People who do law degrees but do not intend to practice law Forum

[Geon]

Not sure if this is the right place for this thread, but I notice lots of people say this, and I figure, some law students might have some insight on this. Are there classmates of yours who plan this and why, I don't get the logic behind it?

[cinephile]

I know people who are doing this. Mostly because their parents are paying for them to go to law school, so why not?

[MrPapagiorgio]

The only people who say this have never gone to law school.

(Ok fine, I'm sure there are some places where a law degree may get you a promotion at a company you already work at. I don't know of any examples, but I'm sure there is some scenario to negate any categorical rule. If that's the case, as long as the company is paying for it, why not. But generally, go to law school if you want to be a lawyer.)

[lawschoolgrapedme]

its because they have C&F issues

[Geon]

I know people who are doing this. Mostly because their parents are paying for them to go to law school, so why not?

This rings true, because someone who told me this came from a $$$ family

Whats C&F issues?

[MrPapagiorgio]

I know people who are doing this. Mostly because their parents are paying for them to go to law school, so why not?

This rings true, because someone who told me this came from a $$$ family

Whats C&F issues?

Character and Fitness. Part of passing the bar.

[ceereeus420]

I know of a school where a lot of the night students are current police officers. Apparently a law degree is a fast track to the upper ranks. I hear some police chiefs make more money than their local prosecutor, plus they're allowed to have outside employment and work overtime at construction sites and such.

[Lincoln]

I know someone who wants to get into sports management, and claims that law school is what most of the people in that field have done. No idea if that's true or not.

[northerniowan]

I know someone who wants to get into sports management, and claims that law school is what most of the people in that field have done. No idea if that's true or not.

I know someone who wants to be an Athletic Director and says that a law degree is the fast track to becoming one.

[imchuckbass58]

Not sure if this is the right place for this thread, but I notice lots of people say this, and I figure, some law students might have some insight on this. Are there classmates of yours who plan this and why, I don't get the logic behind it?

I think it's relatively rare (at least in my experience) for someone to come in knowing they don't want to do law, but going to law school anyways. Something I've seen a lot more is people starting law school thinking (vaguely) that being a lawyer sounds like something they'd like to do, realizing it's not for them, but finishing out anyways then going on to do something else.

The former situation I don't really understand (unless, perhaps, you're at Yale and are more academic/policy oriented). The latter make more sense to me. If you're a year and a half in, and end up wanting to do something else, it's arguably an easier sell if you finish up. For some business roles, you can sell "I have a law degree but I want to apply it in business" more easily than "I dropped out of law school."

[akili]

My mom always used to tell me that law was a "versatile degree" that "opened a lot of doors."

I think the idea that graduate degrees are just good to have, no matter what you study, lingers in a lot of people's minds.

[dudnaito]

Take over parent's small construction company. 80% of contracts come from federal govt. dudes who also have J.D.'s and like drinking with other J.D.'s to talk about how awesome J.D.'s are. Stop paying 100's of thousands of dollars/year to fill out basic forms.

Will this all work out? Who knows? All I know is I have the only Asian parents whose last words before I hopped on a plane back to Law School was, "don't try too hard."

I definitely did my research re: law school, and knew there was a substantial chance I might not particularly like it, but it has its uses. Not sure I'd go to law school again if I could rewind time, but it actually helps when reading real-estate/construction law stuff in real life too. You don't need savant-like analytical skills either. Just by understanding the basic foundation of most laws, it gives you a different perspective. Granted, I could've probably accomplished this just by reading case after case and googling every other word, but.... yeah, I'll stop. I haven't slept in awhile too, so forgive the disjointed reply.

[TTTLS]

My mom always used to tell me that law was a "versatile degree" that "opened a lot of doors."

I think the idea that graduate degrees are just good to have, no matter what you study, lingers in a lot of people's minds.

This is a LIE! ALL LIES!

[zomginternets]

My mom always used to tell me that law was a "versatile degree" that "opened a lot of doors."

I think the idea that graduate degrees are just good to have, no matter what you study, lingers in a lot of people's minds.

This. I think back in the day when law degrees and graduate degrees in general were far more rare, they were far more versatile. But people nowadays don't get on their knees for JDs like I guess they used to.

[Extension_Cord]

My mom always used to tell me that law was a "versatile degree" that "opened a lot of doors."

I think the idea that graduate degrees are just good to have, no matter what you study, lingers in a lot of people's minds.

This. I think back in the day when law degrees and graduate degrees in general were far more rare, they were far more versatile. But people nowadays don't get on their knees for JDs like I guess they used to.

Maybe when the economy rebounds law degrees will become more attractive to various employers. Right now there is a shortage of hiring, but when that changes, it would be good to have a J.D. around in any business.

[boredatwork]

Some places have jobs for Jd's that are non practice. I have a friend at PWC who has such a job, also have a friend at toyota who has such a job.