Would practicing law be a good fit for me? Forum

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booknerd

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Would practicing law be a good fit for me?

Post by booknerd » Sat Jul 14, 2018 10:30 am

I'm interested in going into law, but I'm not sure if I would be happy doing it. As an English and French double major and an Italian minor, I like reading, writing, analyzing, and researching. If I practice law, I want to be able to read, write analyze and research for most of the day. I'm not interested in having much contact with clients and I absolutely do not want to go to court and litigate. I wouldn't mind working 10-12 hours a day and working a little on the weekends. Would practicing law be a good fit for me?

Twiqbalz

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Re: Would practicing law be a good fit for me?

Post by Twiqbalz » Tue Jul 17, 2018 10:27 am

booknerd wrote:I'm interested in going into law, but I'm not sure if I would be happy doing it. As an English and French double major and an Italian minor, I like reading, writing, analyzing, and researching. If I practice law, I want to be able to read, write analyze and research for most of the day. I'm not interested in having much contact with clients and I absolutely do not want to go to court and litigate. I wouldn't mind working 10-12 hours a day and working a little on the weekends. Would practicing law be a good fit for me?
Perhaps academia is better for you. Whether that be legal academia or another field.

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totesTheGoat

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Re: Would practicing law be a good fit for me?

Post by totesTheGoat » Tue Jul 17, 2018 11:13 am

booknerd wrote: If I practice law, I want to be able to read, write analyze and research for most of the day.
Read, write, analyze, and research what? Reading and analyzing literature is wholly different from doing the same to a court opinion. Writing a research paper in undergrad is very different from writing a memo for a partner at a law firm. Researching the influence of the fall of the Roman empire on the development of the romance languages is very different than researching whether your client's expired driver's license will impact a fault determination in their car accident.

I love reading, writing, analyzing, and researching things, too. I scratch that itch in my free time. The stuff I do at work day-to-day is technical, not creative.

I'd say that you need to gather more information about law to figure out whether it fits you. Pick up an old law school textbook or read a law blog or read a law review journal and see whether it captures your interest and keeps your attention.

BlackAndOrange84

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Re: Would practicing law be a good fit for me?

Post by BlackAndOrange84 » Tue Jul 17, 2018 11:21 am

Wanted to second what Goat says—legal writing is more of a technical trade than a creative outlet. There's room for creativity at the margins, but that's it.

I think a fair share of liberal arts-type people who go into law ignorant of what it actually entails end up pretty unhappy with their professional life, in large part because lawyering is not the obvious good fit for a liberal arts major that most people think it is.

ivankinghk

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Re: Would practicing law be a good fit for me?

Post by ivankinghk » Tue Jul 17, 2018 10:23 pm

Do something else then. From my exp, the practice of law is all about solving client problems, so there will be alot of ppl interaction.

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