How much helpful is work experience before law school? Forum

[I<3ScholarlySweets!]

Kalvano; can u describe your time during LS ? How'd u do relative to ur peers? How did OCI go? And most importantly did u crack 170 and attend at least a T14

[kalvano]

Law school is not really that much fun unless you like academic circle jerking, I did better than at least 70% of my classmates but I wouldn't count on projecting where you think you'll be in the class (a frind who did much better on the LSAT than I did ended up much lower ranked), interviews went well due in no small part to my work experience (sure as hell wasn't due to my class rank), and I didn't get over a 170 or attend a T14.

I'm not sure what you're looking for with this thread. Most of what you're asking has been answered a dozen times on here.

[mist4bison]

.

[I<3ScholarlySweets!]

kalvano; did u cop biglaw?

[I<3ScholarlySweets!]

I'm a man

[A. Nony Mouse]

I've never said WE is helpful for admittance to LS. ( It's all about UGpA and LSAT)

I'm just saying that being in the real world for too long my be bad because you get caught up with things that prevent you from studying for the LSAT or maybe even going to law school (say you grt pregnant ) and yes people with kids can do LS but it'd be another hassle and why would u want that

Maybe because you didn't want to go to law school earlier in your life, but later in your life it became a good option? People don't follow cookie-cutter career paths. And if you get so caught up in other things that you don't apply to law school, yes, that's probably bad for your admissions chances, but it's probably good for your life.

[EricHosmer]

I'm a man troll

FTFY

[kalvano]

kalvano; did u cop biglaw?

Briefly, after a fashion, but then I got offered a better job.

[I<3ScholarlySweets!]

Would you say your WE before LS contributed heavily to your success (or lack thereof)

[sparty99]

I'm a man troll

FTFY

+ 10,000

[kalvano]

Would you say your WE before LS contributed heavily to your success (or lack thereof)

No. It's helpful once you start working, but won't help much in doing well in law school.

[p1921]

As a fellow 0L, I don't think it's wise to act like you know more about everything legal, law school, etc. than people who have actually gone through it and have real experiences they're willing to share with you. Don't be such a dick and be thankful for people who try to help you, even while they're on one of the few breaks they get a year.

[I<3ScholarlySweets!]

OK; I'd like to apologize to everyone ITT if you thought I was a jerk, it wasn't my intention. It's a habit of mine to ask various questions.

I'll take the advice ITT and apply it to my life.

Godspeed.

[CPAlawHopefu]

Sorry for the bump but I don't think getting a JD at an age older than 30 is old at all, nor do I think going to a law school outside of T14 is "not worth going" either. Or working for more than 5 years will "kill your chance" when getting a legal job after the JD.....

My cousin for example was one of those people with all the "bad specs" when she applied. She had worked for good 6-7 years when she applied for law school. She got her JD at the age of 32 or 33 from Case Western (I think it is ranked near #70 or something) and she was offered an awesome position at a healthcare law firm with a starting salary around $130K in Los Angeles metro, and this was in 2012 when the legal market was supposedly slumping. Now she is making $160K, a very respectful salary IMO. She met her now-husband in Case Western as well, and although he had to work temp out of law school, he fortunately was able to find a firm that offered him a permanent position for $120K in Los Angeles.

Of course, I know that anecdotal cases like this exist everywhere so this could definitely be one of those exceptions to the rules cases, but stories like this shouldn't be entirely disregarded.

I think all this talk of discrediting law schools outside of the T14 elite circle is just too overemphasized. T14 just gives you an advantage in the job market but to scrape the idea of law school entirely based on the name and the ranking of a law school is just pure ignorance. I believe the people with such thought process are ones with low confidence in their ability to do well in law school so they just want to rely on the reputation of the school to get them jobs.

[sparty99]

Sorry for the bump but I don't think getting a JD at an age older than 30 is old at all, nor do I think going to a law school outside of T14 is "not worth going" either. Or working for more than 5 years will "kill your chance" when getting a legal job after the JD.....

My cousin for example was one of those people with all the "bad specs" when she applied. She had worked for good 6-7 years when she applied for law school. She got her JD at the age of 32 or 33 from Case Western (I think it is ranked near #70 or something) and she was offered an awesome position at a healthcare law firm with a starting salary around $130K in Los Angeles metro, and this was in 2012 when the legal market was supposedly slumping. Now she is making $160K, a very respectful salary IMO. She met her now-husband in Case Western as well, and although he had to work temp out of law school, he fortunately was able to find a firm that offered him a permanent position for $120K in Los Angeles.

Of course, I know that anecdotal cases like this exist everywhere so this could definitely be one of those exceptions to the rules cases, but stories like this shouldn't be entirely disregarded.

I think all this talk of discrediting law schools outside of the T14 elite circle is just too overemphasized. T14 just gives you an advantage in the job market but to scrape the idea of law school entirely based on the name and the ranking of a law school is just pure ignorance. I believe the people with such thought process are ones with low confidence in their ability to do well in law school so they just want to rely on the reputation of the school to get them jobs.

Lolz. Your cousin was the lucky 10% from a crappy school that landed a good job. The numbers speak for themselves. I don't even go to a T14, but know the benefits of those schools is highly out weighed by paying sticker at a T50.

[CPAlawHopefu]

Sorry for the bump but I don't think getting a JD at an age older than 30 is old at all, nor do I think going to a law school outside of T14 is "not worth going" either. Or working for more than 5 years will "kill your chance" when getting a legal job after the JD.....

My cousin for example was one of those people with all the "bad specs" when she applied. She had worked for good 6-7 years when she applied for law school. She got her JD at the age of 32 or 33 from Case Western (I think it is ranked near #70 or something) and she was offered an awesome position at a healthcare law firm with a starting salary around $130K in Los Angeles metro, and this was in 2012 when the legal market was supposedly slumping. Now she is making $160K, a very respectful salary IMO. She met her now-husband in Case Western as well, and although he had to work temp out of law school, he fortunately was able to find a firm that offered him a permanent position for $120K in Los Angeles.

Of course, I know that anecdotal cases like this exist everywhere so this could definitely be one of those exceptions to the rules cases, but stories like this shouldn't be entirely disregarded.

I think all this talk of discrediting law schools outside of the T14 elite circle is just too overemphasized. T14 just gives you an advantage in the job market but to scrape the idea of law school entirely based on the name and the ranking of a law school is just pure ignorance. I believe the people with such thought process are ones with low confidence in their ability to do well in law school so they just want to rely on the reputation of the school to get them jobs.

Lolz. Your cousin was the lucky 10% from a crappy school that landed a good job. The numbers speak for themselves. I don't even go to a T14, but know the benefits of those schools is highly out weighed by paying sticker at a T50.

10% ≠ 0%

The point I was trying to make was that just because you don't end up at a top tier school (T14, T20, T30, T50, wherever you decide to draw the line) should not automatically play a deal-breaker in your decision to invest in the legal career.

Besides, the role that the reputation of the school plays ends the moment you land your first job anyway. From there, you are on your own. You can start in a temp agency and eventually end up in a six figure job like my cousin's husband. You can start at a boutique, network like crazy and transfer over to BigLaw, or go into other field like financial/tax consulting because law skills are highly transferable in all fields. Lastly, no matter what profession you are in, you can't make the big bucks without opening your own office or joining a partnership. Everything is business, and if you don't have a mind of a businessman, you'll just be another office worker, and this doesn't matter if you have a JD from HYS.

[thatsnotmyname]

Sorry for the bump but I don't think getting a JD at an age older than 30 is old at all, nor do I think going to a law school outside of T14 is "not worth going" either. Or working for more than 5 years will "kill your chance" when getting a legal job after the JD.....

My cousin for example was one of those people with all the "bad specs" when she applied. She had worked for good 6-7 years when she applied for law school. She got her JD at the age of 32 or 33 from Case Western (I think it is ranked near #70 or something) and she was offered an awesome position at a healthcare law firm with a starting salary around $130K in Los Angeles metro, and this was in 2012 when the legal market was supposedly slumping. Now she is making $160K, a very respectful salary IMO. She met her now-husband in Case Western as well, and although he had to work temp out of law school, he fortunately was able to find a firm that offered him a permanent position for $120K in Los Angeles.

Of course, I know that anecdotal cases like this exist everywhere so this could definitely be one of those exceptions to the rules cases, but stories like this shouldn't be entirely disregarded.

I think all this talk of discrediting law schools outside of the T14 elite circle is just too overemphasized. T14 just gives you an advantage in the job market but to scrape the idea of law school entirely based on the name and the ranking of a law school is just pure ignorance. I believe the people with such thought process are ones with low confidence in their ability to do well in law school so they just want to rely on the reputation of the school to get them jobs.

Lolz. Your cousin was the lucky 10% from a crappy school that landed a good job. The numbers speak for themselves. I don't even go to a T14, but know the benefits of those schools is highly out weighed by paying sticker at a T50.

10% ≠ 0%

The point I was trying to make was that just because you don't end up at a top tier school (T14, T20, T30, T50, wherever you decide to draw the line) should not automatically play a deal-breaker in your decision to invest in the legal career.

Besides, the role that the reputation of the school plays ends the moment you land your first job anyway. From there, you are on your own. You can start in a temp agency and eventually end up in a six figure job like my cousin's husband. You can start at a boutique, network like crazy and transfer over to BigLaw, or go into other field like financial/tax consulting because law skills are highly transferable in all fields. Lastly, no matter what profession you are in, you can't make the big bucks without opening your own office or joining a partnership. Everything is business, and if you don't have a mind of a businessman, you'll just be another office worker, and this doesn't matter if you have a JD from HYS.

You're right to a certain extent, but the emphasis placed on attending top law schools is also appropriate. I do believe that the "T14 or bust" attitude is a bit too aggressive on TLS and each prospective is treated as a cookie cutter without distinguishing... but I would rather have the T14 or bust attitude overemphasized then underemphasized. Based on my observations, most applicants who come across the information on these boards are K-JD, with poli sci or other social science and liberal art degrees, and no real work experience. These are the candidates who are going to need T14 the most because they will for the most part have to rely on the traditional on-campus interview process and the quality of their school's reputation in the eyes of biglaw employers to get a high paying job. If they strike out during OCI, they've never looked for a real job before, have no real work experience, have never practiced law before, and probably have no other skills that make them valuable to employers.

On the other hand, there are people who don't fit those mold and don't necessarily have to rely on OCI as much to get a job. People who are not planning on using OCI or their school's prestige to get a job can go anywhere for law school if they have a plan before going and still be okay. I mean an ideal situation would be if someone's employer paid for their JD and told them that if they got their JD they would be promoted to a new position. In this case T14 is completely irrelevant for the person's goals, they should just go to the part-time program that is closest to their job. People like this exist and they would be fine attending a T4 law school but they don't post on TLS. I know that was a very extreme example, but my point is that candidates with significant professional work experience in a field that is complementary to the area of law that they are hoping to practice, with professional relationships and connections, marketable skills, knowing exactly how they want to leverage their JD and how to get those jobs on their own are prime candidates for whom the T14 or bust mentality is not applicable. But these candidates are uncommon on TLS and it would be a disservice to the key demographic of TLS to not emphasize how bad of an idea it is to take on significant debt to attend a school outside of the T14 with the plan that you're going to get a job that pays you enough to service that debt just because you have a JD, because the odds of that happening for a K-JD are way too low to justify the amount of debt.

[peger]

As a fellow 0L, I don't think it's wise to act like you know more about everything legal, law school, etc. than people who have actually gone through it and have real experiences they're willing to share with you. Don't be such a dick and be thankful for people who try to help you, even while they're on one of the few breaks they get a year.

At least it's wildly entertaining.