ASPIRING LAWYER - Page 2

Keep in mind that doing research and making persuasive presentations is a big part of a lot of different types of jobs, particularly in business. The legal industry is very risky for young lawyers right now; you may be able to find positions that are a good fit for your strengths in other [safer] areas as well (consulting, for example).

If your grades are good enough for bigfirm, go for it. You will make lots of money but have no life though. If your grades aren't good enough, you will have a hard time finding a job. If you do, you will make little money but have no life. Also, it's getting harder and harder to be a Plaintiff these days, especially since it seems appellate courts no longer give a crap about the sanctity of jury verdicts.

One of my professors during my undergrad told me that the best lsat grades typically come from philosophy majors, and then english majors. The reason he gave was that the type of thinking involved in those types of course work helped train skills needed on the lsat. However, I wouldn't suggest either of those majors as a fall back course.

To decide what major you should select you need to break down your interests. Besides being a lawyer, what do you see yourself enjoying doing as a job (in terms of tasks)? A love of making valid points and supporting information is a good start but you need more than that. For instance, I'm not a lawyer or even trained as one but I am currently procrastinating in drafting a letter to a foreign government complaining about their actions - which is basically a letter making what I feel are valid points and supporting them.

With that said you may want to consider majors that allow you to go into a policy making field as there is a fair bit of lawyers working alongside policy wonks - so a lot of arguments. That means think tanks, government, government relations (private sector). So consider economics, international relations, international affairs, political science. Some people will say political science is a joke major but it really depends on what you intend to do with it. If you take one of those majors you could certainly get a job in one of the fields I listed above (you'd have to move to a state capitol, commercial center, DC) if you don't pursue law or it doesn't work out after law school.

Was that your philosophy professor or your English professor?

Don't be a lawyer. You can't compete with those of us in the field who already have jobs. The market is over saturated.

REALLY make sure it is something you really want to do.And though it's already been stressed, I reiterate, HAVE A BACK-UP PLAN. I'm a senior in college and thought I wanted to be a lawyer all through undergrad, I majored in philosophy, did zero internships that would give me a meaningful "out" and put in a beastly amount of hours studying the LSAT. I did well in school and well on the LSAT, however, after talking to many attorneys and interning at a firm, I have little desire to go to law school.

Most studies conclude that earnings are highest in lawyers with economics backgrounds.

It was a political science professor who specialised in political urban development. 

Certainly apply, but don't feel obligated to go. Make sure the financials make sense.

 

Your major is irrelevant. Unless you had a science, tech major, etc. and excelled, your major will be irrelevant. Someone mentioned economics; I tutored economics as an undergrad - not sure how that rumor originated.

 

 

The question I would be asking if I were an undergrad is not what should I major in; it is whether I should attend law school at all?

 

 

If you do not have the following, then I would be extremely cautious about a career in law (this includes the "top ten" schools):

• Family/personal ability to finance my law school tuition, which includes at least 1 year of housing and maintenance;
• Family member a partner at a firm in which I am guaranteed a job (you have probably already clerked here for two years as an undergrad or at least during two summer vacations if not right now); and
• A network of individuals and entities in preferred practice area.

 

 

When I first began to attend "new attorney" seminars which were also open and available to law students, I would be one of three or four young faces. The "new attorney" programs are now completely filled with new (and more seasoned) attorneys; the video room is completely filled with same; and there are 100 or so doing the seminar online.

 

It utterly behooves you to talk with actual, real practitioners before you even apply. So many lawyers are gracious and generous with their time. If you want to practice PI or IP, then start to connect with real, actual attorneys in those areas. 

 

Many young people get crippled, economically and financially, from law school. Regardless if it is your passion or dream, it is a decision not to be made lightly. Do not discount the economics of 150k in student loans (much higher with interest over time). 

 

You have been warned as politely as I can.

 

EDIT: By the way, yes, I know people who have removed their J.D. from their résumés to obtain jobs that required 2-yr degrees or less.

"'Thirty years ago, if you were looking to get on the escalator to upward mobility, you went to law school. Today, the law school escalator is broken.'"

 

Quoted from Law Schools' Applications Fall as Costs Rise and Jobs are Cut, Ethan Bronner, 30 JAN 2013, http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/31/education/law-schools-applications-fall-as-costs-rise-and-jobs-are-cut.html?src=me&ref=general

 

 

I think you are just nuts to go to law school today. But some people are not getting the memorandum (or newspapers articles like this). My perspective I guess is different from having attended business school prior to law school. Let me put it simply: I made more money while in business school (my contract required me to be pursuing or hold an M.B.A.) than now. The opportunities during business school compared with law school were far greater. 

 

I warn (some) prospective students as a courtesy. I encourage everyone to pursue their dreams and life goals. But when it comes to law school, consider an education program that does not really prepare you practice; lifetime of massive debt; and possible total unemployment or underemployment at best. It is astonishing to me that the law schools get away with the fudge employment, job, LSAT, GPA, etc. numbers; but the market is correcting it.

 

The law schools are not accountable to their accrediting body (American Bar Association, and should a lawyer organization be the oversight of law school? No, it is not in the best interests of law students and prospective law students that the ABA, of all bar organizations, accredits law schools. I happened to be in one of the ABA's buildings yesterday, ironically). 

 

Anyway, even the prestige and mystery of law school will soon collapse, particularly when these law schools effectively admit 100% or close to 100% of their applicants; this is the acceptance rate of junior colleges? And no disrespect to junior colleges; I think that they are underrated. Nevertheless, I am not sure the admission model in junior college should be adopted by law schools as they try to fill empty chairs in classrooms. I would stay away from it. I wish I knew these things before attending in 2006. 

I've also heard Math majors do quite well on the LSAT as well

It makes me sad that there are college students that aspire to be lawyers.

 

The profession, at it is structured, with its varied complexities, does not lend itself to a warning as to why law school is not a very bright idea. It is tempting, though I of course would never do it, to sign an affidavit stating, "yes, I made more money, and had more opportunity---and zero debt---PRIOR to law school." I am a Notary Public, and I cannot legally notarize my own signature, but I think those entering law school now, 90% of them, are victims. 

 

Some of us in the profession feel bad for them.