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I dont know if this is a little off base or coming out of left field, but what are your thoughts about including in your personal statement legal cases that you have involved in, been, thru, and won settlements?

i dont want to get into too much detail here, but basically i won a settlement against a former employer for being discriminated against and i did the bulk of the legal work that was required in the case (it did not go to trial)

i also, did an extensive amount of legal work for my grandmother who filed a wrongful death lawsuit against an inpatient care facility and helped her win a settlement as well

when i say i did "legal work", what i mean is that i did all the research for the cases, went thru extensive literature regarding the legal basis for the claims, compiled all the necessary info, looked at prior cases on how similar legal cases were handled. basically being exposed first hand and going thru the legal process provided me with invaluable insight on the legal system and what lawyers do, how they handle cases, and how they interact with their clients.

what i want to parlay and illustrate in my personal statement is how the experience that i went thru as a gave me a first hand perspective of what plaintiff go thru, and also how having gone thru the whole legal process and learning about all the facets of what is involved in handling cases has motivated me to want to become a legal advocate for those that face discrimination?

keep in mind my personal statement would not be solely on this, and i may not even write about it.

i am just curious on your thoughts on the matter, because it is very easy give off the wrong impression when you are writing and winning settlements and being the victim of a legal case. if i did include this, it would be more of a reflective piece of what i learnt and how what i went thru motivated me, but i do know that a reader could misinterpret it and it could come off as arrogant or me playing a victim.

if not ill just write about volunteering with various NGOs in africa for a year and a half

i am well aware however that the personal statement is a very very small consideration in the admissions process (even though ppl stress it and overthink it way too much)

It sounds like you might be the one person in 20 who actually gained substantive experience in their exposure to random court cases but you're going to have a hard time showing it in a PS.

If you use the experiences I'd focus on "this is why I'm passionate about law" rather than "this is how much I already know about law".

The Lsat Airbender wrote:It sounds like you might be the one person in 20 who actually gained substantive experience in their exposure to random court cases but you're going to have a hard time showing it in a PS.

If you use the experiences I'd focus on "this is why I'm passionate about law" rather than "this is how much I already know about law".

again, this is just a thought i had as i was brainstorming potential subjects to touch upon. unless i can really figure out how to write a piece in a way that conveys how my experience motivated/ inspired me to want to pursue law, i think it may come off the wrong way, but then again who knows. the statement would have nothing to do with how much i already know about law, rather what i learnt as a victim. but again, i really do not want to play the victim card nor do i want to make it out like i want to just be some lawyer who goes out to seek financial settlements.

i really do feel though the whole "this is why I'm passionate about law" complete cliche. and the bullshit stories that ppl make up in their personal statements are so utterly crazy and absurd. like come of ppl. u write a personal statement containing nothing but lies and stuff u made up? that kind of shows your level of integrity..

i dunno personal statements are a controversial subject, and it is prob the last thing im worried about in my application

qiranger wrote:i really do feel though the whole "this is why I'm passionate about law" complete cliche. and the bullshit stories that ppl make up in their personal statements are so utterly crazy and absurd. like come of ppl. u write a personal statement containing nothing but lies and stuff u made up? that kind of shows your level of integrity..

i dunno personal statements are a controversial subject, and it is prob the last thing im worried about in my application

Well, that's a little extreme.

And "lawyers who go out to seek financial settlements" captures a wide range of practitioners. Law school admissions officers are not all that concerned about what you tell them you're going to do with your degree (because you usually won't be right). The personal statement is a chance for them to get to know something about you that they wouldn't otherwise figure out from reading the rest of your application materials. For you, if winning a civil case fits that description, go nuts. But if you choose to write about it, then your personal statement will be solely about that (you don't have space to talk about more than one thing in-depth). So as advised, you'd have to make the story about how the experience motivated you to pursue law, not to showcase the substantive knowledge you picked up.

One other thing: If your writing on this forum is at all indicative of your general writing style, I'd highly recommend making the personal statement a higher priority than the last thing you're worrying about. The PS rarely moves the needle that much for most people, but a badly written one can be a problem for an otherwise qualified applicant.

I always wonder how pathetic someone's life has to be for this to be a source of validation.

Did you ever pay your debts, OP?

According to your post history, weren't you a rising 2L at Cornell in 2014 offering to read other people's personal statements?

Huge yikes