Bombarded with People Saying "Don't do it!" Forum

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[prezidentv8]

various nonsensical screeds

good lord. I'm not even going to get into the details here, but even assuming all of your bizarro assumptions about (several large groups of people) are accurate, I'd like to point out (1) that it's still pretty tough to get even the crappiest do-gooder legal job out of law school these days and (2) that you still need to feed yourself and pay your bills assuming you can get one of those jobs.

also consider: There are reasons why knowledgeable people are saying "Don't do it."

also consider: People going to law school with a desire to help [people generally or some particular subgroup of people, or animals, or the environment, or free speech, or whatever] are not uncommon at all.



but the real reason I'm here: tagging this thread for the inevitable lulz.

[baal hadad]

The responses here actually provided me with some comfort and encouragement about my decision to pursue law.

Based on my research and personal experiences, I arrived at the conclusion that I wanted to practice law a long time ago.
For me, a legal career isn't about capitalizing on the American dream of status and prestige...nor is it about delusions of grandeur, or seeking an elevated social status that will compensate for my personal insecurity and shortcomings.

So what is it about for you?

Obtaining the means and influence to [hopefully] have a positive impact on people's lives.

As I mentioned earlier, I have dealt with depression for most of my life. I have also changed locations and living circumstances throughout my life. I've lived in the suburbs of Hawaii, a city in Japan, a college town in Germany, and I've been pretty much dead broke in no-where Indiana. In high school, I was a religious prude...in college, I was a hippie party girl. What I've learned through these experiences is that, for the most part, external factors rarely have a significant impact on one's overall happiness in life. I've been severely depressed in life circumstances that most people would assume would bring a person immense joy.
Any person who buys into the lie that money, prestige, and status bring happiness and fulfillment is terribly naive, and probably has had very little real world experiences. If a person is choosing a life path based on society's concept of success, or because they think it will make others respect and admire them...they are pretty much screwed.

I transferred from a small satellite school on a military post in Japan, to one of the top universities in the country. I thought I would encounter people with unmatched intelligence, passion, etc. But instead, I was met with a bunch of entitled, superficial, neurotic people who were driven to achieve financial success merely because it had been drilled into them at a young age.
They weren't happy. I met more alcoholics and pill poppers than I did people who truly had a passion for what they were studying. For most of them, it was about living up to the ridiculous expectations of their cold, strict parents. I'm thankful I had the opportunity to receive a great education...but I'm also thankful I had the opportunity to see that the "upper class" aren't any happier than the rest of us.

In my opinion and based on my personal experience, happiness and fulfillment comes from having self-confidence (which has to be cultivated introspectively...depending on external factors like prestige and the opinions of others cannot sustain a positive/healthy self-image), healthy and satisfying relationships with friends and family, and being able to do something you enjoy and are passionate about. I enjoy writing, research, debate, philosophy, legal history, and being an advocate for others.
As a black female, I feel I have a perspective that has afforded me unique insight and motivation when it comes to helping subjugated social groups.

But at the same time, I don't expect to change the world. I also don't expect for my career to be the central source of meaning and happiness in my life.

This is so dumb

Hope by "positively impacting people's lives" you mean suing and defending corporations and other legal entities bc thats most of private practice duder

Also if you already struggle with depression law school is not for you considering that something like 1/3 law students leave law school with depression

You seem like a decent if misinformed person and I wouldn't want you to put one through the back of your skull kid

[prezidentv8]

Also if you already struggle with depression law school is not for you considering that something like 1/3 law students leave law school with depression

You seem like a decent if misinformed person

Yeah I mean, look -- in all seriousness, OP, I think you just need to take a step back and reevaluate in light of, really, some pretty well-publicized facts about where the legal industry is and what lawyers do. Maybe someone proposed this already, but heck, I didn't read the whole thread: Why not try to get a job as a paralegal/legal assistant/file clerk/secretary for a PD office, Legal Aid, some policy-oriented org, or just some random legal office you think sounds interesting? That's probably going to be the best way to find out for yourself what all this is about.

[ashca2014]

Drop the holier than thou attitude.
You took your diagnostic a few days ago.

And?

It's tactless.

If you or others perceive me as having a "holier than thou" attitude...not my problem.

Who wouldn't perceive that given your posts on this page?

I'm not claiming to be some martyr, or self-sacrificing Mother Teresa. I'm pursuing fulfillment and career satisfaction just like everyone else...I just have my own definition of what it is.

Cool. That isn't what I'm criticizing.
You're making inaccurate sweeping generalizations of others in order to prop yourself up as a better person. Citing the size of a man's anatomy for all the ills you perceive in the legal field/world is a bit much. You're making value judgements about people you don't know.
Also, know your audience. Many posters here are white males who are in biglaw/want biglaw. This isn't how you make friends and influence people.

I responded to the questions posed to me by other members, I was mostly being facetious in terms of the hopes/dreams/desires of the average law student who wants biglaw. My humblest apologies to anyone who took personal offense to my remark about penis size...I was unaware it was a touchy subject here, and will definitely avoid it in the future.

[ashca2014]

I'm well-aware of the fact that I'm coming across like a doe-eyed dreamer. I also know that there is a chance that actually being in law school will alter my future ambitions, or that they may not come to fruition. I have a close friend whose mother entered law school a free-spirited, big-hearted hippie...now she's an alcoholic corporate lawyer who never goes anywhere without a bottle of Xanax. I get it...law can suck. But I still want to practice law. If I don't up as a "do-gooder," I will ultimately still get the opportunity to do that.

As far as the depression...that has been part of my life since my early teens. If I graduate law school feeling depressed, I'm not going lie awake at night wondering what that soul crushing feeling is and where it came from. The depression isn't going away regardless of what I do...so I'm not worried about it.

[kjartan]

OP, you sound kind of dumb.

[ashca2014]

OP, you sound kind of dumb.

*sniffle-sniffle*

[kjartan]

OP, you sound kind of dumb.

*sniffle-sniffle*

cute tar, tho.

[ashca2014]

OP, you sound kind of dumb.

*sniffle-sniffle*

cute tar, tho.

Thanks. I chose it with the intention of soothing the nerves of members who become incensed when I make small-dick jabs.

[kjartan]

OP, you sound kind of dumb.

*sniffle-sniffle*

cute tar, tho.

Thanks. I chose it with the intention of soothing the nerves of members who become incensed when I make small-dick jabs.

It's a bit small, you should re-size it.

[ashca2014]

It's a bit small, you should re-size it.

That's what she said.

[kjartan]

It's a bit small, you should re-size it.

That's what she said.

QED, I guess

[omegaweapon]

Look, I'm a lefty-liberal who's going to be attending law school in the fall, and would ultimately prefer not to do biglaw (although I'm more willing to do it for a few years if I have to than you are). I also think you're being a real asshole to the biglaw people here. People don't want money to roll around in as a general rule. They want money so that they can provide a decent lifestyle for their family, and let their children do what they want with their lives. Contrary to the jokes on this forum, 160k (90k after tax) + paying off 150k of debt isn't enough for models or bottles, much less both.

The vast majority of lawyers are liberal, and a strong majority go in to law school saying they won't consider working for big firms. The vast majority of people who can get big firms ultimately take them, because the big firms actually hire people. Working as a PD or with a non-profit is a life of uncertainty, where overwhelming qualified people aren't hired because there simply aren't enough spots for them.

Your claim that the reason poor people are underserved is because lawyers would rather make money than help people would seem more plausible if there weren't frequently hundreds of applications for single PD positions.

[ashca2014]

Look, I'm a lefty-liberal who's going to be attending law school in the fall, and would ultimately prefer not to do biglaw (although I'm more willing to do it for a few years if I have to than you are). I also think you're being a real asshole to the biglaw people here. People don't want money to roll around in as a general rule. They want money so that they can provide a decent lifestyle for their family, and let their children do what they want with their lives. Contrary to the jokes on this forum, 160k (90k after tax) + paying off 150k of debt isn't enough for models or bottles, much less both.

The vast majority of lawyers are liberal, and a strong majority go in to law school saying they won't consider working for big firms. The vast majority of people who can get big firms ultimately take them, because the big firms actually hire people. Working as a PD or with a non-profit is a life of uncertainty, where overwhelming qualified people aren't hired because there simply aren't enough spots for them.

Your claim that the reason poor people are underserved is because lawyers would rather make money than help people would seem more plausible if there weren't frequently hundreds of applications for single PD positions.

I was mostly being facetious in terms of the hopes/dreams/desires of the average law student who wants biglaw.

[baal hadad]

Look, I'm a lefty-liberal who's going to be attending law school in the fall, and would ultimately prefer not to do biglaw (although I'm more willing to do it for a few years if I have to than you are). I also think you're being a real asshole to the biglaw people here. People don't want money to roll around in as a general rule. They want money so that they can provide a decent lifestyle for their family, and let their children do what they want with their lives. Contrary to the jokes on this forum, 160k (90k after tax) + paying off 150k of debt isn't enough for models or bottles, much less both.

The vast majority of lawyers are liberal, and a strong majority go in to law school saying they won't consider working for big firms. The vast majority of people who can get big firms ultimately take them, because the big firms actually hire people. Working as a PD or with a non-profit is a life of uncertainty, where overwhelming qualified people aren't hired because there simply aren't enough spots for them.

Your claim that the reason poor people are underserved is because lawyers would rather make money than help people would seem more plausible if there weren't frequently hundreds of applications for single PD positions.

I was mostly being facetious in terms of the hopes/dreams/desires of the average law student who wants biglaw.

"Lolitrollu"

[ashca2014]

Look, I'm a lefty-liberal who's going to be attending law school in the fall, and would ultimately prefer not to do biglaw (although I'm more willing to do it for a few years if I have to than you are). I also think you're being a real asshole to the biglaw people here. People don't want money to roll around in as a general rule. They want money so that they can provide a decent lifestyle for their family, and let their children do what they want with their lives. Contrary to the jokes on this forum, 160k (90k after tax) + paying off 150k of debt isn't enough for models or bottles, much less both.

The vast majority of lawyers are liberal, and a strong majority go in to law school saying they won't consider working for big firms. The vast majority of people who can get big firms ultimately take them, because the big firms actually hire people. Working as a PD or with a non-profit is a life of uncertainty, where overwhelming qualified people aren't hired because there simply aren't enough spots for them.

Your claim that the reason poor people are underserved is because lawyers would rather make money than help people would seem more plausible if there weren't frequently hundreds of applications for single PD positions.

I was mostly being facetious in terms of the hopes/dreams/desires of the average law student who wants biglaw.

"Lolitrollu"

Nah, I just genuinely misjudged how sensitive some dudes are about their nether regions.

[A. Nony Mouse]

Nah, I just genuinely misjudged how sensitive some dudes are about their nether regions.

I don't think people are sensitive about it, they just thought it was a dumb argument.

[fats provolone]

ashca are you super attractive by any chance?

[pancakes3]

ashca are you super attractive by any chance?

A super attractive girl wouldn't bother to engage to this degree.

[romothesavior]

I would say this thread has run its course.