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Here is my predicament. I am currently working in the oilfield, and am planning on attending UT Law this fall. I have talked to several lawyers about the current value of a law degree contrasted against the 130,000 dollars in student loans I'll be taking on. Most are employed at small firms and don't really have much info on career opportunities for recent grads. Right now, I have three options. I can go to UT law, as planned, I can pursue a job offer to enter HEB's School of Retail Leadership to become an Assistant Store Director starting at $45,000, or I can put off my decision for the next few weeks in hopes of a family friend sweet talking his boss into hiring me as a Landman for 300-400 dollars per day, 5 days per week. Do any of you have an opinion you'd like to share? I just feel like I'm going into this whole law school deal blind and I want to pick the best opportunity for me in the long-run. I need some help. Any advice will be GREATLY appreciated.

Jcolt07 wrote:Here is my predicament. I am currently working in the oilfield, and am planning on attending UT Law this fall. I have talked to several lawyers about the current value of a law degree contrasted against the 130,000 dollars in student loans I'll be taking on. Most are employed at small firms and don't really have much info on career opportunities for recent grads. Right now, I have three options. I can go to UT law, as planned, I can pursue a job offer to enter HEB's School of Retail Leadership to become an Assistant Store Director starting at $45,000, or I can put off my decision for the next few weeks in hopes of a family friend sweet talking his boss into hiring me as a Landman for 300-400 dollars per day, 5 days per week. Do any of you have an opinion you'd like to share? I just feel like I'm going into this whole law school deal blind and I want to pick the best opportunity for me in the long-run. I need some help. Any advice will be GREATLY appreciated.

Well I would never recommend anyone walk into law school blind. You need to take some time to do a little reading and research so you know what you're getting yourself into. But those options are shit, and UT is a good law school. If you want to be a lawyer, you should go.

dixon02 wrote:

Jcolt07 wrote:Here is my predicament. I am currently working in the oilfield, and am planning on attending UT Law this fall. I have talked to several lawyers about the current value of a law degree contrasted against the 130,000 dollars in student loans I'll be taking on. Most are employed at small firms and don't really have much info on career opportunities for recent grads. Right now, I have three options. I can go to UT law, as planned, I can pursue a job offer to enter HEB's School of Retail Leadership to become an Assistant Store Director starting at $45,000, or I can put off my decision for the next few weeks in hopes of a family friend sweet talking his boss into hiring me as a Landman for 300-400 dollars per day, 5 days per week. Do any of you have an opinion you'd like to share? I just feel like I'm going into this whole law school deal blind and I want to pick the best opportunity for me in the long-run. I need some help. Any advice will be GREATLY appreciated.

Well I would never recommend anyone walk into law school blind. You need to take some time to do a little reading and research so you know what you're getting yourself into. But those options are shit, and UT is a good law school. If you want to be a lawyer, you should go.

Why are those options "shit"? A $45,000 entry job? A chance for a job that pays $300-400/day is shit? are you fucking serious?

OP, don't rush into law blind. There is nothing wrong with working for awhile and then doing law later.

Haha, I was about to say... Those seemed like pretty good opportunities to a recent Finance grad with little work experience. Thank for the input, Super. My gut says to hold off due to uncertainty. Becoming a lawyer isn't a "dream" of mine. I just have two buddies that are practicing in oil and gas law, making a killing. They got me interested, and this whole idea of becoming a lawyer sort of fell into my lap. Seems like a great opportunity, career wise. But so does eventually being a regional manager in the food retail industry. To say its a bullet-proof industry is understatement. Lol. Everyone has to eat.

Oil/Commodities is about the hottest field going right now. You'd be dumb to leave it for law. Yeah sure the work you are doing right now is grueling, but you work your way up like anything else until you reach a supervisory post. Law will suck too when you are on the bottom rungs.

Your buddies in oil and gas law may be making a killing, but without clients working within the oil and gas industry, they are nothing. You have the potential to become the client, which is the person with the power in that relationship.

I should have been clear about where I'm working right now. I'm a field technician with no real schedule. It pays extremely well, but I don't want to be in this 20-25 days on, 0-5 off lifestyle much longer. We're a small company, with no chance of a vertical move in the foreseeable future. (Just too many more experienced hands in line before me.) I'm looking for a career that will allow me to settle down in the next 5 or so years. (Buy a house, get married, etc.) I've got a few connections into transactional law, such as the two guys doing oil and gas title opinions. But I'm pretending like those don't exist, so I don't get screwed when they very well might not be able to hire me three years from now.

Maybe wait if you are not ready. Maybe stay in your company and work your way up. But for god's sake don't go into retail

I have no experience in retail. Is it that bad?

I suppose the root of the issue is that I'm scared of not finding a job and being saddled with a mortgage-like debt when I graduate. I wish I could ask my magic 8-ball, "Will I have a job in law in 3 years?" but that's not going to work. I'm just trying to understand how my classmates are able to make this 100,000 dollar decision so lightly, with the job market supposedly being so terrible.

Jcolt07 wrote:I have no experience in retail. Is it that bad?

Yes.

I'm going to jump in with the don't do law meme.

Don't do law.

MrAnon wrote:Oil/Commodities is about the hottest field going right now. You'd be dumb to leave it for law. Yeah sure the work you are doing right now is grueling, but you work your way up like anything else until you reach a supervisory post. Law will suck too when you are on the bottom rungs.

Your buddies in oil and gas law may be making a killing, but without clients working within the oil and gas industry, they are nothing. You have the potential to become the client, which is the person with the power in that relationship.

Lawyers have knowledge (especially of the law)... and knowledge is power.

Jcolt07 wrote: I'm just trying to understand how my classmates are able to make this 100,000 dollar decision so lightly, with the job market supposedly being so terrible.

many are not making the decision lightly.

MrAnon wrote:Oil/Commodities is about the hottest field going right now. You'd be dumb to leave it for law. Yeah sure the work you are doing right now is grueling, but you work your way up like anything else until you reach a supervisory post. Law will suck too when you are on the bottom rungs.

TITCR

BuckinghamB wrote:

Jcolt07 wrote:I have no experience in retail. Is it that bad?

Yes.

Fuck retail.

I too wish I could get career advise from somewhere, but as you can see, $500/day is bad from someone who doesn't tell us what they do or make(if anything) is what we get.

Your issue could be, are you looking for a long term prospect or do you have a preference in when you want to work. EG, one is a day job, one is nights and weekends, one is long term, and I don't know when the oil job is done or how long you are expected to work in such a position.

prezidentv8 wrote:I'm going to jump in with the don't do law meme.

Don't do law.

I'll add going to law school was the biggest mistake of my life.

Do you have any kind of scholarship or financial aid (sorry if that was answered already)? I actually think your experience in the oil field will help you when it comes to finding employment, and UT is the biggest oil & gas feeder school in the country. I guess I'm going to play devil's advocate and say, try to organize meetings with oil & gas lawyers in your area (at big firms, and particularly recent UT grads). Check out sites like Law School Transparency and search TLS to get a sense of your employment prospects. Try one year at UT; if you want to work in Texas it's hard to find many better schools for that. I guarantee the work will be more interesting and pay more in the long run than that job in retail you were considering. JMO.