I always get to do what I think is right. If I think someone is not guilty, I dismiss it. If I think the punishment is too harsh, I can lower the charge. If I think someone deserves it, I can argue to send them to prison. In the courtroom, the judge is there to make sure the rules are followed, the defense attorney is there to represent their client’s best interest, but I’m the only one there whose job it is is to do justice. I like it alot.
That being said, I also think you really have to know it’s what you want to do before you start law school, or you’re going to be disappointed.
I’ll have you know I met my wife in Law School, sir!! Unless you retract that statement, I’ll sue you for everything you own. 
My husband is an attorney, and has been on both sides of the fence (prosecution and defense).
I’m not sure who gets burned out faster, the work-a-day joes or the true believers, but it can be a difficult calling.
It is very possible to have free time in law school, but it depends on your intelligence level, study habits and self-discipline. And you can meet lots of women. Hubby’s best friend and former law partner was “in like Flynn” all through law school.
It can be a great life, or it can make you totally miserable. It’s not for everyone. Talk to lawyers you know and trust, and beg them to be honest with you. They will give you the best advice.
MEETING WOMEN AND THE LAW
Unless things have changed a lot, law school is a great place to meet women, especially student nurses who have given up on marrying a doctor (a fate worse than death—“it’s time to get up savior of mankind—climb back up on that pedestal”). As I recall, however, most of my classmates were married.
Private practice is a lousy place to meet women. For the most part the single women clients are miserable wrecks with more baggage that than they can carry with any amount of help. On top of that our State Supreme Court takes a very dim view of anything more than a very conventional social relationship between lawyer and client.
If I had a point it is that no prospective law student should let the prospect of meeting women (or men) be the decisive factor in deciding to take a shot at it. The same is true of making really big bucks. You will earn every dollar you make, including the ones you never collect.
I’ve been a lawyer for 5 years. Liked school so much that I went back for a LL.M. in Taxation (a subject that makes most lawyers’ eyes glaze over). I really like the law. I just don’t like the practice. I don’t like being the slave to the billable hour, and thinking “I really need to do this, but I won’t be able to bill for it.”
I am trying to get a job with CCH Incorporated, which publishes a great many tax and human resources manuals, newsletter, etc.
I guess my point is that being a lawyer can take many different forms. Some friends like the “high” that they get from hotly contested motions or trials. I, on the other hand, would be perfectly happy never setting foot in a courtroom.
Even creating 200 page merger agreements for multinational corporations is some people’s cup of tea. Whatever works for you is the way to go.
In Re: Chicks. Go after court reporters. Where I work, it seems like they are all cute. Prolly get propositioned by lawyers a lot, though.
Imagine a really really large boulder. No, larger. With spikes on it. And flames and bullets and armadillos coming out of it. Now imagine it hurtling towards the ground at about 1 billion MPH (ignoring of course that pesky 9.81 m/s/s thingy). Now, imagine you, standing there, on a bull-eye, looking upwards and thinking to yourself, “Hey…there’s a boulder coming towards me. Maybe I should get out of the way.” But you can’t because it’s a really large bulls-eye and an even larger boulder. With flames and bullets and armadillos.
That’s law school.
I should probably get back to studying for finals now.
Heh. Go join a study group, young man. Share your bullseye with knowledgable friends.
This morning I quit my job, to go and work for another law firm…the reason? Even more interesting work. Law is a field where you can be entirely absorbed by what you do.
I agree with Abe Babe that the billable hours can be pretty sucky, but you get the hang of that after a while: it becomes a time management issue. Something I’ve obviously not mastered since I’m posting here a lot.
I went through law school after careers in academia and private industry, so my approach was pretty focused. I’d go to school and study between classes. I rarely brought work home, so I had time for my gal pal and part time jobs. To be honest, the work load at law school was easier than some jobs I have had.
I figure that my poor old bean is only good for so many hours per day of serious thought. After that, it’s diminishing returns. By paying attention to maintaining a well balanced lifestyle, I was able to go at each day fresh, rather than get run down, as many of my class mates did.
A lot of students fall into trap of competing against themselves or each other, and in particular grabbing bragging rights as to who has spent the most time on various tasks. (E.g., who put in the most hours preparing for moot court.) I think that this is short-sighted, for eventually many of these students grind themselves down, and many lose sight of life outside of law school, including social interaction with non-law people and community involvement.
Law school is not brain surgery. The material which must be learned can be learned without going beyond normal days’ work. The trick is to identify what can be accomplished each day within a reasonable time when also considering other non-scholastic time demands, and then go for it, rather than look at the seemingly overwhelming mass of material and plow through it until exhaustion and to the exclusion of so many other important aspects of life.
Hours of clear, focused thought will pay off. Further hours of murky, exhausted effort are a waste of time. A lot of otherwise bright students don’t really understand this.