Given my circumstances, should I go to law school? Forum

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surf

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Given my circumstances, should I go to law school?

Post by surf » Wed Jun 25, 2014 5:57 pm

It says ask a student or grad, so here goes.

Would you do it all over again, given the employment prospects?

Just turned 23 w/ a business degree. Worked in a firm for a year. Though it was "shit-law" (as I see it is commonly referred to as here), I enjoyed it. Divorces were drama-filled, but interesting nonetheless. 3.4 GPA, didn't take first two years seriously. LSAT target between 160-165. Obviously won't get me into top schools.

I don't plan on biglaw. I won't be going to a T14. My parents will most likely be paying for school in hopes of receiving a payback after graduation. I've been wanting to do this for quite some time now. Been reading that mass amounts of law students are unemployed and (almost) killing themselves to find work.

Interesting article here http://www.businessinsider.com/is-law-s ... ey-2013-12 from a T20 guy who can't find work. Interesting, yet scary.

Anyways.... anyone have some advice? PM me if you want, or post here. Just looking to hear from any of you guys. Was thinking of taking an extra year off to get a somewhat decent job and save up 30k or so, while increasing my LSAT score in hopes of receiving scholarship money at a tier 2 school. Too many options. Just want some opinions. Parents' lawyer friends are split in terms of advice for me. Half say go for it, the other half said run for the hills.

Thanks
Last edited by surf on Wed Jun 25, 2014 6:12 pm, edited 2 times in total.

rad lulz

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Re: After all is said and done... would you do it again?

Post by rad lulz » Wed Jun 25, 2014 6:00 pm

.
Last edited by rad lulz on Thu Sep 01, 2016 12:06 am, edited 1 time in total.

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ph14

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Re: After all is said and done... would you do it again?

Post by ph14 » Wed Jun 25, 2014 6:01 pm

surf wrote:It says ask a student or grad, so here goes.

Would you do it all over again, given the employment prospects?

Just turned 23 w/ a business degree. Worked in a firm for a year. Though it was "shit-law" (as I see it is commonly referred to as here), I enjoyed it. Divorces were drama-filled, but interesting nonetheless.

I don't plan on biglaw. I won't be going to a T14. My parents will most likely be paying for school in hopes of receiving a payback after graduation. I've been wanting to do this for quite some time now. Been reading that mass amounts of law students are unemployed and (almost) killing themselves to find work.

Interesting article here http://www.businessinsider.com/is-law-s ... ey-2013-12 from a T20 guy who can't find work. Interesting, yet scary.

Anyways.... anyone have some advice? PM me if you want, or post here. Just looking to hear from any of you guys. Was thinking of taking an extra year off to get a somewhat decent job and save up 30k or so, while increasing my LSAT score in hopes of receiving scholarship money at a tier 2 school. Too many options. Just want some opinions. Parents' lawyer friends are split in terms of advice for me. Half say go for it, the other half said run for the hills.

Thanks
I'm a recent law school graduate with a job lined up. Yes, I absolutely would. I think i'm going to enjoy being a practicing lawyer. I also had a typical non-marketable undergrad degree, and going to law school definitely resulted in me improving my job prospects by a significant amount.

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brotherdarkness

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Re: After all is said and done... would you do it again?

Post by brotherdarkness » Wed Jun 25, 2014 6:06 pm

.
Last edited by brotherdarkness on Sun Jun 29, 2014 5:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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kalvano

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Re: Given my circumstances, should I go to law school?

Post by kalvano » Thu Jun 26, 2014 8:49 am

Yes. Law school sucked, but being a lawyer is much more interesting. I hated what I was doing before, and I like doing lawyerly things.

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Cogburn87

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Re: Given my circumstances, should I go to law school?

Post by Cogburn87 » Thu Jun 26, 2014 8:55 am

No. Everything about this profession is absolute shit. Do not enter it.

Nebby

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Re: After all is said and done... would you do it again?

Post by Nebby » Thu Jun 26, 2014 8:56 am

ph14 wrote: I'm a recent law school graduate with a job lined up. Yes, I absolutely would. I think i'm going to enjoy being a practicing lawyer. I also had a typical non-marketable undergrad degree, and going to law school definitely resulted in me improving my job prospects by a significant amount.
To be fair to the OP you should have mentioned you are a "recent law school graduate" from Harvard Law. :P

OP, if you can go to a strong regional school in the market you want to practice at no cost, then you should go to law school. However, none of this speculation matters until you take the LSAT. Study and take the Sept LSAT and then come back.

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Attax

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Re: Given my circumstances, should I go to law school?

Post by Attax » Thu Jun 26, 2014 11:09 am

kalvano wrote:Yes. Law school sucked, but being a lawyer is much more interesting. I hated what I was doing before, and I like doing lawyerly things.
Not sure if sarcasm or not. I see a lot of people talking about it sucking, but wondering if you're being legit serious.

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brotherdarkness

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Re: Given my circumstances, should I go to law school?

Post by brotherdarkness » Thu Jun 26, 2014 11:26 am

.
Last edited by brotherdarkness on Sun Jun 29, 2014 5:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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kalvano

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Re: Given my circumstances, should I go to law school?

Post by kalvano » Thu Jun 26, 2014 11:44 am

Attax wrote:
kalvano wrote:Yes. Law school sucked, but being a lawyer is much more interesting. I hated what I was doing before, and I like doing lawyerly things.
Not sure if sarcasm or not. I see a lot of people talking about it sucking, but wondering if you're being legit serious.
Not sarcasm. I generally liked the people and a number of professors, but a lot of law school is an academic circle jerk and the third year is utterly useless. Also, it's pathetic how little it prepares you for actual practice, even when the opportunity arises.

But I'm overall happy I did it, if only because I enjoy the end result.

shock259

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Re: Given my circumstances, should I go to law school?

Post by shock259 » Thu Jun 26, 2014 5:26 pm

You sound like you would be at school where you'd have a ~50% at landing a long-term legal job. If that risk is worth it to you, then go for it. You seem to like the law and have some exposure to it.

Personally, I'm happy I went. Just graduated, have a biglaw job lined up, and no debt. Law school itself was tedious, but once I learned how to study efficiently, I had loads of free time and very little responsibility. Overall, 2 of the 3 years were a nice break from real life.

071816

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Re: Given my circumstances, should I go to law school?

Post by 071816 » Thu Jun 26, 2014 5:29 pm

jackin my avi swag.

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Re: Given my circumstances, should I go to law school?

Post by CanadianWolf » Thu Jun 26, 2014 5:32 pm

Prepare for & take the LSAT to get a better picture of your likely law school options. A few years of post-undergraduate work experience should help.

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