So why are you going to law school?

[MTal]

You are all doomed.

[firemed]

You are all doomed.

And you have racked up an impressive record of having almost 90% useless or idiotic posts.

[nphsbuckeye]

To accompany a business career.

[Bildungsroman]

You are all doomed.

Still bitter?

[TheFactor]

You are all doomed.

get a life bro

[Kimchi_smile]

I think the study of law helps one to understand how a country operates. A law degree is a requirement to become a judge or a lawyer and these days many politicians have it. Being a lawyer or a judge has a huge prestige and social status to it. Main three reasons that I'm going to law school.

[westinghouse60]

If one wishes to study law, one must attend law school. Hypothetical Imperative?

[FantasticMrFox]

Because this career finder thing we did in elementary school said I should be a lawyer!!

[downing]

Here's a relatively serious answer:

I left America a few years ago to see the world and teach English (in Korea). Everything about my life was mediocre for awhile: pay was okay, perks weren't bad, co-workers were cool, and I had some free time to spend on my hobbies. And I'm happy to say I didn't fall into the negative stereotype of what constitutes a typical teacher of ESL living abroad (drinking constantly, lacking any and all ambition, and a few other things). I didn't like teaching, and knew that going in, but I was able to find a balance between my likes and dislikes, and came to appreciate certain aspect of teaching - seeing your students make real gains with English, even the youngest ones, can be quite a fulfilling experience, though it's hardly an everyday kind of occurrence - so I can look back with a smile.

Still, when it's time to move on, it's time, and I feel like I'll be able to make this dramatic return to the academic world (though obviously one very different from anything I've ever known) without regretting what I could have done. That, and I spent over a year just thinking about different routes to take: I considered returning to undergrad to study engineering or comp sci; I considered a post baccalaureate program for the taking on of a Pharm.D. and other less conventional possibilities. My decision certainly wasn't an impulsive move to say the least, and after all I've learned about the current state of the legal market, it's a move worth giving a lot of thought to.

There's only so much you can know before entering law school, of course, so I try to swallow what facts and opinions I find on the net and on this forum with a grain of salt, especially those from other 0Ls. That being said, I view law school as a gamble, and it's a leap of faith that's going to require a substantial amount of hard work: I'll be gambling on the hope that I'll be able to receive job opportunities that will allow me to pay off the debt I'm going to accrue as a student, and I'm gambling on the hope that, more specifically, I'll be able to find the law an interest and worthwhile area to devote many years of my life too.

Because each person is a very different case, there will a large amount of uncertainty when taking this plunge, and accepting the fact of this uncertainty with the willingness to sacrifice much of what we now have for an envisioned reality we just might be able to grasp someday, is a risk many people on this forum are dealing with. (excepting those with full scholarships or the lucky few who had the scores and ample experience to land in the very top schools - the risk I speak of is probably less for a HYS grad than a future grad from UConn Law (myself, hopefully))

[Kimchi_smile]

Here's a relatively serious answer:

I left America a few years ago to see the world and teach English (in Korea). Everything about my life was mediocre for awhile: pay was okay, perks weren't bad, co-workers were cool, and I had some free time to spend on my hobbies. And I'm happy to say I didn't fall into the negative stereotype of what constitutes a typical teacher of ESL living abroad (drinking constantly, lacking any and all ambition, and a few other things). I didn't like teaching, and knew that going in, but I was able to find a balance between my likes and dislikes, and came to appreciate certain aspect of teaching - seeing your students make real gains with English, even the youngest ones, can be quite a fulfilling experience, though it's hardly an everyday kind of occurrence - so I can look back with a smile.

It's interesting that teaching English in Korea led you to consider the law seriously! You definitely had a lot of fun. Koreans love drinking and BBQ with English-speaking foreigners. Good luck with law school and the legal profession!

[Jack Smirks]

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More like:

[minnbills]

Well, there are the obvious reasons that I think most of us share; I think I would be good at it and I'm interested in the law. In addition, as with many others, there is the hope of finding a remunerative career.

More personally and to invoke an ideal, I see many things in our society that I don't like. For one, I don't like the way the labor movement has been squashed, and am interested in fighting for laborers. The recent controversy in Wisconsin gets to the heart of what I'm talking about. There are other reasons as well. But in short, I think a career in law would give me an opportunity to do something worthwhile with my life, though I've always felt torn between the desire to do good and the desire to try and make a lot of money. If I choose the latter, I will probably follow in my aunt's footsteps and try and use my JD to move into a corporate management position, and maybe go back for an MBA down the road.

[bk1]

Because I have a track record of poor decisions and it would be a shame to stop now.

[Kimchi_smile]

Well, there are the obvious reasons that I think most of us share; I think I would be good at it and I'm interested in the law. In addition, as with many others, there is the hope of finding a remunerative career.

More personally and to invoke an ideal, I see many things in our society that I don't like. For one, I don't like the way the labor movement has been squashed, and am interested in fighting for laborers. The recent controversy in Wisconsin gets to the heart of what I'm talking about. There are other reasons as well. But in short, I think a career in law would give me an opportunity to do something worthwhile with my life, though I've always felt torn between the desire to do good and the desire to try and make a lot of money. If I choose the latter, I will probably follow in my aunt's footsteps and try and use my JD to move into a corporate management position, and maybe go back for an MBA down the road.

These two are probably not mutually exclusive!

[ahduth]

Because I have a track record of poor decisions and it would be a shame to stop now.

lol +1

[ebo]

Back to the which-field-of-medicine-would-be-the-most-disgusting: what about proctology?

[AlabamaIceman]

After some soul-searching on my part, I can say with some confidence that I do actually want to practice law, the law intrigues me, and I want to know more about it. Ergo, I wish to attend law school and hopefully accomplish that and then move on to a job that pays well and satisfies my interest in the law, or at least one of the two.

And as for the "worst field of medicine" sidebar: gynecology. I mean, seriously, who WANTS to do that, knowing what the job actually entails?

[Moxie]

Serious question.

What motivated you? What do you want to do post-grad?

I like TLSers, I'm curious to know what brought you all to the same conclusion.

Your first mistake.

But in all seriousness, law offers an opportunity to address social injustices I saw growing up and I hope my legal education will help me improve myself and others.

[MTal]

After some soul-searching on my part, I can say with some confidence that I do actually want to practice law, the law intrigues me, and I want to know more about it. Ergo, I wish to attend law school and hopefully accomplish that and then move on to a job that pays well and satisfies my interest in the law, or at least one of the two.

And as for the "worst field of medicine" sidebar: gynecology. I mean, seriously, who WANTS to do that, knowing what the job actually entails?

I wonder if your "soul searching" included a week long shadowing of a run of the mill shitlaw lawyer.

[FantasticMrFox]

Back to the which-field-of-medicine-would-be-the-most-disgusting: what about proctology?

I used to want to become a pathologist but that was before I actually found out what they did (this was in middle school-I had to do a project on what we wanted to be)

[arvcondor]

You are all doomed.

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[niederbomb]

@yngblkgifted: I'd take 80 hours behind a desk over 80 hours with sick/crazy people any day.

Considering the disparity in income between the average doctor and the average lawyer, that would be economically stupid.

There are a lot of crappy law schools while most medicals schools are pretty good.

If one only looked at law schools with admissions standards (GPA and entrance exam percentiles) similar to those of medical schools, the disparity might not be as high.

I'm going to law school because I can do so without debt to a T20, I get the college experience I never had, and my History degree from McShit Christian University qualifies me to teach and not much else. Even landing a "shitlaw" job would be perfectly fine (a little disappointing but not disastrous). If anyone should go to law school, it's me.

[monarchylover]

for the drugs and prostitutes

[510Chicken]

I'm going to law school because I can do so without debt to a T20, I get the college experience I never had, and my History degree from McShit Christian University qualifies me to teach and not much else. Even landing a "shitlaw" job would be perfectly fine (a little disappointing but not disastrous). If anyone should go to law school, it's me.

I think your avatar matches these sentiments pretty well...

[crossarmant]

I'm going because I thoroughly enjoy the work. I've done work within large corporate legal depts and also interned with a sole practitioner who did law guardian, family, and criminal work and enjoyed all of it. For me, the legal profession is interesting and the ideas behind the legal system are intriguing. Law is like the life blood of society, regulating everything to where it needs to be to make things function the best they can and attempt to ensure justice to all within the best of our capabilities.

For me, I started undergrad wanting to be a clinical psychologist but as I progressed in Psychology I began to feel like psychologists did very close to nothing and it was too touchy-feely for me. Being an attorney is being the concrete problem solver that a psychologist never could be. I enjoy all aspects of it and I feel that there is such dissatisfaction in the profession because you get way too many mooks with good grades and liberal arts degrees who don't know what else to do; then actually hate the work involved.