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Year off employment... which job should I take?

Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2016 8:57 pm
by thisismyaccount123
Hello everyone!

Hopefully I'm posting in the correct sub-forum. I am currently taking a year off prior to law school - graduated 2 months ago from undergrad. Job search has not been easy, and I really want to save some money up for when I start law school next year. I've turned down a couple of jobs so far, but I feel like I can't afford to continue doing that. My goal is to become in IP lawyer -- would the job I choose now really have an effect on law school and eventually on my future law career?

Since I think at this point I just need a job, I am currently debating on two offers I just got. I'm not sure whether I should work as a legal assistant / case manager at a Personal Injury Law Firm working directly with attorneys or as contract administrator at a multibillion dollar company but not have contact with any other part of the legal department. Any help or suggestions? Do they both suck? Is one better than the other? Thank you!

Re: Year off employment...

Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2016 9:01 pm
by Desert Fox
thisismyaccount123 wrote:Hello everyone!

Hopefully I'm posting in the correct sub-forum. I am currently taking a year off prior to law school - graduated 2 months ago from undergrad. Job search has not been easy, and I really want to save some money up for when I start law school next year. I've turned down a couple of jobs so far, but I feel like I can't afford to continue doing that. My goal is to become in IP lawyer -- would the job I choose now really have an effect on law school and eventually on my future law career? Since I think at this point I just need a job, I am currently debating whether I should work as a legal assistant / case manager at a Personal Injury Law Firm working directly with attorneys or as contract administrator at a multibillion dollar company but not have contact with any other part of the legal department. Any help or suggestions? Thank you!
Engineer at a big corp >> shitlaw Secretary

Re: Year off employment...

Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2016 9:41 pm
by rpupkin
You should take more than one year off. You need at least a couple of years to get the benefit of work experience, and you can use the time to gain perspective on the question of whether law school really is right for you. Oh, and if you do ultimately decide to attend law school, you can enjoy two to three additional years of your life as a non-lawyer--which is worth a lot, believe me.

Re: Year off employment... which job should I take?

Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2016 5:06 pm
by philipthegreat
Your prior employment is largely irrelevant to where you get into law school, which is the determining factor in your employment post law school. I was a teacher and plenty of my friends working in large firms had similarly irrelevant baclgrounds.

Neither of those positions are going to help you get an IP specific legal job, so I hope you have a technical degree.