Self employment after T14? Forum

A forum for applicants and admitted students to ask law students and graduates about law school and the practice of law.
Post Reply
Rorsharch400

New
Posts: 5
Joined: Sun Dec 27, 2020 7:04 am

Self employment after T14?

Post by Rorsharch400 » Sun Dec 27, 2020 7:14 am

Hey guys,
I have a small business doing some none-law related paper work.

I have a an interest in going to law school since I am interested in doing contract work.

I’m wondering if I were to to to a T-14 law school how could I achieve my self-employment goals?

Where can I find good resources on this topic?

Extra notes:
1-I have money saved up so I wouldnt have debt when I graduate.

The Lsat Airbender

Gold
Posts: 1750
Joined: Wed Jan 30, 2019 7:34 pm

Re: Self employment after T14?

Post by The Lsat Airbender » Sun Dec 27, 2020 12:37 pm

It's hard, especially nowadays, to go solo immediately after law school. You'll want to learn the ropes first under the supervision of more experienced attorneys. Also, would note that law is a service and even self-employed lawyers miss out on a lot of the "be your own boss" appeal because they have to deal with clients' immediate needs.

What kind of law do you want to practice?

Rorsharch400

New
Posts: 5
Joined: Sun Dec 27, 2020 7:04 am

Re: Self employment after T14?

Post by Rorsharch400 » Mon Dec 28, 2020 8:55 pm

Hey man,
I appreciate the feedback. I'm interested in working in IP/Copyright law. I want to draft contracts to protect my clients copyright.

User avatar
cavalier1138

Moderator
Posts: 8007
Joined: Fri Mar 25, 2016 8:01 pm

Re: Self employment after T14?

Post by cavalier1138 » Tue Dec 29, 2020 9:52 am

Rorsharch400 wrote:
Mon Dec 28, 2020 8:55 pm
Hey man,
I appreciate the feedback. I'm interested in working in IP/Copyright law. I want to draft contracts to protect my clients copyright.
So why do you want to go to a T14?

Rorsharch400

New
Posts: 5
Joined: Sun Dec 27, 2020 7:04 am

Re: Self employment after T14?

Post by Rorsharch400 » Tue Dec 29, 2020 1:28 pm

I keep hearing online the whole T-14 or Bust. Its not worth going to Law school unless T14. It seems a lot of people online are pushing this narrative.

Want to continue reading?

Register now to search topics and post comments!

Absolutely FREE!


tlsguy2020

New
Posts: 91
Joined: Tue Dec 15, 2020 3:05 pm

Re: Self employment after T14?

Post by tlsguy2020 » Tue Dec 29, 2020 2:10 pm

The T-14 or Bust thing is because T-14 schools offer the best employment returns (finance/job exclusivity) for the costs of law school (money/time). If the plan is to go solo, the returns would be the same from a T-14 as a non T-14. That said: a few people I know from my T-14 went solo within a couple years of graduation. They were always interested in plaintiff-side employment/consumer work. They joined small local plaintiff firms after graduation, and then went solo with one or two other attorneys from that firm.

nixy

Gold
Posts: 4446
Joined: Fri Feb 16, 2018 8:58 am

Re: Self employment after T14?

Post by nixy » Tue Dec 29, 2020 4:51 pm

Rorsharch400 wrote:
Tue Dec 29, 2020 1:28 pm
I keep hearing online the whole T-14 or Bust. Its not worth going to Law school unless T14. It seems a lot of people online are pushing this narrative.
To the extent people push this narrative, it's because a lot of people want to go to law school to make the highest salary possible, which (at the entry level) is in big national law firms that hire primarily/most reliably out of the T14. Or they want to do something rare and prestigious like work for the Hague doing international human rights (which is tough even from the T14 and depends a lot on what kinds of skills/connections you have before going to law school). If someone shows up here and says they want to be public defender or work in legal aid helping tenants not get evicted, no one is going to tell them that they have to go to the T14 or it's not worth it. They will likely get told to go to the most respectable school they can attend for the lowest cost in the market where they want to practice.

WRT IP/copyright law, I don't know enough about it to say whether a T14 degree is necessary. I suspect it depends on 1) what kinds of clients you want to attract and 2) what kind of experience you need to get into that kind of work. I suspect you would be better off doing IP/copyright law for a big firm to get experience before going solo (I also don't even know what kind of market there is for a solo practice in this). If I were you I'd find as many people doing the kind of work that you want to do and talk to them about the best way to get there. If you can't find any solo practitioners doing this work, that in itself will tell you something.

Want to continue reading?

Register for access!

Did I mention it was FREE ?


Post Reply

Return to “Ask a Law Student / Graduate”