OLD SCHOOL (must be 30 and over ITT) Forum

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MrHaephestus

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Re: OLD SCHOOL (must be 30 and over ITT)

Post by MrHaephestus » Thu Mar 01, 2012 4:21 pm

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Last edited by MrHaephestus on Tue Mar 06, 2012 1:37 am, edited 1 time in total.

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JCFindley

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Re: OLD SCHOOL (must be 30 and over ITT)

Post by JCFindley » Thu Mar 01, 2012 6:30 pm

YAY, old people!

OK, yall aren't really old comparatively since I will be 47 when start this fall.....

I had planned on going to law school after my UG way back when but decided to go fly jets for the Air Force instead. I did that for 21 years between active duty and the Air Guard and was an airline pilot for ten years as well..... I retired from the Guard, (no paycheck until I turn 60 though.) I was laid off from my Airline when they outsourced all our flying to cheap labor. (Midwest Airlines.) With that, I am DONE with the airlines..... Just not what it used be...... I tried doing a little gov contracting. That is not incredibly stable either.....

So, here I sit collecting unemployment for the first time in my life and I said, the heck with it, I am going to go to law school like I wanted to way back when. With the post 911 GI Bill the military will pay for tuition and pay me a housing allowance as well.... (Well, they will pay up to full in state tuition at a public school, but many schools will pick up the tab for the rest....)

Now, I just have to sit back and wait for my Feb LSAT score, mass apply at those schools that I can get into AND can get paid for, and just wait for the letters to come rolling in, right??????

Anyway, as the fighter pilot said half way through the blind date, "Enough about me, what do you think of me?" (J/K)

In all seriousness, just thought I would introduce myself.

JC

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Re: OLD SCHOOL (must be 30 and over ITT)

Post by pkt63 » Thu Mar 01, 2012 8:10 pm

That's similar to my story, JC. Starting a whole new career, after having had another successful one (albeit shorter than yours). I was pretty tired of my old job and left it, thinking I would finally go do what I wanted to do during UG. I am ready to do something completely different than anything I did in my previous career. I'm hoping I love this more than my previous career! It's a little worrying because it feels like there is a bit of a presumption with people with established former careers that they in some way want to parlay that over into a legal career. Which is not what I am doing, obviously. But, so far so good. It's weird to be at the same place (starting a new career) as people a decade younger than me, but it's humbling and probably good practice.

Good luck with your process!

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JCFindley

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Re: OLD SCHOOL (must be 30 and over ITT)

Post by JCFindley » Thu Mar 01, 2012 8:16 pm

Thanks PK..... Yeah, I really want nothing to do with the old one anymore.... Glad I found a thread with others like that....

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Re: OLD SCHOOL (must be 30 and over ITT)

Post by MyGoldenState » Thu Mar 01, 2012 10:52 pm

NonTradHealthLaw wrote:Finally, a thread where I feel I belong!

Will also be 32 when I start. If i go IP or health law my background will be invaluable. If something else catches my fancy, I'm winging it and will be constantly having to explain myself in interviews.

Do y'all have houses you're trying to sell? Only looking in areas where commuting is doable?
After reading some of your responses you do seem quite well informed. To keep things real, I might caution pre-law students against making the presumption that if one goes into an area of law in which one already have a good/excellent background, that such background will necessarily be invaluable.

Having confidence in ones self is great. However, after seeing many brilliant students who made similar presumptions completely crushed when their expectations didn't fit with reality, I'd like to help spare you some grief if I may be so bold. At this nascent stage, I would suggest considering the old adage: "do not count your chickens before they hatch," irrespective of how brilliant one is, or how stellar ones background is. I am of the personal opinion that it is preferable to slightly under-promise to your self and others, while far over-delivering in performance.

Without question, having the background you do will be most helpful. At the same time, it is to your favor if you refuse to "bank" on that. Naturally this is merely my personal opinion, although if you want success in BigLaw, beware of some Partner's (and some law professors) capacity to ruthlessly reduce you and render you into meaningless dust under their wing-tipped shoes just to inflate their own egos at your expense, and prove to themselves that they are the only "special" and superior beings inhabiting this earth.

One might do well to realize that many attorneys truly won't care anything about you other than how well you might help them look good, and will capriciously extirpate you and your dreams without any compunctions. My best suggestion would be to realize early that it's all about power, it's a game, that who plays the game the best wins, politics trump merit, and yes, it really can be that bad. Those who demonstrate humility and not hubris, lay low, and are willing to "suck up" to the correct key players will be the most successful.

I dare say I wish someone had taken the time to explain this to me before I started law school. I had no hubris, but failed to immediately recognize that many instructors and employers run only their own agendas and topping that list is maintaining the status quo for themselves at all costs. I say the above without exaggeration.

There's a reason that a the legal profession has the highest rate of depression and suicide of any other profession. --LinkRemoved-- Attorneys suffer from depression at a rate 4 times greater than the general population. Fortunately, HOPE is the greatest determinant of success in law school, surpassing GPA and LSAT scores (the least best indicator). --LinkRemoved-- So good luck, and remember that you alone have power over hope. Remember that law school is mostly a game of mental resilience and hope that determines the success of students.

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Rotor

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Re: OLD SCHOOL (must be 30 and over ITT)

Post by Rotor » Fri Mar 02, 2012 2:16 am

JCFindley wrote:Anyway, as the fighter pilot said half way through the blind date, "Enough about me, what do you think of me?"\
As a 20+ year navy vet (now 3L) and helicopter pilot, I cannot even express how much I appreciate this quote!

Good luck to you in your law school quest.

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Re: OLD SCHOOL (must be 30 and over ITT)

Post by ephemeral.bete.noire » Fri Mar 02, 2012 2:46 am

MyGoldenState wrote:One might do well to realize that many attorneys truly won't care anything about you other than how well you might help them look good, and will capriciously extirpate you and your dreams without any compunctions.
This is like a wordy Yoda or something.

Breaking news.. some people will shit on you for their own benefit. Beware.

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Re: OLD SCHOOL (must be 30 and over ITT)

Post by sarahh » Fri Mar 02, 2012 9:37 am

The legal services organizations I interviewed with loved my non-profit counseling background. I barely got any questions about school. But I don't think firms will be as enamored with my background. Our renters just almost gave me a heart attack by paying their rent at 11:15 PM the day it was due. They said they forgot about it. How do you forget about your rent? I thought I was going to have to figure out how to evict them across the country.

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Re: OLD SCHOOL (must be 30 and over ITT)

Post by oldhippie » Fri Mar 02, 2012 4:17 pm

hey y'all!
just chiming in wiht my update. i still am in love with being in law school.....SO much easier than real life!! although the real life factors creep in a lot (need new tenants for our house or serious mortgage issue soon). younger people have been very receptive and friendly, and unlike a couple of you, my class load seems less than last semester. although, duh, i am taking one less class but i replaced the free time with a work study.
i think my background has gotten me some attention for summer jobs that i wouldn't have gotten otherwise, but i am going to my first interview this afternoon so we'll see how far it really gets me. but overall, life is good, school is good, and i'm glad to be where i am...

good luck everyone!!!

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JCFindley

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Re: OLD SCHOOL (must be 30 and over ITT)

Post by JCFindley » Fri Mar 02, 2012 4:24 pm

Would anyone min telling me how to upload an avitar?

Thanks.....

JC

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MrHaephestus

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Re: OLD SCHOOL (must be 30 and over ITT)

Post by MrHaephestus » Fri Mar 02, 2012 8:52 pm

JCFindley wrote:Would anyone min telling me how to upload an avitar?

Thanks.....

JC
Click "User Control Panel"

Click "Profile"

Click "Edit Avatar"

The rest is self explanatory. Enjoy!

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JCFindley

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Re: OLD SCHOOL (must be 30 and over ITT)

Post by JCFindley » Sat Mar 03, 2012 9:38 am

Thank you,

I swear that wasn't there two days ago when I signed up..... (Or I am blind which could be the case too.)

JC

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MrHaephestus

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Re: OLD SCHOOL (must be 30 and over ITT)

Post by MrHaephestus » Sat Mar 03, 2012 2:05 pm

Would anyone min telling me how to upload an avitar?

Thanks.....

JC
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DocHawkeye

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Re: OLD SCHOOL (must be 30 and over ITT)

Post by DocHawkeye » Sat Mar 03, 2012 3:00 pm

Anyone else sick to death of writing their moot court briefs? Ours is due on Monday. I don't feel like I put this much work into my dissertation (which, by page count is only slightly more than twice as long as my brief).

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Re: OLD SCHOOL (must be 30 and over ITT)

Post by lrslayer » Sat Mar 03, 2012 11:10 pm

Rotor wrote:
JCFindley wrote:Anyway, as the fighter pilot said half way through the blind date, "Enough about me, what do you think of me?"\
As a 20+ year navy vet (now 3L) and helicopter pilot, I cannot even express how much I appreciate this quote!

Good luck to you in your law school quest.
what platform did you fly. i was a USMC ch46e crew chief

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JCFindley

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Re: OLD SCHOOL (must be 30 and over ITT)

Post by JCFindley » Sat Mar 03, 2012 11:45 pm

lrslayer wrote:
Rotor wrote:
JCFindley wrote:Anyway, as the fighter pilot said half way through the blind date, "Enough about me, what do you think of me?"\
As a 20+ year navy vet (now 3L) and helicopter pilot, I cannot even express how much I appreciate this quote!

Good luck to you in your law school quest.
what platform did you fly. i was a USMC ch46e crew chief
Sweet.....

B1-Bs, T-37s and back to the Bone in the Guard until they took them away and gave us KC-135s.....

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Rotor

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Re: OLD SCHOOL (must be 30 and over ITT)

Post by Rotor » Sun Mar 04, 2012 11:50 am

lrslayer wrote:
Rotor wrote:
JCFindley wrote:Anyway, as the fighter pilot said half way through the blind date, "Enough about me, what do you think of me?"\
As a 20+ year navy vet (now 3L) and helicopter pilot, I cannot even express how much I appreciate this quote!

Good luck to you in your law school quest.
what platform did you fly. i was a USMC ch46e crew chief
SH-60B (off of Cruisers and Frigates). Also did time as Mini-Boss on an LHD!

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JCFindley

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Re: OLD SCHOOL (must be 30 and over ITT)

Post by JCFindley » Sun Mar 04, 2012 12:15 pm

Rotor wrote:
lrslayer wrote:
Rotor wrote:
JCFindley wrote:Anyway, as the fighter pilot said half way through the blind date, "Enough about me, what do you think of me?"\
As a 20+ year navy vet (now 3L) and helicopter pilot, I cannot even express how much I appreciate this quote!

Good luck to you in your law school quest.
what platform did you fly. i was a USMC ch46e crew chief
SH-60B (off of Cruisers and Frigates). Also did time as Mini-Boss on an LHD!
Sweet ride..... I almost went rotor when they took away our bombers. I wish I had; probably the most fun flying out there....

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Re: OLD SCHOOL (must be 30 and over ITT)

Post by caseyw » Sun Mar 04, 2012 10:25 pm

Wow, Glad I found this thread! I made my first post asking about some preliminary studies I could do and was getting reamed by people in another thread! I'm 37 married, with one little one and another on the way, been self employeed for 10 years but have always wanted to go to law school I thought it was too late but one of my customers started law school at 38 and now loves being an attorney and a couple of my other friends who are attorneys said I should go for it. I will have to keep checking in on this thread, would be great if there was it's own section?

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Re: OLD SCHOOL (must be 30 and over ITT)

Post by r6_philly » Sun Mar 04, 2012 10:33 pm

My update: I got 2 1L SA offers because of my background and work experience, so it definitely helped, quite a bit! However i do feel that it was not viewed as favorably to a few people in other interviews, so do be tactful on how you want to sell your age/wisdom/WE.

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Re: OLD SCHOOL (must be 30 and over ITT)

Post by lrslayer » Sun Mar 04, 2012 10:57 pm

Rotor wrote:
lrslayer wrote:
Rotor wrote:
JCFindley wrote:Anyway, as the fighter pilot said half way through the blind date, "Enough about me, what do you think of me?"\
As a 20+ year navy vet (now 3L) and helicopter pilot, I cannot even express how much I appreciate this quote!

Good luck to you in your law school quest.
what platform did you fly. i was a USMC ch46e crew chief
SH-60B (off of Cruisers and Frigates). Also did time as Mini-Boss on an LHD!
sweet. i went out on pelilieu (sp?) and bonhomme richard. good times! saw plenty of 60s off the starboard d (sar style) also watched them do vert reps and they were crazy fast.

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JCFindley

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Re: OLD SCHOOL (must be 30 and over ITT)

Post by JCFindley » Sun Mar 04, 2012 11:08 pm

caseyw wrote:Wow, Glad I found this thread! I made my first post asking about some preliminary studies I could do and was getting reamed by people in another thread! I'm 37 married, with one little one and another on the way, been self employeed for 10 years but have always wanted to go to law school I thought it was too late but one of my customers started law school at 38 and now loves being an attorney and a couple of my other friends who are attorneys said I should go for it. I will have to keep checking in on this thread, would be great if there was it's own section?
Welcome Case.....

I am new to this forum and this thread. So far this thread seems somewhat of a reprieve from the "Sit out a cycle, retake your LSAT and get a scholarship to a T14 school or don't go" advice that seems rather prevalent on here.

Being nosy I had to go look at your other posts and the responses..... While your path may not be the best to find the 160K "Big Law" job only YOU can decide if it is worth it for your own goals. That concept does not seem to be well accepted on the forum at large. You can ask one thing but as often as not the responses are sit out a year, join the peace corps or any other number of answers to questions that weren't asked.

Anyhoo, welcome.......

JC

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Re: OLD SCHOOL (must be 30 and over ITT)

Post by t-ender » Sun Mar 04, 2012 11:21 pm

r6_philly wrote:My update: I got 2 1L SA offers because of my background and work experience, so it definitely helped, quite a bit! However i do feel that it was not viewed as favorably to a few people in other interviews, so do be tactful on how you want to sell your age/wisdom/WE.
Diversity SAs or not?

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Re: OLD SCHOOL (must be 30 and over ITT)

Post by AlexanderSupertramp » Sun Mar 04, 2012 11:29 pm

I'm considering transferring but I chose the school I am at now primarily because it was cheap and places well regionally in my state. Sometimes I think it would be stupid to transfer and take on all the debt and other times I think it would be foolish not to.

Other than that I am over this semester already. I can't wait til spring break because I'll get to be in federal criminal court everyday with the judge I work for. Maybe I'll come back recharged.

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Re: OLD SCHOOL (must be 30 and over ITT)

Post by mmk33 » Sun Mar 04, 2012 11:43 pm

I'm about the make the law school decision, and I would love to hear from anyone who has been through the T14 route or the strong regional law school route.

My situation: 32 years old, I live in NC with my wife, and I would be happy to practice within the state after graduation. I'm in to Wake Forest, UNC, and Duke. Geographically Wake Forest is the easiest for us for a variety of reasons: we own a house and it's a short drive; wife works nearby. WFU is offering a scholarship so attending there would be very inexpensive. I haven't gotten scholarship info from Duke (yet), but I would likely have to take on $100-150k more in debt to attend there. The questions are:
1. Will my age restrict me from getting the type of job (probably big law) that I would need to pay back Duke loans?
2. Have people found that law school grades are quite arbitrary?
3. Is it true that mid-law jobs are few and far between? In the employment thread there is some information that salaries are polarized, and there are some people making 30-50k and then others who win the big job lottery and make 100k+.

I'm taking this decision really carefully, and trying to gather as much information as I possibly can. I've been meeting with former WFU and Duke students, professors, and local lawyers, to try and get a handle on the costs/benefits of the choice. I've always thought that I would love practicing law. I have really enjoyed the law classes that I've sat in on. I'm reading a book on property law (Purdy) out of personal interest. But the dismal job statistics, the huge movement of "don't go to law school," and the fact that I really want to have a solid career track all having me stepping lightly.

Seriously? What are you waiting for?

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