Anyone go to Law School?

Briggs is GOAT

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@RacerX you did right?

For anyone who has, how was it? And what did you do after? It's something I've wanted to do for a long time, and now that the time is starting to draw near I thought I'd ask around.
 

RacerX

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@RacerX you did right?

For anyone who has, how was it? And what did you do after? It's something I've wanted to do for a long time, and now that the time is starting to draw near I thought I'd ask around.

Yup, I earned my J.D. and was admitted to the CA Bar exam, $75k in student loans later (and that was about 25 years ago). But, the efficacy of law school is very personal, and this is about you, not me.

Tell me what your interests are, your strengths, goals & motivations, and the level of law school you reasonably believe you can get into (assuming you have not yet taken the LSAT). Then I can give you pros & cons based on your personal situation.
 

Briggs is GOAT

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Yup, I earned my J.D. and was admitted to the CA Bar exam, $75k in student loans later (and that was about 25 years ago). But, the efficacy of law school is very personal, and this is about you, not me.

Tell me what your interests are, your strengths, goals & motivations, and the level of law school you reasonably believe you can get into (assuming you have not yet taken the LSAT). Then I can give you pros & cons based on your personal situation.
Well I'm not yet sure what type of law I'd like to practice, but I have an internship with the DA's office coming up, so hopefully that'll give me some insight. I've always had an interest in all types of law though, so maybe I'll find that I'd be willing to practice more than one type, and then go from there.

My undergrad major is History, and I basically read a bunch of history books lol. I'm a good student, though not the best. Also took my first practice LSAT yesterday completely cold with no studying, and I scored a 146. I did poorly on the Logic Games section, while I did well on the Reading Comprehension and Logical reasoning sections (for someone who hasn't prepared for the test of course). I figure that I could definitely bump that score by 20 points or more by the time I'm ready to take the real thing, as I won't be taking it for a long time.

So based on projected Gpa and LSAT score, I figure I could definitely get into schools ranked in the top 25, maybe top 15 if I'm lucky. Though I would definitely prioritize scholarship money over school rank when making a decision, and with a decent offer I'd likely be able to get out of law school debt free.
 

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Yeah man I've got nothing to add to this either, but good luck bro!
 

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I ran from the law once and thrice good luck man.

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@RacerX you did right?

For anyone who has, how was it? And what did you do after? It's something I've wanted to do for a long time, and now that the time is starting to draw near I thought I'd ask around.


I went to law school. Now I'm a practicing attorney. Most lawyers I know are pretty unhappy so when I talk to people considering going to law school I always "joke" that they should make alternative plans instead ha.

As for going to law school, it was a great experience. I was a student, research assistant, and eventually a law review board member. So it was certainly a "full time job" for me. It is challenging (far more so than undergrad) but certainly not overwhelming if you keep up with the reading. That being said, I have never known a law student that didn't experience anxiety at some point (especially as a 1L and studying for the bar).

Intellectually, law school changed the way I think and process information. I think too many people either struggle to see both sides of a debate, merely state conclusions without any actual argument, or fail to see a logical flaw or gap. Also, I felt a great camaraderie with the people in my class (especially my "section" which will make sense to you one day if you do attend law school) that turned into long term friendships way beyond graduation. So don't think law is all work and no fun!

Why do you want to go to law school?
 
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I went to law school. Now I'm a practicing attorney. Most lawyers I know are pretty unhappy so when I talk to people considering going to law school I always "joke" that they should make alternative plans instead ha.

As for going to law school, it was a great experience. I was a student, research assistant, and eventually a law review board member. So it was certainly a "full time job" for me. It is challenging (far more so than undergrad) but certainly not overwhelming if you keep up with the reading. That being said, I have never known a law student that didn't experience anxiety at some point (especially as a 1L and studying for the bar).

Intellectually, law school changed the way I think and process information. I think too many people either struggle to see both sides of a debate, merely state conclusions without any actual argument, or fail to see a logical flaw or gap. Also, I felt a great camaraderie with the people in my class (especially my "section" which will make sense to you one day if you do attend laws school) that turned into long term friendships way beyond graduation. So don't think law is all work and no fun!

Why do you want to go to law school?

Thank u for being so brave as to come out of the closet.
 

RacerX

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Well I'm not yet sure what type of law I'd like to practice, but I have an internship with the DA's office coming up, so hopefully that'll give me some insight. I've always had an interest in all types of law though, so maybe I'll find that I'd be willing to practice more than one type, and then go from there.

My undergrad major is History, and I basically read a bunch of history books lol. I'm a good student, though not the best. Also took my first practice LSAT yesterday completely cold with no studying, and I scored a 146. I did poorly on the Logic Games section, while I did well on the Reading Comprehension and Logical reasoning sections (for someone who hasn't prepared for the test of course). I figure that I could definitely bump that score by 20 points or more by the time I'm ready to take the real thing, as I won't be taking it for a long time.

So based on projected Gpa and LSAT score, I figure I could definitely get into schools ranked in the top 25, maybe top 15 if I'm lucky. Though I would definitely prioritize scholarship money over school rank when making a decision, and with a decent offer I'd likely be able to get out of law school debt free.

Impressive credentials. Do you have any sense whether you prefer civic vs. criminal, or transactional vs, litigation? Each of these is like a completely independent discipline, almost a differing career from one another.

I never cared much about law study per se, I only used the knowledge to supplement and further my business career.
 

Briggs is GOAT

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Impressive credentials. Do you have any sense whether you prefer civic vs. criminal, or transactional vs, litigation? Each of these is like a completely independent discipline, almost a differing career from one another.

I never cared much about law study per se, I only used the knowledge to supplement and further my business career.
Criminal is more interesting to me on the surface, and litigation over transactional. I hope I'll get the chance to sit in on a trial during my internship, we'll see though. Some type of permanent clerkship post law school also sounds interesting to me as well, though I'm not sure how common it is to come across positions like that, most of them are 1-2 year jobs.

Thank you for answering my questions, I appreciate it. Just one more, how'd you like law school itself?
 

Briggs is GOAT

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I went to law school. Now I'm a practicing attorney. Most lawyers I know are pretty unhappy so when I talk to people considering going to law school I always "joke" that they should make alternative plans instead ha.

As for going to law school, it was a great experience. I was a student, research assistant, and eventually a law review board member. So it was certainly a "full time job" for me. It is challenging (far more so than undergrad) but certainly not overwhelming if you keep up with the reading. That being said, I have never known a law student that didn't experience anxiety at some point (especially as a 1L and studying for the bar).

Intellectually, law school changed the way I think and process information. I think too many people either struggle to see both sides of a debate, merely state conclusions without any actual argument, or fail to see a logical flaw or gap. Also, I felt a great camaraderie with the people in my class (especially my "section" which will make sense to you one day if you do attend law school) that turned into long term friendships way beyond graduation. So don't think law is all work and no fun!

Why do you want to go to law school?
I want to go to law school because I've always been interested in the law. Always read about the law, ever since I was a kid.

Thanks for giving me such a comprehensive answer. I just want to ask, why do you think most lawyers you know are unhappy? Also, what do you think of the job outlook for lawyers? From the statistics I've seen, it seems that many of the top 50 law schools in the nation have excellent employment outcomes.
 

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I want to go to law school because I've always been interested in the law. Always read about the law, ever since I was a kid.

Thanks for giving me such a comprehensive answer. I just want to ask, why do you think most lawyers you know are unhappy? Also, what do you think of the job outlook for lawyers? From the statistics I've seen, it seems that many of the top 50 law schools in the nation have excellent employment outcomes.

Hmm good question. Probably a combination of inherently stressful work, long hours, difficult/emotional/angry clients (depends on what area of law you are practicing, but people often need an attorney only when going through a negative experience like an arrest, divorce, injury, etc.), the high cost of a mistake, exhaustion or toll from the "content conflict" naturally found in some areas of a law, and the pressure of billable hours. One thing they don't discuss much in law school is the importance of billing clients. There are times I feel more like a salesperson than a lawyer. Of course this can be avoided if you work for the government or other public interest law.

The job market in this country is very strong right now and it's my understanding that includes the legal field. Hopefully it lasts for the foreseeable future! That being said, one thing that impacts the legal job market in Chicago is that there are 9 law schools in the state of Illinois and supposedly new JDs regularly move to Chicago after graduating from law schools located in neighboring states. So I have heard that this state is a bit more saturated with licensed attorneys than most other states. For what it's worth, I recently read that the top areas to enter right now are IT law, Healthcare law, Corporate law, and Complex litigation.
 

RacerX

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Criminal is more interesting to me on the surface, and litigation over transactional. I hope I'll get the chance to sit in on a trial during my internship, we'll see though. Some type of permanent clerkship post law school also sounds interesting to me as well, though I'm not sure how common it is to come across positions like that, most of them are 1-2 year jobs.

Thank you for answering my questions, I appreciate it. Just one more, how'd you like law school itself?

I hated law school with a passion, I knew I was never going to apply 95% of what I learned, though the Constitutional law and civil procedure were of personal interest to me.

If you’re going into Criminal litigation/motion practice/trial as a career, you need to take the following into consideration:

1. You better love research, reading, and writing because you’re going to be doing just that and only that for well over 2,000 hours annually. To me that seemed like a continuation of school projects which was not appealing, and I wanted out of the library.

2. You’re not going to earn big dollars for quite a long time, then if you want to cash in you’ll need to practice criminal defense, basically keeping rich guys out of prison.
 

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Hmm good question. Probably a combination of inherently stressful work, long hours, difficult/emotional/angry clients (depends on what area of law you are practicing, but people often need an attorney only when going through a negative experience like an arrest, divorce, injury, etc.), the high cost of a mistake, exhaustion or toll from the "content conflict" naturally found in some areas of a law, and the pressure of billable hours. One thing they don't discuss much in law school is the importance of billing clients. There are times I feel more like a salesperson than a lawyer. Of course this can be avoided if you work for the government or other public interest law.

The job market in this country is very strong right now and it's my understanding that includes the legal field. Hopefully it lasts for the foreseeable future! That being said, one thing that impacts the legal job market in Chicago is that there are 9 law schools in the state of Illinois and supposedly new JDs regularly move to Chicago after graduating from law schools located in neighboring states. So I have heard that this state is a bit more saturated with licensed attorneys than most other states. For what it's worth, I recently read that the top areas to enter right now are IT law, Healthcare law, Corporate law, and Complex litigation.
I see. Thank you. Do you happen to know anyone who's had a permanent clerkship position?
 

Briggs is GOAT

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I hated law school with a passion, I knew I was never going to apply 95% of what I learned, though the Constitutional law and civil procedure were of personal interest to me.

If you’re going into Criminal litigation/motion practice/trial as a career, you need to take the following into consideration:

1. You better love research, reading, and writing because you’re going to be doing just that and only that for well over 2,000 hours annually. To me that seemed like a continuation of school projects which was not appealing, and I wanted out of the library.

2. You’re not going to earn big dollars for quite a long time, then if you want to cash in you’ll need to practice criminal defense, basically keeping rich guys out of prison.
#2 is not something I'd like to do. I realize that everyone is entitled to a defense, but I don't want to be paid to defend rich assholes.
 

RacerX

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#2 is not something I'd like to do. I realize that everyone is entitled to a defense, but I don't want to be paid to defend rich assholes.

No doubt you believe that now, but circumstances may change - keep an open mind.

And most importantly, regardless of your choice of practice, start in a major geographic market where there will be plenty of opportunities and options to choose from.
 

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