Law School

[asleepathewheel]

Originally posted by Alinestra Covelia


Well, looking on the bright side, I have heard from firm partners that ANY sort of litigation experience is good. One firm partner was in his late 50s and said he worked as a public prosecutor for a small wage, for about 14 years.

Once he went private, the firms fought over him and brought him in on near their top payscale. If you can prove that you can demolish the opposition in court, firms need you. Simple as that.

Yup, pretty much my plan. Tons of trial work, bench and juries, and see where that takes me. I'm thinking either AUSA or the judiciary. We'll see, I've recently completed the first stage in my career and will start phase 2 hopefully soon...

Plus, what I do is much more fun (for me) than sitting around an office all day, researching x or reviewing contracts. The clientele is much more.....colorful.

[Vesayen]

Currently in law school.

Law school is the hardest most soul sucking experience of my life. I worked pretty damn hard in under grad.

It was nothing like this.

Prepare to wake up early every morning, to go sleep late, prepare to frequently skip meals and to go days or even a week or more without any sort of recreational activity, this includes weekends.

In short, law school is like a horrific minimum wage job which is 24/7, except instead of making money, you get into enormous debt which you may be unable to pay off if you don't graduate, ruining your entire life.

In short, don't go to lawschool unless your

1. ACTUALLY a hard worker with good study habits. Law school is not the place to develop study habits.

2. You really really want to.

3. If you have wealthy parents who can pay for it, don't worry about the life-ruining debt(you wealthy bastard).

If I knew what I knew now, there is no way I would have possibly wanted to go.

[Japher]

So, it sounds like it's more of a "weed out the week" type degree, and that's good. Because most people I know who are lawyers love their jobs. Still then, most consultants I know love their job and they work 60-80 hours/week.

Bleh.

[LordShiva]

Consultants

I work 30-40 hours/week, though

[Imran Siddiqui]

Originally posted by Japher
So, it sounds like it's more of a "weed out the week" type degree, and that's good.

Like said above, depends on where you go. I definately did more work in law school, but I didn't feel like mine was necessarily a "weed out" type of school. I think the entrance requirements and cost of the school were considered weed out characteristics .

[snoopy369]

Originally posted by flash9286
Yeah, I read that article a couple weeks ago. With my LSAT and GPA I think I can get into a top ten, I don't know if I could finish in the top of my class at one of those schools though.

It sounds like you had the same choice my father did - either go into a top school and take your chances but probably finish in the middle (the bottom is usually people who bought there way in with their names or money), or go to a lesser school and finish at the top of your class.

He chose the latter, because he could still go to a pretty good school, and stay local. Know where you want to work when you graduate, and if there is a good school in that area (not necessarily a top one, but a good one), go there. You will finish at the top of your class, and get all sorts of opportunities for internships with the local law firms. If you're not the sort who needs to work in NYC or Boston or equivalent, but prefers to work in a smaller location (even a Houston or Kansas City type city), this is a great way to set yourself up. Firms often choose people locally over people from far off but big name law schools, and you have more opportunity to keep that relationship up during the year (not working of course, but socially).

It also helps if you go to a school that is highly considered in the field you enjoy - even if Yale Law is #1, it's not #1 in every field, and there are some surprising school highly considered in each field. You can often find a school that is not hard to get into and not hard to do very well at, but due to having one or two outstanding professors in a particular field, gives you a very good education in your area of interest.

[Alinestra Covelia]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui


Like said above, depends on where you go. I definately did more work in law school, but I didn't feel like mine was necessarily a "weed out" type of school. I think the entrance requirements and cost of the school were considered weed out characteristics .

Quoted for Truth.

I guess law school is like a company. Some will use an attrition-and-abrasion method to weed out the weak. They purposefully accept more than they can really effectively teach, and the stream of drop outs means they can focus on the really strong ones (in a somewhat Darwinian process).

There are others that focus on nurturing and helping the students along. The law school I am going to is one of these types, with academic assistance programs to help me write my memos and briefs more effectively, and faculty being readily available by email or in person to counsel me on my class selections and my career.

In the past week I've had to make an important decision about whether or not to sign up for a study abroad program, and I was able to talk with three deans, our career office, and three professors in order to make up my mind. Several of them also accepted my resume so they could keep an eye out for job opportunities that might fit into my goals.

It's all about where you go, I guess. Sure, I work hard - harder than I've worked in undergrad and in grad school for my Master's degree - but I feel like I'm learning something that is supremely useful in the long run, and which also challenges me in a meaningful way. More importantly, I genuinely believe in what I'm studying, which is more than I could say for my Journalism M.A. or my English B.A.

(No offense to those two disciplines. This is merely my personal experience and personal calling.)

[Japher]

That's okay, we all believe Journalism and English are worthless majors. Still, they aren't as worthless as History and Philzophee

[asleepathewheel]

Originally posted by snoopy369

He chose the latter, because he could still go to a pretty good school, and stay local. Know where you want to work when you graduate, and if there is a good school in that area (not necessarily a top one, but a good one), go there. You will finish at the top of your class, and get all sorts of opportunities for internships with the local law firms. If you're not the sort who needs to work in NYC or Boston or equivalent, but prefers to work in a smaller location (even a Houston or Kansas City type city), this is a great way to set yourself up. Firms often choose people locally over people from far off but big name law schools, and you have more opportunity to keep that relationship up during the year (not working of course, but socially).

Location is key. I would actually recommend going to school in the area you want to reside permanently, if there is an acceptable school there. I've moved 2x after graduating, and its tough due to lack of connections, extreme bias towards local, home grown attorneys. Especially non big cities. Of course, going to Yale or Harvard negates those problems.

Just look at the job placement %s of some 4th tier schools, some are much higher than schools 100 places ahead of them. why? location. I'm looking at you Capital U, Columbus.*

*That was the situation a few years ago, I haven't looked lately at the rankings (which are flawed, anyway of course)

[C0ckney]

Originally posted by SlowwHand
Why don't you sell used cars instead?

the frustrating thing is that if i was still selling second hand cars, i'd be making a lot more money right now.

[DinoDoc]

I would actually recommend going to school in the area you want to reside permanently

Is that the reason you left. Realize there were too many lawyers in Oxford?

[flash9286]

Originally posted by asleepathewheel


Location is key. I would actually recommend going to school in the area you want to reside permanently, if there is an acceptable school there. I've moved 2x after graduating, and its tough due to lack of connections, extreme bias towards local, home grown attorneys. Especially non big cities. Of course, going to Yale or Harvard negates those problems.

Just look at the job placement %s of some 4th tier schools, some are much higher than schools 100 places ahead of them. why? location. I'm looking at you Capital U, Columbus.*

*That was the situation a few years ago, I haven't looked lately at the rankings (which are flawed, anyway of course)

Yeah, I'm looking to practice in NC, so if I get into Duke I'll probably go there and use UNC as a backup.

[asleepathewheel]

Originally posted by DinoDoc

I would actually recommend going to school in the area you want to reside permanently

Is that the reason you left. Realize there were too many lawyers in Oxford?

Heh, I went there for undergrad and declined their invitation for law school. I was really burned out on MS after 4 years, i couldn't take another 3. But its a similar situation. small college town with a law school, good luck to an outsider.

[asleepathewheel]

Originally posted by flash9286


Yeah, I'm looking to practice in NC, so if I get into Duke I'll probably go there and use UNC as a backup.

That's an excellent plan. We nearly ended up (well, temporarily at least) in that area, my wife got grad fellowships to both, but chose elsewhere.

You'd have enormous flexibility on job location, either sticking around the area or going to a firm in a large city.

Do you have a particular interest yet?

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by asleepathewheel
Location is key. I would actually recommend going to school in the area you want to reside permanently, if there is an acceptable school there.

That's why I would apply to UVA. Plus, in-state tuition.