Friday, April 1, 2011

Law Schoo? Not so Fast!



Before my older brother moved to Canada he simply left me with just one advice, "Law school...don't do it!"
At first I thought he was joking or quoting something but after some experience with some law professors, my brother may be actually right.

First, people should think pretty  hard about the reasons why they are going to law school before anything. It's a huge investment (100,000$), it's soul-crushing work and the field of law is going through a revolution of sorts right now - the days of high status/high paying jobs are gone. The job market for new lawyers is quite horrible, as there's a number of new grads since everyone went back to school during the recession. Oh, and all the jobs dried up in 2008 and probably aren't coming back.

That being said, if you have a passion for something and you want to change the world (this is me), give it a shot. The work itself is fun if you like debate and argument (if only there wasn't 10 metric of it to do!), and there's still an aura of status about the job that drops panties to the floor (or boxers I suppose - more female lawyers than male nowadays). If are computer 15hrs+ p/day-autistic kind of person and can't talk to people, it's going to be really hard. If you're in it for the money, create a business instead. If you have connections from your rich family/corporate buddies you plan to exploit then hey - let me send you my resume! All in All law school is not what it used to be and people should really consider the reasons why they would even think about giving it a chance.

20 comments:

  1. Dang that sounds like a grind :(

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  2. I think its a good idea to not go into an area just because you like the temptation of big money, especially if you don't know what you're getting into. However I agree that if you have a passion for it then sure, go for it!

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  3. I'm currently in a BA in Poli Sci which pretty much funnels you towards Law School. I'm honestly scared shitless by the thought of that.

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  4. I think a good way to sum up your post would be to say: choose a profession because you like doing and not because of the money

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  5. Follow your dreams. Nice blog, followed :)

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  6. wow, thanks for the advice. good thing i never considered law. :)

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  7. I have two friends in law school. One loves it and one is on the path to hating it.

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  8. that was an interesting read, thank you. please post more :D

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  9. job markets are no good even for a well educated person sometimes.

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  10. I was going to go to law school, but decided against it because of the job prospects.

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  11. i think you pretty much summed it up "soul crushing"

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  12. Your brother is 100% right.

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  13. get the education you want, not the one that pays the most.

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  14. Law School is so competitive these days, a lot of people want to be lawyers and the like. I've heard the schools are looking for people with different Bachelor's other than pre-law, like English

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  15. Law school can be hellish, as can the profession at first. All of my law-school friends seem to enjoy it despite that though. :D

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  16. I was actually thinking about law school but I just don't think it would have ended up being right for me. Great post!

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  17. if your good at it then why not give it a shot

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  18. Nice pic lol. I'm a programmer, and while some of my coworkers regret choosing this profession. I really like it...too bad I rarely write code (which is what i enjoy) at work.

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  19. Wish i had the grades to get into law school lmao

    Added to morning to do list.

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  20. it you have a passion for it then you should do it, no matter how the situation is looking today.
    If you study architecture in Germany the future for an architect doesn't look good but they study it anyway because they have a passion for it.

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