Anyone regret attending law school? (other than for financial reasons) Forum

[lawschoolbound13]

Some days I think this profession is doomed to make me miserable. Curious if anyone has regrets having to do with reasons other than financial. [Of course, this is an incredibly valid reason.]

[PeanutsNJam]

Do you hate going to class and doing readings? How is your summer going?

[notgreat]

Yeah, because most people I know in the profession say there is very limited upward mobility if you start in Big Law, even if you are talented and hardworking. I went to law school hoping that Big Law would lead to strong opportunities, and it appears that I might have been unrealistic.

[Calbears123]

Yeah, because most people I know in the profession say there is very limited upward mobility if you start in Big Law, even if you are talented and hardworking. I went to law school hoping that Big Law would lead to strong opportunities, and it appears that I might have been unrealistic.

Better than working 10 years as an "accounts manager" and capping out at 70k. Biglaw associate to in house associate with a chance to possibly be a GC sounds pretty good. If you want to be a C level executive, network extremely hard or start something of your own.

[WhiteCollarBlueShirt]

Yes, I wish I worked in a related field (e.g., consulting/finance) prior to law school--not necessarily because either job is better, but they're all pretty similar and that's the issue (took me an extra 3 years to get to that realization with law, being a K-JD).

Since you're a student, law school is nothing like working. I hated 1L, but thoroughly enjoyed 2L and 3L. My 3L compares only to undergrad in terms of having a solid, carefree, enjoyable lifestyle. If you hate law school it doesn't necessarily mean that you won't love turning comments and arguing over small details.

[L_William_W]

Some days I think this profession is doomed to make me miserable. Curious if anyone has regrets having to do with reasons other than financial. [Of course, this is an incredibly valid reason.]

I attended law school in order to impress my parents. I had no interest in law whatsoever. I always wanted to be an engineer, but I didn't do well in math.

During my 1L year, I had a female professor for con law who looked like a supermodel. She was a nice person- she even gave the class candy on Halloween. Then, I took her final exam. I felt fairly confident in my performance. I was pleasantly surprised to receive a D...

The next year, I took a mediation clinic. The professor seemed like a sweet old lady. There were warning signs that she was no good, but I thought it was simply tough love and constructive criticism. And guess what? Another D. And at my school, you need a 2.5 to remain in good standing. My GPA for that semester was a 2.52. And since I had already been on academic probation, I was literally 3 points away from having my life ruined- owing over $50,000 with nothing to show for. She knew that. She had no remorse at all. To make matters worse, she blatantly played favorites. I was never right after this.

I once had a "friend" in law school who was like my second mother. Then, we had a disagreement over a political issue. She took it personal and ended the friendship. There are a lot of commie pinkos in my law school. If you disagree with them then they'll call you racist and/or Uncle Tom (never mind the fact that I'm a black Democrat)

I attended law school in NYC. In NY State, if less than 75% of the students pass the bar then the school will get sanctioned. If they don't improve in subsequent years then the school will lose its accreditation. The school put so much pressure on us to pass the bar. I flunked the NY bar twice. After realizing that there was no chance in hell of me passing NY, I took NJ and failed. The next time I took Jersey, I passed. The whole bar preparation process was frustrating. Before I got the results for my second NY attempt, I was in an internship. Once the results were released, a few assholes bragged about how they passed. Then, one of them asked if I passed. I was so embarrassed. To add salt to the wound, two weeks later, I was kicked out of the internship.

After I passed the bar, I had problems finding a job. In fact, I'm still looking for full time work as an attorney. I'm currently doing pro bono work at a legal aid clinic in Newark. Almost every law job requires years of experience and/or knowing Spanish. Meanwhile, I'm $100,000 in debt and on the verge of defaulting.

The law business is good if you're an extroverted sycophant, a member of the LGBT community (no offense to them. I respect LGBT rights), or a leftist nutjob. Don't do it for the money or to impress someone. Becoming a lawyer is one of the worse mistakes I've ever made.

[lawschoolbound13]

1L year I fell into somewhat of a depression. Only after the year ended did I manage to climb out of it. I'm associating my unhappiness during law school with my future as a lawyer. I truly felt like law school took my soul away. I no longer enjoyed anything, I couldn't shake the stress, I felt hopeless, and perpetually tired. I do think there's still a chance I could find a fulfilling career; however, after speaking with attorney after attorney (ESPECIALLY biglaw) it seems that practicing law will lead me to misery rather than happiness. My summer job is great though. It's a paid gig doing in-house legal stuff, which I enjoy.

I realize there is hope going into 2L that it will be less miserable than 1L. It was strange for me to see so many of my classmates "enjoying" 1L year while I never once felt I really enjoyed it.

@William, I appreciate you sharing your story. I hope you find your way sooner rather than later. I'm rooting for you.

[Pomeranian]

How many college students apply to law school as default because they don't know what else to do with their liberal arts degree?? I'm pretty sure this is a large reason why so many lawyers are miserable and filled w/ regret about law school and being a lawyer...

[sublime]

The law business is good if you're an extroverted sycophant, a member of the LGBT community (no offense to them. I respect LGBT rights), or a leftist nutjob. Don't do it for the money or to impress someone. Becoming a lawyer is one of the worse mistakes I've ever made.

I could pass as a leftist nutjob. How do I make law business good?


Also, sorry to hear about the rest of your post and good luck! Hang in there!

[Hildegard15]

How many college students apply to law school as default because they don't know what else to do with their liberal arts degree?? I'm pretty sure this is a large reason why so many lawyers are miserable and filled w/ regret about law school and being a lawyer...

This forum loves to bash on the liberal arts, and it's stupid. There are probably plenty of STEM KJD applicants who realized, hey, I don't want to continue doing this my whole life, and then default to law school. In my friend group there was a combination of humanities, social science, and physical science majors. The only people who knew what they wanted to do with their degrees were the econ majors. One of my friends who majored in neuroscience is currently working as a bartender.

I think the better question is, how many students default to law school because they don't know what they want to do after graduation? We can leave out the part where we dismiss certain people's majors, yes? And I absolutely agree with your overall point. I've wondered if there would be less disillusion if, like business school, law school essentially required that you have some work experience. Working is what made me realize that I definitely wanted to be a lawyer.

[jbagelboy]

My primary regret is financial. The experience itself, with the exception of parts of 1L and finals, I'll look back on fondly and I made a lot of great friends, got to travel to cool places, read and wrote on interesting subjects, and had more free time than I would have at my old job. I wouldn't actually feel that limited in my career opportunities right now if it weren't for debt. I'm still young enough to change careers and go back to school in another subject I enjoy. Practicing law itself is not all bad and it's definitely something I wanted to experience, which is why the "oh just do finance instead" line is fallacious if law practice is something that truly interests you. But because of the debt, I really have far fewer options than my pedigree would otherwise provide for me.

[jkpolk]

It's sort of an empty 3 years where you can drink a lot. So that's fine if you don't have anything else to do. Otherwise it sucks.

[9xSound]

Becoming an attorney has been a mixed bag. It was satisfying to set a goal for myself and follow it through to completion, but my marriage has suffered in ways I never anticipated. Even though my wife is proud of my accomplishment, the fact is, we scarcely relate to each other anymore. It's heartbreaking. That goes for virtually all of my, no, ALL of my friendships that I had prior to law school. I don't relate to anybody who I once considered close friends. The only people I relate to anymore are other lawyers.

[lawlorbust]

My primary regret is financial. The experience itself, with the exception of parts of 1L and finals, I'll look back on fondly and I made a lot of great friends, got to travel to cool places, read and wrote on interesting subjects, and had more free time than I would have at my old job. I wouldn't actually feel that limited in my career opportunities right now if it weren't for debt. I'm still young enough to change careers and go back to school in another subject I enjoy. Practicing law itself is not all bad and it's definitely something I wanted to experience, which is why the "oh just do finance instead" line is fallacious if law practice is something that truly interests you. But because of the debt, I really have far fewer options than my pedigree would otherwise provide for me.

Yeah, but that's the trade-off right? Life's unfair in that some people have rich parents who can gift them a law education at sticker, but if you went to a good school (say a Duke v. Columbia) for less you'd come out with less pedigree and correspondingly fewer options anyway.