Help Me Help My Struggling LS Friend - Career Options Edition!
Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2020 1:08 am
I have a friend (and I know that's almost always a lie, but this is actually about a friend) from LS who is facing what I think is a fairly difficult set of circumstances withe regard to their future career. I'd like to know what advice I can or should be giving them as they come to a sort of decision point.
BACKGROUND:
My friend and I entered LS together at a low T1 a few years ago. They came out of college with quite good grades, but that didn't really bear out in law school. Their LS grades were not ever great (bottom half of class), but they are an intelligent person overall-- the poor grades were almost entirely due to their difficulties with timed, closed-book testing.
During law school, their summer employment options were pretty limited. They worked as a research assistant for a professor and interned with a local judge, but that was about it.
We were on track to graduate the same year (2019) and in fact walked on stage at the same graduation, but they had one class left to go to complete the JD. They were meant to finish that class, an independent study to fulfill a writing requirement, remotely either over the summer semester or the following fall semester. Unfortunately, that summer, they had a close family member become very ill and ultimately pass. They spent a lot of time caring for this family member, and then a lot of time grieving, and the summer and fall semesters both went by without them completing the class.
Thereafter, their mental health took a pretty bad dive due mostly to a long-term romantic relationship ending. They were sort of working on the class requirements, but not with a lot of tangible results. Although I think they've gotten over the breakup now, their mental health is still not fantastic, and even though they're quite close to finishing the paper enough to turn it in (from what I understand, the school is being quite accommodating)... it has not happened yet. That brings us up to current.
THE PART WITH THE QUESTION
Presuming my friend does complete this class and get their JD, what sort of options can I present to them if and when they ask for my advice on their future?
If they don't want to take the bar, or attempt it and cannot pass (a possibility, due to the aforementioned testing difficulties), what kind of JD-preferred careers exist out there for them to look into?
If they do take and pass the bar (another kettle of fish entirely, although I can be of some help with study strategies and courses since I've done it already myself), how can they explain the massive gap in their education? I know they should list their graduation date as when they received their JD, but looking at their transcript will reveal the gap. A death in the family? A personal health crisis? Just blame COVID?
I realize they've got a lot of factors working against them on their resume. What kind of experience do they need to get to smooth out some of those wrinkles or make them matter less (or how can they spin their deficits to make them sound better)?
Should they be trying to work at a public defender's office, or at a local personal injury shop, or as a legal assistant or clerk somewhere? Should they hang out a shingle and try to do family law?
They aren't necessarily extremely ambitious, but I know they do eventually want to be self-sufficient and pay their own bills, because they've been relying on family support all this time.
What advice can I give to help them move in a positive direction?
BACKGROUND:
My friend and I entered LS together at a low T1 a few years ago. They came out of college with quite good grades, but that didn't really bear out in law school. Their LS grades were not ever great (bottom half of class), but they are an intelligent person overall-- the poor grades were almost entirely due to their difficulties with timed, closed-book testing.
During law school, their summer employment options were pretty limited. They worked as a research assistant for a professor and interned with a local judge, but that was about it.
We were on track to graduate the same year (2019) and in fact walked on stage at the same graduation, but they had one class left to go to complete the JD. They were meant to finish that class, an independent study to fulfill a writing requirement, remotely either over the summer semester or the following fall semester. Unfortunately, that summer, they had a close family member become very ill and ultimately pass. They spent a lot of time caring for this family member, and then a lot of time grieving, and the summer and fall semesters both went by without them completing the class.
Thereafter, their mental health took a pretty bad dive due mostly to a long-term romantic relationship ending. They were sort of working on the class requirements, but not with a lot of tangible results. Although I think they've gotten over the breakup now, their mental health is still not fantastic, and even though they're quite close to finishing the paper enough to turn it in (from what I understand, the school is being quite accommodating)... it has not happened yet. That brings us up to current.
THE PART WITH THE QUESTION
Presuming my friend does complete this class and get their JD, what sort of options can I present to them if and when they ask for my advice on their future?
If they don't want to take the bar, or attempt it and cannot pass (a possibility, due to the aforementioned testing difficulties), what kind of JD-preferred careers exist out there for them to look into?
If they do take and pass the bar (another kettle of fish entirely, although I can be of some help with study strategies and courses since I've done it already myself), how can they explain the massive gap in their education? I know they should list their graduation date as when they received their JD, but looking at their transcript will reveal the gap. A death in the family? A personal health crisis? Just blame COVID?
I realize they've got a lot of factors working against them on their resume. What kind of experience do they need to get to smooth out some of those wrinkles or make them matter less (or how can they spin their deficits to make them sound better)?
Should they be trying to work at a public defender's office, or at a local personal injury shop, or as a legal assistant or clerk somewhere? Should they hang out a shingle and try to do family law?
They aren't necessarily extremely ambitious, but I know they do eventually want to be self-sufficient and pay their own bills, because they've been relying on family support all this time.
What advice can I give to help them move in a positive direction?