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We all know that law school isn't the place to go if you only want to "work in politics" / "be a congressman."

But a lot of politicians and the people who work for them are lawyers, and a lot (most?) were practicing lawyers before they entered the public arena.

Where do these people come from? Biglaw?

How do they get the connections?

Is this relatively common?

Haven't heard a lot about the actual transition, just that it happens. Anecdotal evidence is fine with me.

There are a bunch of ways that lawyers end up in politics. I think the most typical way involves being a D.A. (or working for one) for a few years and then running for office. Joe Kennedy III did this, and I think there are lots of other examples that I can't think of right now.

I think the next most typical way is to be at a law firm and then run. For examples, look up the bio of Jerry Brown or, more recently, Kirsten Gillibrand, who were both at firms for several years before they became politicians. Gillibrand was in biglaw, at Davis Polk and Boies Schiller.

There are other ways. Elizabeth Warren was a law professor before she became a politician. Barack Obama was a community organizer (and lecturer in law). You can run through this list to get a sense of lawyers in the House and look up some bios to see how they did it.