You hit the nail on the head. No one is going to want to hire the OP because it does not seem like you are serious about the practice of law. Unless you have rich parents, and therefore money does not matter, do not do this plan. Do it before law school.Cleareyes wrote:I don't know for sure, but I think that you'd be in bad shape on both accounts. I don't think you can defer your loans to volunteer, just for future school, and not only do you miss the normal channels of school to employment but firms are going to ask why you decided, as a newly minted lawyer, to go build huts in Africa right away. It makes you look like you don't actually want to practice law, since if you did that's what you'd be doing (In a public interest venue most likely.)
This seems like a horrible plan.
If your goal is to give back to the less fortunate there are limitless ways of doing so with your law degree. If you were to work for an organization that gave free legal advice to those who could not afford it, then this would be an acceptable way of deferring another legal career path. Although I would still say it's not well thought out, since you would be better served (as would your clients) to do this later in your career once you are established and have some skills to share.
Unless you have rich parents and a law degree is just for fun, you are quite possibly making the worst mistake of your life by doing the peace corp for 2 years after law school unless you never intend to actually practice.
You say there are reasons behind this decision; share away, because I can't think of a single reason why this is a good idea.
Another final thought: the less fortunate will benefit more by you donating $20,000 of your paycheck per year than by you going and building mud huts in Africa. With that money, in many countries, they could hire at least a thirty labourers/teachers (with a generous salary). Non-profits need money more than volunteers, especially right now.
