Am I too old for law school? Forum

[whatdidshesay]

Hey guys.

I have a bit of a non-traditional background. I'm 28 and I am just about to complete a B.A. in Italian language and culture with the equivalent of a 4.0. (Italian university). It took me so long because at 19, I moved to another country and started my own business. By profession I am a translator and I also own a boutique consulting firm in a semi-legal industry; through my job I have come to love working with legal documents and I soak up everything that has to do with law, especially intellectual property (my translation work has allowed me to see the inner workings of the IP departments of BigLaw firms working with some very well-known fashion houses. I got to translate all the casework for a very high profile trademark infringement lawsuit that some of you might have heard of in the fashion industry), but I digress.

I am currently living outside the U.S. and am wondering if my age will hinder me at all in finding a job back home in NY. I want to work in corporate law and/or IP law. I have one of two plans:

1. Stay in Italy for 2 more years and obtain an M.Sc. in European Comparative Law (truth be told, I just like living here and want to savor it a little longer, while possibly learning more about EU law). This means I would be 31 by the time I apply to law school and 34 by the time I graduate.

or

2. Just come home to NY as soon as I graduate and try to apply to law school at 29, leaving me 31 by the time I graduate.

[TLSModBot]

No.

[whatdidshesay]

Hahah. You are nothing if not direct.

Is the "no" to both of the above scenarios? Whether I graduate at 31 or 34?

[Stardust84]

Option 1 because that is clearly what you would rather do. You could end up having a 30+ year law career, what significant difference is it going to make to you if you graduate at 31 vs 34 in the long run?

[whatdidshesay]

I'm just concerned because I've been reading this forum for a long time, and people on here say that if you want to work in corporate law, you want to go into BigLaw (I could be wrong, and I hope I am!), but that BigLaw doesn't hire "older" applicants.

I'm not betting on BigLaw because it's unrealistic to even get in, but the kind of stuff I'm interested in seems to be handled only by big firms. Am I wrong?

[lymenheimer]

I'm just concerned because I've been reading this forum for a long time, and people on here say that if you want to work in corporate law, you want to go into BigLaw (I could be wrong, and I hope I am!), but that BigLaw doesn't hire "older" applicants.

I'm not betting on BigLaw because it's unrealistic to even get in, but the kind of stuff I'm interested in seems to be handled only by big firms. Am I wrong?

Who says biglaw doesn't hire older applicants?

[whatdidshesay]

There are a bunch of old threads here (I googled this for hours...) where almost everyone says "age isn't a factor except in BigLaw!"

Then again, they can't really ask you your age at the OCIs, right? If you graduated UG a year before entering law school, they'd never know...

[Stardust84]

Yes but I think in this context of big law 34 is not old, rather a 34 year old is more likely to have attachments like a spouse and kids etc, that makes them less suited to 70 hour weeks.

Besides, you have maturity on your side. You can be counted on to interact with clients and coworkers in a professional manner given your experience.

[A. Nony Mouse]

I don't think it becomes an issue for biglaw until older than you are (to the extent it is an issue). I was an older student (older than you) and I know lots of people in biglaw in their 30s. Pushing 40-50 may be a little more difficult.

I do think there are some employers who like shiny new young malleable applicants, but I think that's firm-specific rather than all of biglaw.

[xxxman]

Let's put it this way. I graduated just a few years ago and knew students who were telling me what it was like back in segregation........so...........you should be fine.

[Rigo]

No. Your WE will give you a leg up compared to k-jd's.

[Londonbear]

Agreed. I'll be 30+ when I graduate. When I did OCI, age didn't seem like a negative factor at all. I actually think my work experience made up for my lackluster grades.

[Mr. Archer]

I went to school with someone who started at 41 and another who started mid-30s and will move on to big law after a clerkship. Starting in your 30s won't hurt you. Just enjoy being in Europe. If I were in your shoes, I don't even think I would get the extra degree unless I wanted to do some sort of international work after school.

[malleus discentium]

I don't entirely know how it works, but could you get a law degree in Europe and then do an LLM here? That would cut off two years. I think practicing in NY with an LLM is not usually a problem.

[Br3v]

Didn't read but

No.

[seashell.economy]

Do you look your age? Or younger/older? I don't see many people talking about this factor in these age-threads. Since employers cannot ask you your age during an interview, if you look young it might not even matter. Unless you somehow give away how old you are : )

[PoopyPants]

Do you look your age? Or younger/older? I don't see many people talking about this factor in these age-threads. Since employers cannot ask you your age during an interview, if you look young it might not even matter. Unless you somehow give away how old you are : )

It doesn't matter anyway. In fact, having work/life experience will help you. Being older might hurt you if you're significantly older (40-50+) and gunning for biglaw. Otherwise, don't worry about it.

[heythatslife]

I don't entirely know how it works, but could you get a law degree in Europe and then do an LLM here? That would cut off two years. I think practicing in NY with an LLM is not usually a problem.

Sitting for the NY bar is not a problem, but getting a job may be.

About that master's degree, go for it if you want to do it but you should understand that you're unlikely to derive significant benefits from it, either from admissions standpoint or for biglaw employment.

[spyke123]

I agree with everyone that if you want to delay law school, you should def stay longer in EU because getting biglaw won't be a problem (I have seen people in mid 30s getting biglaw no problem). But I want to echo above poster's comment that getting that masters degree won't really help you and it seems like you already have good WE so I don't really think spending another 2 years getting more WE will help you much either (in terms of biglaw and law school admission). That said, if I were in your position and know I want to go to law school, I rather just come back and enroll in law school asap because you aren't getting any younger, especially if you will be taking on debt to go to law school (I wouldn't want to be 200k in debt in my late 30s). You can always go back to EU later, or even work in EU after graduation.

[xxxman]

Do you look your age? Or younger/older? I don't see many people talking about this factor in these age-threads. Since employers cannot ask you your age during an interview, if you look young it might not even matter. Unless you somehow give away how old you are : )

DOB, they can and do ask on applications
and even if we're talking raw resume stage........you list your education and work history. It doesn't take rocket science math skills.

[kartelite]

DOB, they can and do ask on applications
and even if we're talking raw resume stage........you list your education and work history. It doesn't take rocket science math skills.

Maybe that's generally the case, but the OP is 28 and hasn't yet finished his/her BA, so I don't think it will be totally obvious that he/she may be pushing mid-30s at time of graduation, even with self-employed work history.

[RaceJudicata]

No, but before we all put the cart before the horse... what is your LSAT score?

[seashell.economy]

Do you look your age? Or younger/older? I don't see many people talking about this factor in these age-threads. Since employers cannot ask you your age during an interview, if you look young it might not even matter. Unless you somehow give away how old you are : )

DOB, they can and do ask on applications
and even if we're talking raw resume stage........you list your education and work history. It doesn't take rocket science math skills.

I just haven't seen DOB on an application before (I think). Wouldn't that conflict w/ laws stating employers cannot ask your age?
I think since OP is still set to graduate that even if they listed their UG grad date on their resume (do you even have to do this?) people could assume they were traditional age. Maybe it could work if you also only had relevant jobs to list for the last 5-ish years. And if you also look mid-20s. That's what I'm banking on, lol

[xxxman]

Do you look your age? Or younger/older? I don't see many people talking about this factor in these age-threads. Since employers cannot ask you your age during an interview, if you look young it might not even matter. Unless you somehow give away how old you are : )

DOB, they can and do ask on applications
and even if we're talking raw resume stage........you list your education and work history. It doesn't take rocket science math skills.

I just haven't seen DOB on an application before (I think). Wouldn't that conflict w/ laws stating employers cannot ask your age?
I think since OP is still set to graduate that even if they listed their UG grad date on their resume (do you even have to do this?) people could assume they were traditional age. Maybe it could work if you also only had relevant jobs to list for the last 5-ish years. And if you also look mid-20s. That's what I'm banking on, lol

Its safe to say that most (if not all) jobs end up asking that question, if nothing else guised as a need for taxes, background checks, whatever (show your state ID to prove who you are,etc) . Albeit some interviews are done after pretty much just the resume (thus the second half of my post) but its only an issue if you are trying to be prejudice against people over 40 and its not for job specific requirements. There are jobs that 100% can and do prejudice older people and are allowed to do it, but its more common to see vice versa since youth isn't protected (must be 55 at least to apply type jobs, housing, etc) But in short, yeah, people ask DOB for the vast majority of jobs. A lot of job applications require even high school listed too (albeit these are more often the lareger corporations with standard forms and govt jobs) And you can pretty much bank on any job that asks "do you have a felony" to give your DOB so they can run a check.

But all that aside, I wouldn't even encourage OP to worry about how they old they look. Some places like to have people who "look like they have more experience" (even if they don't). I did some probono work at a clinic that focuses mostly of the elderly. They played nice with younger looking people but made it pretty clear by their physical reactions that they felt more comfortable around people who looked "more mature".

[lawat43]

I don't think your too old, but I'm 43 and hoping to be starting school in the fall. I don't plan on going into big law though. I have talked to a couple of admin offices of where I would like to go. I brought up my age and they say that having applicants in their 30's and 40's has been increasing. One school said they have someone in their 70's attending!