How soon do you need to figure out what you want to do? Forum

[Cocoron]

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[zot1]

There are people who come to law school knowing exactly what they want to do and there are some who have been practicing law for 20 years and still don't know.

However, there are so many advantages to knowing what you want to do as early as possible: you can pursue those opportunities better based on classes you pick and internships you do. Commitment on resume looks great and gives you a leg up, but it's not gonna kill you if it isn't totally there.

For example, I realized I wanted to do labor a little later on. At that point, it was too late for me to take any classes in the subject before graduation. I got grilled on it on interviews. Some believe my commitment even without classes, some didn't.

I hope this helps.

[totesTheGoat]

However, there are so many advantages to knowing what you want to do as early as possible: you can pursue those opportunities better based on classes you pick and internships you do. Commitment on resume looks great and gives you a leg up, but it's not gonna kill you if it isn't totally there.

I would go even further than this. You're about to go spend a quarter million dollars on a degree. It's irresponsible for you to just roll in on day 1 with no clue what you're gonna do with your law degree. It's ok if you're not exactly sure, but even just "I'm interested in practice A, practice B, and practice C" is better than "tra la la, I'm going to law school because I want dem BigLaw bucks and my Eastern African Art History major doesn't have any employment prospects."

Anecdotally, the people in my class that knew what they wanted to practice (either the exact area of law or at least had a short list of practices) are all already committed to 2L summers at some of the top firms in the city. Most of those who came to law school because of the BigLaw bucks are competing for mid-law/small-law jobs, just hoping to get some sort of summer position.

[pancakes3]

devil's advocate, you've also got to realize what you want to may not be in line with what opportunities are available to you so in a way you have to be flexible/realistic about what jobs are out there and what you'd be good at.

[zot1]

devil's advocate, you've also got to realize what you want to may not be in line with what opportunities are available to you so in a way you have to be flexible/realistic about what jobs are out there and what you'd be good at.

Yeah I think it's hard to know sometimes. For example, I liked the idea of being a DA at some point, but after learning about the politics and seeing the injustices of the system, I just couldn't handle that. But this is all stuff I'm not sure I would have realized until I had experienced it myself.