Careers outside of law

[Mickey Quicknumbers]

POTUS

26/43 presidents have been lawyers

Good luck aiming for that though

Interestingly, this seems to apply for Democrats more than Republicans.

Obama & Biden, Kerry & Edwards, Clinton, Lieberman, Dukakis & Bentsen, Mondale & Ferraro, were all JDs. And Gore went to Vandy for 2 years but ran for the House before graduating. All together, every nominee Democrat for Pres/VP went to law school since 1984. And the top 3 finishers in the 2008 primary were all JDs.

Meanwhile, McCain & Palin, Bush & Cheney, Dole & Kemp, Bush & Quayle, and Reagan, pretty sure none were JDs (though there are other advanced degrees - Cheney had an MA, Bush was an MBA). [Edit - Also, of the top 6 finishers for the GOP in 2008, only Romney, Rudy and Fred had JDs and the latter two did pretty miserably.] The Democrats tend to pick politicians and lawyers; Republicans apparently like to pick war heroes, athletes and business people (I guess Sarah Palin is an athlete? she sort of breaks the rule).

It sort of flips around 1976. Ford and Nixon were both JDs; Carter, McGovern and Humphrey weren't.

Shoot. Time for me to switch political parties ASAP

[Snooker]

I think law school will make you actually less intelligent than when you came in, and maybe even a worse writer. But as a bonus, you will know a lot about the law.

We're constantly being bombarded with bad writing and bad reasoning. Law students are not taught about how to make rational decisions; the tendency in the industry seems to be towards paranoia and perfectionism. It does put you in position to enter a good career where you can do something very significant, though.

[Posner]

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[underachiever]

Law school teaches you think critically, and argue points by using the facts and reasoning that best suit you. I think these are helpful life skills that extend beyond the legal profession. Of course, you get what you put into law school, and you need to have professors, classes or internships that stimulate you.

That is the key to why people will hire JDs outside of being a lawyer, esp. if you go to a great school and get good grades. Accordingly it could be employers think you are just smart...i.e. why wall street for years would hire Princeton UGs with Art History and other useless majors b/c they figured these people were just smart and could learn a new skill and be good at it.