Top Law Schools

So... to remain anonymous I am going to generalize some things but everything below is true...


Although I don't go to a top 14 law school, I do go to a decent law school that has respectable placement statistics for new graduates even in this economy. I am a law review member, I am in the top 10% of my class, and I have some big firm jobs lined up for my 2L summer. As of now, I have about 65k in student loan debt and I just finished my 3rd semester of law school. In all honesty I hate law school. I was one of those students who didn't really know what I wanted to do when I was in undergrad but thought law school would be kool... I hate researching and writing (had an undergrad degree in which required taking no writing/english courses) and have found law school to be boring to say the least. I had thoughts about quitting law school after my first semester but after I made really good grades I decided to stick it out another semester. I had thoughts about quitting again during my second semester but I also ended up with good grades. As of now, I am waiting on my grades from this semester but I expect them to be similar to my first year grades.

I worked this past summer in a few firms and just did not like the work. I have also talked to a lot of attorneys and most of them talk about how much they hate their job, how many ridiculous hours they work, and how they are trying to get out. I know a lot of people that work in different industries and make just as much as lawyers do and like their job. In summary, I don't want to be one of those lawyers and I just don't see myself being able to do this kind of work for the rest of my life. Even if I did quit I honestly don't know what else I would do but I'm pretty sure I would be 1000 times happier with a job that paid only 50K a year starting off where I only worked 8-5 every week.

I'm considering quitting law school and chalking my debts up as a learning experience as a lesson learned on what I don't want to do with my life. At the same time though I would feel like somewhat of a loser if I quit now because of how well I have actually done at my school. IF YOU WERE IN MY POSITION WHAT WOULD YOU DO? FINISH LAW SCHOOL OR QUIT RIGHT NOW? Any comments would be greatly appreciated. (please exclude any comments as to my writing and grammatical errors... I really couldn't care less and have not proofread any of this)

Other than not working a lot of hours, do you know what you do want to do?

I honestly don't mind working long hours at all, especially if it was for something I enjoyed doing. Overall I really don't know what else I would do. Literally anything other than law seems pretty appealing right now.

OK, anything other than law is a pretty large field.

Do you have any talents, skills, certifications, experience that you could leverage for a reasonable chance at good job in the near future?

I'd stay. Legal work will be different. It will be a joint effort instead of just a zero sum game which only sociopaths really find fun. It's easy to get bored. You should hold out for practice for a while. That's just 1 1/2 years away, and you've created such a successful resume for yourself that it isn't worth throwing it away. This isn't just shit school Juris Doctor. You were brilliant at a top 14. If you left people would think you couldn't cut it.

Why not, at the very least, do the big firm work 2L summer and rake in $30k?

justadude55 wrote:I'd stay. Legal work will be different. It will be a joint effort instead of just a zero sum game which only sociopaths really find fun. It's easy to get bored. You should hold out for practice for a while. That's just 1 1/2 years away, and you've created such a successful resume for yourself that it isn't worth throwing it away. This isn't just shit school Juris Doctor. You were brilliant at a top 14. If you left people would think you couldn't cut it.

OP doesnt go to a T14. Still, I agree with this message: many of my friends who hated law school love their practice, or at least tolerate it for the $$$. Work and school are not the same experience. With the debt you've accrued, you owe yourself the opportunities the degree and your hard work affords you (Im guessing you had to work pretty damn hard for LR/top10%). If you are successful, you will create opportunities (at higher pay) in non-legal or JD advantage positions: if you leave now, you wont have anything to show for it.

If you had bad grades, Id say drop out. If you had no debt, I would say okay, maybe drop out. But not where you are right now.

I know you said that you worked in a few firms during the summer. Are you sure that you're just not targeting the right environment/practice area? Maybe you can do some externships through your school to get a feel of other different types of practice [gov, other public interest, in house, jd advantage, etc.] to see if there is anything that you like.

Don't leave school unless you've lined up something else. You may want to start networking/asking for informational interviews in different professions you think you may be interested in, but I definitely wouldn't leave school if you didn't have something concrete to do instead.

That's how I feel and I'm no-where in your league.

Top 20%, journal experience, moot court competitions.

I hate researching. I mostly feel like the moot court stuff comes down to what mood the judge is in.

Professors are assholes, they aren't trying to teach, they aren't trained.

The materials (case books) are in-direct at best.

I often feel as if I am teaching myself at home and then just showing up to be either bored or embarrassed in front of the class.

Regardless, I'm keeping going on this as the reality is there are no jobs out there and every job sucks. Plus... I think this is a growing experience. As in, by this time 3L year we'll just be sitting in the back waiting for the professor to mention something about the class... that is, if we're still too stupid enough to go.