Did you guys have ANY idea of what type of law you wanted to practice before law school?? Forum

[AlexandraHope]

I'm just wondering if it's normal that I'm really on the fence between several different types of law. At the moment, I'm leaning towards tax law ( if anybody is practicing/studying please DM me). Anyways, did you guys have an idea of the type of law you wanted to practice? Did it change once you entered law school?

[antiworldly]

I'm just wondering if it's normal that I'm really on the fence between several different types of law. At the moment, I'm leaning towards tax law ( if anybody is practicing/studying please DM me). Anyways, did you guys have an idea of the type of law you wanted to practice? Did it change once you entered law school?

Don't worry. Law school is where you figure out what kind of law you want to practice. There's a reason they make you take a wide range of classes.

[blsingindisguise]

This is one place where I differ a little from the conventional wisdom of TLS, which says "don't go to law school unless you know exactly why you want to be a lawyer" or whatever. That would eliminate probably 90% of law students (and I think eliminating 30-40% of them would be a good idea, fwiw). So many people start out thinking something unrealistic like "sports law" or "entertainment law" and wind up finding out that antitrust is interesting enough or family law is more their speed -- maybe they don't literally fall in love with it, but it's good enough to make a career out of.

[Tiago Splitter]

This is one place where I differ a little from the conventional wisdom of TLS, which says "don't go to law school unless you know exactly why you want to be a lawyer" or whatever. That would eliminate probably 90% of law students (and I think eliminating 30-40% of them would be a good idea, fwiw). So many people start out thinking something unrealistic like "sports law" or "entertainment law" and wind up finding out that antitrust is interesting enough or family law is more their speed -- maybe they don't literally fall in love with it, but it's good enough to make a career out of.

Nothing wrong with not being terribly sure but it's important to be realistic about what the school can provide. Someone who thinks there's a good chance he might like tax law needs to realize that tax lawyers typically start in big firms, and if having that option is important he needs to go somewhere that provides a real shot at that kind of job. That same person might have a low GPA and decide sticker at the T-14 just isn't worth the better shot at tax law and go elsewhere. Which is fine just as long as he understands those tradeoffs.

It's also helpful to have an idea going in if you ultimately pursue something that likes to see strong commitment, like a lot of public interest positions. Again you're not shut out just because you didn't know on day one, it's just something that can help in a tough job market.