Advice for Law and Politics Path Forum

[The Lsat Airbender]

You keep mentioning HYS/SCOTUS clerks like this is some kind of realistic outcome for lawyers (also, are that many SCOTUS clerks actually politicians?

Makes no sense to me either. It's like saying you should join the military to get into politics (another 20th-century trend that was true, until it wasn't) because a Medal of Honor would be a great campaign theme. Yeah, of course it would be helpful, but it's such a tiny slice of probability pie that it's not a good reason to enlist the the Navy lmao.

[LBJ's Hair]

Everyone is overcomplicating this. An HYS degree is NOT gonna make Joe Schmo K-JD a Senator. That's utterly ridiculous.

BUT, elite law schools (and elite clerkships and elite law firms) are good places to make connections. That's helpful if you're going into politics.

So, if you're already the sort of person who can become a Senator when you enter law school--because you have friends/family/former colleagues swamped up in the Democratic or Republican Parties, because you're wealthy, because you're an exceptional person with deep ties to a parochial state--getting a Harvard JD, clerking for a well-known judge, and making some contacts is probably helpful.

Anyone who has been to a fancy law school knows a few people trying this. And it'd be crazy for *us* gun for it--we don't know anyone. We just have a JD. But it's not for *them*.

Like, it would be completely ridiculous for me to say "I want to be a federal judge." That's as likely as me becoming an astronaut. But I have *told* acquaintances "you know, you could probably be a District of X judge before you're 45" and they've said "Oh, I know."

(To OP and others: If you don't know if you're that person, you're probably not.)

[nixy]

So, if you're already the sort of person who can become a Senator when you enter law school--because you have friends/family/former colleagues swamped up in the Democratic or Republican Parties, because you're wealthy, because you're an exceptional person with deep ties to a parochial state--getting a Harvard JD, clerking for a well-known judge, and making some contacts is probably helpful.

This is all fair, but is pretty much what I was trying to get at. That same person could also probably get pretty much the same boost by getting an MBA from Harvard and going the “get rich [or at least go into business] and meet lots of rich people” route - it’s the elite name and connections, but not the JD per se. (I don’t know that there’s an equivalent to clerking, but I’m not sure that clerking is especially instrumental on its own, as opposed to just another route for making connections.)

[Hununu]

If it sounds intellectually riveting and enthralling to you to study how the architectural barrier act has worked with fair housing guidelines on elevators and disability access to lifts, then by all means do it! One of my best friends from law school loves this stuff and he really wants to work on helping certain groups come in compliance. He will keep writing legal articles on the issue and works in the area; he gives talks to politicians and agencies on the matter, and I'm sure one day will have a tangible effect on the community.

Your whole response was really helpful. Thank you especially for this anecdote. I think your friend has the kind of career I want, but I know I will struggle with picking a narrow practice area.
May I ask (if you know) how your friend got to his specialty? Is his practice narrowly focused on just architectural barrier act vis-à-vis fair housing? As compared to say, ADA compliance in fair housing, or architectural ADA compliance?

[crazywafflez]

If it sounds intellectually riveting and enthralling to you to study how the architectural barrier act has worked with fair housing guidelines on elevators and disability access to lifts, then by all means do it! One of my best friends from law school loves this stuff and he really wants to work on helping certain groups come in compliance. He will keep writing legal articles on the issue and works in the area; he gives talks to politicians and agencies on the matter, and I'm sure one day will have a tangible effect on the community.

Your whole response was really helpful. Thank you especially for this anecdote. I think your friend has the kind of career I want, but I know I will struggle with picking a narrow practice area.
May I ask (if you know) how your friend got to his specialty? Is his practice narrowly focused on just architectural barrier act vis-à-vis fair housing? As compared to say, ADA compliance in fair housing, or architectural ADA compliance?

No problem, our goal here is to help folks! Even if it sometimes doesn't come off the best way, hah.
During law school my buddy was with a small plaintiffs side shop in a smallish city/big town in the southeast (think Chattanooga/Lake Charles/Clarksville) that was kinda a catch-all firm. He also split time with the AGs in the city we went to law school in. He was on LR and wrote a comment on the ABA, and then did some research for a prof on fair housing in general. He isn't really consulting any govt on this or anything- he is with the small shop he worked with during law school and heavily focuses his suits on these places and has published another piece on it somewhere I think? His hope is to be an expert in the area and teach on it and consult folks (his boss in the small firm he works at helps advise the local govt on some stuff but I'm not sure all that it entails).
I will say, a lot of times you just kinda get thrust into something. One guy at my firm a few years ahead of me just became friends with the attorneys in charge of estate planning and they liked him and gave him a lot of work- now that's what he does.
Whereas, I kinda came into my firm with some publications and xp on first amendment issues, and the few cases we get on that stuff they assign to me or at least bring me in on the project.