Forty three...probably a little too old to go to law school...right?

[Berkut]

I've been kind of really interested in the entire Adnan Syed/Serial/Undisclosed case.

I am still pretty much at a loss as to whether or not he killed his girlfriend 16 years ago, but the process is simply fascinating.

The criminal justice system itself, is fascinating.

I actually thought about how interesting a job it would be to work there on the DA side a few years ago.

Now I am fascinated from the other side.

In any case though, I guess it is a bit too late to run off to law school and look to get into becoming a defense attorney, or even a district attorney.

Sigh. It kind of sucks we only get the one life to live...

[The Brain]

If Walt Kurtz could do jump school at 39 then why not?

[DGuller]

A little early for a midlife crisis, no?

[crazy canuck]

Some of the best lawyers I have ever known went to law school as mature students.  One of my long time partners was a psychiatric head nurse before going to law school.  Another fellow had been a commercial pilot first.  He went on to become the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of British Columbia.  Both those people used their knowledge and experience to good advantage when they turned to practicing law.

You have a very good analytical mind.  Plus you have a wealth of technical knowledge that would assist you in a number of practice areas. You would make a very good lawyer.  The tradeoff is whether you can take the financial hit of going back to school.

[The Brain]

Psychiatric head nurse? Wtf other kinds of psychiatric nurse would even make sense?

[Barrister]

Berkut, I don't know that I'd advise you to drop everything and go to law school...

...but A: 43 is not too old.  I've known lots of lawyers who have come to the law later in life. and,

B: Criminal law really is kind of cool.  I attended a presentation today on ongoing victimization from online child pornography.  How these people as kids were of course sexually abused - that was one thing and they could grow and move on from.  But now years later these pictures are still coming up and being downloaded by up to millions of people.  It was just stuff I'd never thought of before and found it really interesting.


But of course, law school means three years of zero income, plus you'd be starting out at the bottom rung of the ladder once you do graduate.

[crazy canuck]

Psychiatric head nurse? Wtf other kinds of psychiatric nurse would even make sense?

head nurse, as in the one who is in charge. 

[The Brain]

You can start by representing yourself and just take it from there.

[crazy canuck]

Berkut, I don't know that I'd advise you to drop everything and go to law school...

...but A: 43 is not too old.  I've known lots of lawyers who have come to the law later in life. and,

B: Criminal law really is kind of cool.  I attended a presentation today on ongoing victimization from online child pornography.  How these people as kids were of course sexually abused - that was one thing and they could grow and move on from.  But now years later these pictures are still coming up and being downloaded by up to millions of people.  It was just stuff I'd never thought of before and found it really interesting.


But of course, law school means three years of zero income, plus you'd be starting out at the bottom rung of the ladder once you do graduate.

The other caveat I would add Berkut is that very few people end up practicing in the area they thought they were interested in.  You risk becoming a high end litigator like JR 

[Barrister]

The other caveat I would add Berkut is that very few people end up practicing in the area they thought they were interested in.  You risk becoming a high end litigator like JR 

While true, that's largely because most people go to law school when they're young and they have very confused ideas about what life as a lawyer would be like.


Just to not feed into Berkut's mid-life crisis... Working on a homicide case is indeed fascinating.  If I ever meet up with Berkut again I could go on for hours about my homicide.  But that's a small minority of the kind of work I do.  Let's see right now... I'm reviewing a file where a guy broke into a parking garage, smashed some windows, and stole whatever he could.  I'm going through trying to match up which witnesses we need for a trial to be held in March.  Then I'm going through a bunch of files to decide if either we, or the Feds, will prosecute.  Then I'll probably write up some resolution offers.  On Thursday I need to do some legal research, and on Friday I have a domestic assault trial.  Precisely none of this is interesting or exciting.

[crazy canuck]

The other caveat I would add Berkut is that very few people end up practicing in the area they thought they were interested in.  You risk becoming a high end litigator like JR 

While true, that's largely because most people go to law school when they're young and they have very confused ideas about what life as a lawyer would be like.

Naw, I think what is more significant is that people really don't have a good idea of all the things lawyers do.  All they really see on TV is criminal lawyers and perhaps some unrealistic portrayals of commercial solicitors or litigators.  Once they realize there are many more types of law people tend to migrate away from their initial preconceptions, regardless of age.

[The Minsky Moment]

There is definitely a need for more good public defenders, if you are prepared to deal with the chronic under-funding, ridiculously high caseloads, and the general frustrations of the system.

I know a guy your age who worked as lawyer for a while in one specialty, then went into (non legal) business for a number of years, then came back to the law as a first year law associate in a completely different area.  So non-traditional paths are possible, with the right skill and luck.

[Martinus]

You can start by representing yourself and just take it from there.

I think CC doesn't appreciate your humour.

[Monoriu]

I think opportunity cost is the real issue here, not age 

[Malthus]

Where is Ide when you need him the most?