Renzo wrote:Consider me in the anathema club. Any job or business that you "spring" into from law school could have been had by a more direct route. You get (good, desirable) non-law jobs in spite of a JD, not because of one.Lawquacious wrote:. Although it is anathema on here, law school can serve as an effective springboard for business and other careers.
Yeah, a more direct route like business school is clearly preferable for someone who knows for sure business is what they want to do, but from what I understand that has its post-graduation risks as well.
I disagree that good jobs not requiring a license for law necessarily come "in spite of" law school. Being in law school can help develop business and other professional interests (and competencies), which can and sometimes do lead to successful business (or other) careers for people who went to law school. I think such people often end up in the position they get because they earned a professional degree, even though they could have arguably had a more direct path to the position with an MBA or other professional degree. But there are many higher-level management positions that a person certainly can't get or hold without at least a master's degree (if they could then I would be more inclined to agree with you that law school is a complete waste of time for anyone who doesn't end up practicing law).
I def would agree though with an assertion that a person shouldn't attend law school if there isn't a fairly strong interest in law in the first place. I don't think that going to law school with primarily business or other motivations makes sense (generally). But a lot of the people I know who went to law school ended up in business settings rather than law (actually probably about half of them didn't end up practicing law, or practiced for a while and then started a business, went into media, went into real estate development, or went into finance). I just don't think it is as impossible or as bad of a thing as some people claim (law -> business or other career). Unfortunately for many law grads, taking a non-law job is the only option out of law school; I think that is part of the point of your thread. And I may feel differently 5 years down the road.. admittedly.