# Law School. Yes, I know. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 16, 2002, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/law-school-yes-i-know/104016 "2002-04-16T21:00:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![tramp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@tramp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tramp)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2002, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/law-school-yes-i-know/104016/21 "2002-04-17T14:03:01Z")
The guy who owns the Burrito Cart on 15th and K here in DC has a law degree from Georgetown. He hated being a lawyer so he made the _obvious_ career jump from attorney to burrito salesman. He loves his new job now becausehe gets to spend more time with the family. I kept this all in mind when I emptyed my bank account earlier this week to send my deposit to my law school. _YIKES_ ---
**Author:** ![OxyMoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9a140/32.png) [@OxyMoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OxyMoron)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2002, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/law-school-yes-i-know/104016/22 "2002-04-17T14:44:14Z")
Check out [these](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=95214) [threads](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=31036), too. I’m now working as a legal editor, with a great lifestyle and not-obnoxiously-low pay, so I’ve done pretty well out of it. The trick with a law degree isn’t “what can I do?” but rather “what _can’t_ I do?” And the latter is often more difficult to answer. Although I suspect that your professional inclinations will be…ah… somewhat different, bear in mind that two of my law school’s better known alumni are: Howard Cosell (Ll.B 1940) Paul Tagliabue (JD 1965) (head of the NFL) ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2002, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/law-school-yes-i-know/104016/23 "2002-04-17T17:09:00Z")
Thanks again, everyone. Ironically, I came across one of my posts from just about two years ago in a thread that **Oxy** linked. And lo and behold, despite my reservations at the time, I _have_ become a paralegal. And have suffered for it. 🙂 Pretty sobering. I’ll keep thinking, as I have plenty of time to decide. ---
**Author:** ![shelbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@shelbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shelbo)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2002, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/law-school-yes-i-know/104016/24 "2002-04-17T17:15:43Z")
I’ve got to go with **Zappo**. Based on how you’ve described your career asperations, law school would be a waste of your time. Looking at **Jodi’s** list, the only items for which a law degree would be required are the ones that require being a lawyer (tax lawyer, regulator lawyer, trusts and wills lawyer). If any of those appeal to you then, hey, go for it (and I agree with **Zoff** , that NY lawyers are a breed apart. Any of those other jobs you can get into without a law degree. ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2002, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/law-school-yes-i-know/104016/25 "2002-04-17T17:41:54Z")
Well, see, the thing is, right now I don’t have a great number of career aspirations, a situation that I am trying as best as I can to remedy. Like **Gadarene** said, I am very curious. I think I would easily find something I would like. I know that NYC lawyers are a breed apart. But on the other hand, I work on the biggest bankruptcies in the US right now. As unpleasant as the life may be, I am not about to step off the big bucks and the cutting-edge work to do standard practice law at a smaller firm. ---
**Author:** ![Humble\_Servant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/47e85d/32.png) [@Humble\_Servant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Humble_Servant)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2002, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/law-school-yes-i-know/104016/26 "2002-04-17T18:35:00Z")
Hey **Maeglin**. Forgive if I assume I know more than I should about your life–message board syndrome, I suppose. Anyway, law school _is_ expensive, no matter how you do it. (Make sure you take advantage of whatever tuition program your firm may have.) Despite the difficulty, I would advise continuing to work while attending. I would also plan on working (intensely) at least for a couple years at a firm after graduation–the public sector/paid pro bono and similar job openings are scarce and low-paying. Yes, you can get one if you have a burning passion, but economic reality will push you in the other direction. I know that the academic job market just isn’t there (I’m married to an academic). Getting a legal academic position is slightly easier, but also cannot be counted on. I’m thinking of some of the courses that I took in law school that would likely appeal to you–property, for instance, is the field where you will go back to English common law with case materials from the Middle Ages, in Latin and Law French; canon law, where you read Aquinas; and legal theory, where you do philosophy of law–where you could combine an MA/PhD in medieval studies with law. To try to do anything like this, however, you will have to bust ass–let the relevant faculty know early and often of your interests, get involved as a research assistant with them, and pretty much self-start and commit all the way. That is the path that it seems to me you would have to take to get to an academic legal position, but it does not at all disqualify you for standard firm practice if there’s nothing there after all. You don’t give up your interests by going to law school and practicing at a firm (even though it will seem like it at first); you can happily continue to read what you like and you will probably find some smart people at law school with like interests. There is a difference in emphasis in doing something for a degree and doing something because you love it, but you don’t need to give it up. The law is not a bad profession–the work is interesting and you can make a good living–it can be stressful and very business-oriented. ---
**Author:** ![BottledBlondJeanie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/0ea827/32.png) [@BottledBlondJeanie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BottledBlondJeanie)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2002, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/law-school-yes-i-know/104016/27 "2002-04-17T22:41:15Z")
Maeglin, You’d be surprised at what a big LSAT score and decent grades will do for you. I was NOT financially needy at all, but I got a full-ride (books and all) scholarship from a school that was actually pretty decent. So, I’ve got 0 law school debt + a new car! As far as going to school in the state you want to practice in, my experience is that as far as clerkships go you’ll probably have to stay in the same state, but as far as jobs go, it really a matter of registering for the bar in that state and finding firms that are hiring. In fact, my employment assistance office called a TX school’s employment assistance office and got them to help me as if I were one of it’s students! Law school opens the mind to some things, but I think it can totally kill your math center…I now count on my fingers! ☹ BBJ ---
**Author:** ![JohnW77707](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d2c977/32.png) [@JohnW77707](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnW77707)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2002, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/law-school-yes-i-know/104016/28 "2002-04-17T23:31:56Z")
Sorry to come late, and for not having read the many insightful comments above. I will just respond to the OP directly. My vote is “don’t do it” unless you are a Rockerfeller or have some other entre (sp?) into the world of business of politics in which you can use the J.D. as some expensive window dressing. PS One exception might be schools that offer a joint degree, such as Georgetown, which has a joint 4-year JD/MBA program. But I’m not sure that’s any better or different. JohnW77707, Esq. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/law-school-yes-i-know/104016.md?page=1)