Calling all lawyers (and other sundry old people)

[ulmont]

I guess I should make a substantive comment at some point.

Count, I worked for 4 years after undergrad and before going to lawschool.  If I had gone to law school right out of college, I would not have been able to do well enough for a biglaw job.  I don't know your whole situation, but I endorse a year spent working at a 9-5 job before lawschool (or a short military hitch; it should serve the same purpose).

But I don't recommend going straight to law school, and I don't recommend fucking around for a year.  Do something that will drastically improve your time management skills.

[merithyn]

But I would say your example would be accurate at a school like Georgetown- I don't think I would be better off being in the top third @ Georgetown than top 5% at UF, especially once debt is considered.

My best friend graduated from Georgetown with $125,000 in debt in 1997. She was in the top third of her class, clerked for the gubmint in 1L and 2L, and is a triple-minority (Black Asian woman). When I met her in 2000, she was answering phones with me at a teleconferencing company making $12/hour and defaulting on most of her loans. In 2003, she finally got a law position... making $35k/year handling unemployment cases paid for by the state. Now, she's a mediator/judge working for the state hearing the cases she formerly handled, making about $45k/year. Her loans are still slowly being chipped away, but as of now she owes over $100,000 on them. (What's really interesting is that Toni is the kind of person that everyone loves, people gravitate toward, and is quite obviously brilliant... so it wasn't even a personality thing.)

To be fair, she did have options in larger law firms when she graduated, but in a kind of soul-sucking, stick a nail in your eye kind of practice and she just couldn't do it. And there weren't a lot. She said she had maybe one or two offers that were the chew them up and spit them out kind of jobs for newly minted lawyers.

Seems like a silly field to get into these days.

[CountDeMoney]

Seems like a silly field to get into these days.

10% of the lawyers make 90% of the money.  The rest work hand to mouth like everybody else.

[merithyn]

By the way, Count: Welcome back. You've been missed.

[katmai]

Why are you so intent on destroying Count's future by endorsing some sort of silly "self-discovery" bullshit anyway?

Because you turned out so well joining Bawlmer PoPo.

[CountDeMoney]

Why are you so intent on destroying Count's future by endorsing some sort of silly "self-discovery" bullshit anyway?

Because you turned out so well joining Bawlmer PoPo.

I didn't need to travel the world for a year to see people trying to kill me, I could get that from my coworkers.

[jimmy olsen]

Why are you so intent on destroying Count's future by endorsing some sort of silly "self-discovery" bullshit anyway?

Because you turned out so well joining Bawlmer PoPo.

I didn't need to travel the world for a year to see people trying to kill me, I could get that from my coworkers.

No one's tried to kill me while I've been traveling the world.

[CountDeMoney]

Why are you so intent on destroying Count's future by endorsing some sort of silly "self-discovery" bullshit anyway?

Because you turned out so well joining Bawlmer PoPo.

I didn't need to travel the world for a year to see people trying to kill me, I could get that from my coworkers.

No one's tried to kill me while I've been traveling the world.

That's because I don't have a passport, you simple little shit.  Just wait, shitbird.

[Count]

thanks all. again, I probably won't defer, and if I did, I'd probably just try to get a 9-5 job (I have already spent a year fucking around, which I don't think will hurt me too much- it seems like a lot of people work dead end jobs for a year or two [or more] before going to law school and end up ok, but I really don't know) and/or "do some traveling," but not around the world. No money for that. I am getting the old cold feet though... Hopefully it goes away after the admitted students program.

Jaba, congrats! sounds like you're doing very very well. I'm familiar with TLS. They're kind of douchey  but they have lots of useful information and they certainly informed my application process. My condolences for the fact that you grew up in, are going to school in, and may live forever in Florida. And Capetan Mihali- congrats! You're at Harvard! Also, I'm fairly certain Columbia does have semester abroad programs and the like, which is appealing (I would love to spend a semester in England).

re: state schools. MA just got a state law school (like, a year or two ago), which is cheap but a very poor option. I don't think it's accredited yet. It's competing with Harvard, BC, BU, Suffolk, Northeastern, and New England School of Law.

re: public interest jobs. You know how tons and tons of prospective law students say they "want to help people"? It's not so much that I want to help people as I want to want to help people. It would be cool if I was that sort of person. However, if I really wanted to help people, I would probably have some sort of track record of doing it. Still, WHO WILL DEFEND THE CONSTITUTION???

in my case, having options is a biggie, since I am not sure what I want to do long term. Short term I'd love to clerk.

dps:

Don't lie to the kid.  He'll regret his decision, no matter which way he decides.

So, so true.

On that note, I just found out I was waitlisted from Chicago, my long-time dream school. Ah well.

[alfred russel]

If you want to travel in a career, getting a business degree and joining a multinational is a way to do it.

[Darth Wagtaros]

I have friends in Mass who go their law degrees and had a lot of trouble finding jobs after, at some point, and ikt still may be the case Mass had the highest lawyer-human ratio int he country, so be prepared to move elsewhere.  Or be ready to work your way up to the top over decades.

[Caliga]

Why are you so intent on destroying Count's future by endorsing some sort of silly "self-discovery" bullshit anyway?

[Caliga]

If you want to travel in a career, getting a business degree and joining a multinational is a way to do it.

[Caliga]

I have friends in Mass who go their law degrees and had a lot of trouble finding jobs after, at some point, and ikt still may be the case Mass had the highest lawyer-human ratio int he country, so be prepared to move elsewhere.  Or be ready to work your way up to the top over decades.

Yeah, like every other educated person in Mass. is a lawyer.  That's why the state is so full of fail.

[Darth Wagtaros]

I know right?