jobs for those of us who hate law school Forum

[Anonymous User]

background: i'm a second semester 1L who is near the top of my class (~10%) at a T14.

i've realized that i hate law school. i hate/hated all of my 1L classes (with the exception of torts and con law on certain days). i hate reading cases. i hate being called on. i hate legal writing (though LRW is my favorite class by a wide margin). i have no balance in my life. nothing interests me. there aren't any causes that i care about. i don't want to help people. i probably shouldn't have come back after break, but i did.

SO, am i going to enjoy being a lawyer? i.e. are you doomed to hate your career in the legal industry if you hate law school?

If so, should I just drop out and cut my losses? i realize that i am pretty fortunate to be in the position that i'm in, but i'm not interested in money, prestige, etc. - i'm interested in being happy and i'm definitely not happy in law school.

[Anonymous User]

Just do transactions. You'll hardly ever read cases, and you'll never read or write briefs. You'll rarely feel like you're being "called-on"--you'll usually just toil away in your office in quiet obscurity, replacing defined terms in a document or proofreading for comma use. You'll often wonder why you had to endure law school to get the job, but litigators often wonder that too.

You could also go into prosecution. You won't really help anyone, so don't worry about that. There's very little writing that hasn't been well-trodden before (criminal law in most jurisdictions deals with the same pat issues over and over again, with very little need for additional legal research). Admittedly you'd have to do some human interaction and public speaking, but it would not be the kind of stuff you have to do when called on in class.

Or use your JD to try to go into consulting.

Realize this, though: the point of 1L is to be a hazing ritual. Most lawyers hated it, and they commiserate about it afterward. It's a bond through shared suffering (and through sadistically watching it be inflicted on later generations). None of it bears much resemblance to what you'll do at work, except for the continual imposition of rigid, non-meritocratic hierarchy.

[Anonymous User]

i am not trying to be a jerkoff, but could your apathy towards law be a symptom of a larger depression-related issue? I mean, are there other things besides law school and a career in the legal profession you might enjoy right now?

[dood]

just do sales bro

[warumnicht]

I'm a 2L who is also doing quite well in law school. 1L year was a snooze. I was fortunate that our LRW professor assigned a topic that was moderately interesting to me. Otherwise, I think I would have died. I generally feel the same way you do, with no strong desire to go into the law or to help people (not that I hate helping people; I like volunteering and all, but I'm not drawn to public interest work). My 1L summer gig didn't do much to whet my appetite for the law, either. Coming back for 2L was probably the wrong decision, and it bit me in the butt because I think my interviewers picked up on the fact that I was not passionate about the law.

Well, you know what? I didn't drop out, and I have an AWESOME internship this semester that is proving to me that there are some legal issues that are of extreme interest to me. I'm truly enjoying what I do and can see myself doing it in the future. Too bad that it's a pretty small field, so there's no guarantee that I'll get that kind of job, but at least it's a sign that I CAN enjoy legal work.

You said that you liked torts and con law on some days. What was it that you liked, do you remember? Could you talk to the professors and maybe get ideas for what kind of legal work would let you work on those kinds of issues?

[Kohinoor]

i am not trying to be a jerkoff, but could your apathy towards law be a symptom of a larger depression-related issue? I mean, are there other things besides law school and a career in the legal profession you might enjoy right now?

lol. That's definitely it. Law school isn't boring and dreadful.

[CanadianWolf]

Try to get a law related internship over the summer.

It might help to know what you do enjoy if you are seeking career advice.

[romothesavior]

SO, am i going to enjoy being a lawyer? i.e. are you doomed to hate your career in the legal industry if you hate law school?

I can say with a lot of certainty that this is not the case. Just because you do not like law school does not mean you will not like practicing law. Of the countless attorneys I have spoken with (government, biglaw, in-house, etc.), the majority of them seem to genuinely like their jobs, but I'll bet only ~50% of them said they liked law school. Many of them said they downright hated it, but they love practicing law. So do not give up on it yet. You are in a really great spot right now, so you should figure out if you'll like law before making a major decision.

Try to get a law related internship over the summer.

It might help to know what you do enjoy if you are seeking career advice.

I think TITCR. I think you should keep up the hard/good work this semester, get a job this summer, and see if you like it. Talk to the attorneys and see what you want to do. If you are still unsure at the end of the summer, you could even take a leave of absence to figure out what you want to do with your life. But do not assume that hating law school means you will hate your career, because based on dozens of conversations I've had with people on this subject, that is not that is not the case.

[Kohinoor]

SO, am i going to enjoy being a lawyer? i.e. are you doomed to hate your career in the legal industry if you hate law school?

Not at all. I find law school wayyyyyy more unbearable than any day in my working life.

[A'nold]

I find law school 1,000,000,000,000,000.... times better than any job I've ever had. What does THAT mean?

[Anonymous User]

Dear OP:

The only difference between me and you is I'm only top 15% at a T20. I can't really complain where I ended up, especially since I pretty much did nothing law related from Thursday at 2:30 until Sunday night every week. I'm just going to hope for transactional work or some sort of compliance/tax if I have to. Don't really have a UG degree to get me anywhere, and the man v. food host doesn't seem to be leaving anytime soon, so law it is. I've just realized how much I absolutely hate reading cases and going to class. Took that approach in one class last semester, probably went 1/3 of the time after fall break, never read a case and got a 96 on the final (and oh the irony of the class I never missed once, read every case, and ended up with an 88 due to listening to what the professor said. Kept me out of top 10% and makes be think doing it the "right" way is actually just detrimental - the concepts really aren't confusing at all - maybe one or two per class, the professors just make you think they are and the rest comes down to your typing speed.) Makes me so unmotivated to actually read a case instead of learning law from $25 used books on amazon, but my professors are giving points for participation in the sense that you start with points and completely lose them if you are called on and don't know the case - 1L sucks. I know I should actually put in legitimate effort and compete for a top slot in every class, but I hate con law and crim law soooo much already.

And yes, there is hope (at least telling myself that) after law school. You will be getting paid to do the work (can actually spend money for enjoyment w/o cringing at the possibility of graduating in six figure debt w/o a job), and the work is nothing like the game/mindfuck that 1L is.

Good luck and Godspeed! Sorry for rant, but you'll probably understand.

[Kohinoor]

I find law school 1,000,000,000,000,000.... times better than any job I've ever had. What does THAT mean?

You're a terrible person who has had terrible jobs.

[A'nold]

I find law school 1,000,000,000,000,000.... times better than any job I've ever had. What does THAT mean?

You're a terrible person who has had terrible jobs.

I can see that. I will definitely agree that I have had terrible jobs as well.

[Veyron]

Drop the fuck out bro, life is too short to do what you hate. Or is making 160 a year for 3 years so important to you that you're willing to loathe your very existance?

[BobSacamano]

Hang in there. I find the firm I work at MUCH more interesting than any coursework I've done.

That could be because I'm now getting paid for the work I'm doing, but still...

[Anonymous User]

OP here. thanks to everyone for the encouragement and advice. it is really reassuring to hear that liking law school isn't a prerequisite for liking your legal career.

Most schools will let you choose all (or the vast majority) of your 2L and 3L classes, correct? Are these classes a good way to find a passion within the law?

[Veyron]

OP here. thanks to everyone for the encouragement and advice. it is really reassuring to hear that liking law school isn't a prerequisite for liking your legal career.

Most schools will let you choose all (or the vast majority) of your 2L and 3L classes, correct? Are these classes a good way to find a passion within the law?

I wish there was a lemming.gif

[Anonymous User]

OP here. thanks to everyone for the encouragement and advice. it is really reassuring to hear that liking law school isn't a prerequisite for liking your legal career.

Most schools will let you choose all (or the vast majority) of your 2L and 3L classes, correct? Are these classes a good way to find a passion within the law?

I wish there was a lemming.gif

OP here.

as a side note, your activity on this forum makes me SO glad that I chose not to go to Penn.

does anyone have a productive answer to my question?

[General Tso]

I hate law school but not the practice of law. Last summer was the most enjoyable work experience I've ever had. Don't write off being a lawyer just yet.

[Veyron]

OP here. thanks to everyone for the encouragement and advice. it is really reassuring to hear that liking law school isn't a prerequisite for liking your legal career.

Most schools will let you choose all (or the vast majority) of your 2L and 3L classes, correct? Are these classes a good way to find a passion within the law?

I wish there was a lemming.gif

OP here.

as a side note, your activity on this forum makes me SO glad that I chose not to go to Penn.

does anyone have a productive answer to my question?

On the flip side, I came to Penn because it was the only school I visited where people didn't hate the law. Different strokes.

[romothesavior]

On the flip side, I came to Penn because it was the only school I visited where people didn't hate the law. Different strokes.

Why are you such an insufferable jackass?

OP, from what I hear (and I'm just a 1L so I'm no expert), classes can give you a bit of a glimpse of the areas of practice, but they are no substitute for actually working in it to figure out what you like. As you well know, a lot of what makes a class enjoyable or not enjoyable is the professor, so you may hate a class and love the field and vice-versa.

The general consensus among people I've spoken with is that even if you think you know what a particular field is all about going in, that perception could be drastically different than reality based on the firm you end up at and the work you do. I think the best thing for you to do is find a job this summer that you think you'll enjoy, and talk to some different attorneys about what they like/dislike about their jobs.

[worldtraveler]

If you liked LRW, you're probably fine. You'll spend a substantial amount of your time doing similar tasks in a lot of legal positions. Really, I don't think you have much to worry about.

[Drake014]

there aren't any causes that i care about. i don't want to help people... i'm not interested in money, prestige, etc. - i'm interested in being happy and i'm definitely not happy in law school.

WTF makes you happy?

Your question is legitimate but I'm curious, what do people like you get up in the morning for?

[Veyron]

there aren't any causes that i care about. i don't want to help people... i'm not interested in money, prestige, etc. - i'm interested in being happy and i'm definitely not happy in law school.

WTF makes you happy?

Your question is legitimate but I'm curious, what do people like you get up in the morning for?

ITT, we find that Drake014's universal translator is capable of rendering Veyron into Tactful.

[D. H2Oman]

If you liked LRW, you're probably fine. You'll spend a substantial amount of your time doing similar tasks in a lot of legal positions. Really, I don't think you have much to worry about.

.....what if you....hate lrw....