I am hoping someone may be able to give me some good advice. I graduated in 2003 and after thinking about it long and hard I think I may want to go to law school. The idea of how much $$$$ it costs is soooooooo scary to me and than the idea that after spending all that money I may not pass the bar exam. I know this is probably how alot of people feel, but was everyone else this scared at first. Its a huge decision b/c I am getting married next June and I feel like starting our lives will kind of be on hold for alittle while. How many times have you all taken the bar before you passed? If you dont pass the bar right away, what kind of jobs can you even get? How much are your student loans a month? Thanks for your help guys!
jellybean1420
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Re: Any lawyers or law students????
I agree that I should probably get a job in a law office to began with and see how I like it. Unfortunately every ad I see for a legal assistant or paralegal, they want experience. I don't have any legal experience. If any of you know of any openings, let me know.
Many of you have recommended that I do this before law school, but did any of you? I am sure many of you went to law school right from undergrad. Do you regret going into law?
And I am definetely not going into law for the money. I find the law interesting especially government policy and things like that. Government is not where the money is initially. Over time it pays well though, but that is not my main concern at all.
espresso
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Re: Any lawyers or law students????
I took a year off after college and worked, but I wish I took more than that at times.
I'm sorry if I missed this-but what do you do now? Have you studied for the LSAT yet?
mbm750
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Re: Any lawyers or law students????
If you go into the law, you're going to work harder than at most jobs. Obviously, it's not a 9-5 job. That being said, at my firm, a number of women, even litigators, work part-time or work from home on certain days. Probably, these women are not on the partner track, but that's not what they want and they're still making great money doing something they enjoy - not everyone has to be partner. And, I think it has to be said that law firms are changing - slowly, but it's happening because lots of women are self-selecting out and the workplace will have to change to keep women there. But the changes are slow to come. In the meantime, there are a lot of women who make it work - it's hard but they find a way to do it, and I know quite a few who do it without neglecting their families. Obviously, you can't simultaneously be a lawyer and a stay-at-home mom, but many keep their lives similar to the lives of other working moms, and do not simply leave their kids to be raised entirely by nannies. Moreover, there are more 'lifestyle' oriented firms, and there are more 'lifestyle' oriented departments - tax, T&E, etc. If this is something you want to do, I really think you can - but be careful about your firm and your specialty choices. And know what's important to you - if you want family and a career, one will have to give to the other sometimes and you probably can't be a partner, but even for people who give their all to their careers - not everyone can make partner and not every career-driven person even wants to.
jellybean1420
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Re: Any lawyers or law students????
I graduated in 2003 and have been working for the Federal Aviation Administration for the past two years. I am taking the LSAT's this December.
mbm750
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Re: Any lawyers or law students????
Posted by jellybean1420
I agree that I should probably get a job in a law office to began with and see how I like it. Unfortunately every ad I see for a legal assistant or paralegal, they want experience. I don't have any legal experience. If any of you know of any openings, let me know.
Many of you have recommended that I do this before law school, but did any of you? I am sure many of you went to law school right from undergrad. Do you regret going into law?
And I am definetely not going into law for the money. I find the law interesting especially government policy and things like that. Government is not where the money is initially. Over time it pays well though, but that is not my main concern at all.
I didn't paralegal first - I went straight through from undergrad. I haven't been in the law for long, but I definitely do not regret it. I like what I do and I thought long and hard about what I wanted out of my career, my personal life, my firm, and what I found to be intellectually satisfying and found a practice area and firm that are great for me. I was able to do this because of my education - that's why I'm encouraging you to go to a great school if you can. You'll simply have more choices. That being said, better schools = more money, and if you want to go into government, you will make less and the loans might not be worth it. At least not for a very expensive top 20 private law school. If govt's the route you're going to take, I would suggest you talk to people practicing that type of law and find out what their hiring practices are because I can only speak with respect to what I experienced in my firm search. Only they can tell you best what matters to them when they're looking for bright new lawyers.
jellybean1420
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Re: Any lawyers or law students????
I agree....I don't mind busting my butt in the beginning, but when I have kids I don't want to neglect them either. Hopefully by that time, I will be able to work part-time if I want or from home. I know several people who are attorneys and their law firms work with women with children. I don't think that just because I want a family life and don't want to neglect my kids and husband that I can't be a lawyer. As you said, many career-driven people main focus isn't the money and making partner. Making partner can come later in my life for me when my kids are grown up.
I am not going to limit myself to government...there are tons of areas I am interested in. That I will probably decide when I began law school. But certain areas of law require more time and less of a life, that for me is not negotiable.
Too many women still think they can't have a family life to be successful or get anywhere and it bugs the hell out of me. Every career has its ups and downs, not every career is woman friendly, but that is because we allow t to be that way. I guess everyone has a different perogative. Mine is to practice law, have a good career and be happy with my work and be able to enjoy my family.
mbm750
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Re: Any lawyers or law students????
Posted by jellybean1420
Too many women still think they can't have a family life to be successful or get anywhere and it bugs the hell out of me. Every career has its ups and downs, not every career is woman friendly, but that is because we allow t to be that way. I guess everyone has a different perogative. Mine is to practice law, have a good career and be happy with my work and be able to enjoy my family.
I couldn't agree with this more - if we want the changes to come, we have to make them happen - and that won't happen by avoiding a profession. We have to make it adjust to us, not the other way around. I'm very proud of the women I know who have, and those who plan to, myself included.
Sammy1414
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Re: Any lawyers or law students????
Hello girls...
IMO, you can't give a 100% to career and 100% to family. Something always suffers, whether it be your career advancement or your children.
That's just my opinion. I don't mean to offend anyone at all. I just feel like, as women, we sometimes try to spread ourselves too thin. The only reason I'm posting this is because I saw a lot of family talk.
Goodluck in whatever you may choose!
ssdbk
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Re: Any lawyers or law students????
I went straight from undergrad to law school. Once out of school, I worked in a Fed. government job, then a non-profit and now I have my own small niche practice. I love having my own practice and clients but it was a long road to get here.
Many lawyers are competitive people, by nature, so I found that working with other lawyers even in government and non-profit jobs, involved a lot of understanding of office politics and some crazy personalities.
I am glad I went to law school but the tuition has skyrocketed since I graduated and salaries have not increased enough to cover it.
I majored in English for undergrad, like you did, and I think that it is a great major for a future law student. If you take the right law school courses, and a bar review course, the bar exam is not a huge hurdle. I passed NY and NJ the first time.
Only you will really know whether this is for you. If you graduate law school, there are still doors opened for you to go into other fields if you decide you don't want an attorney job.
BlondeJD
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Re: Any lawyers or law students????
I went straight from undergrad to law school and I don't regret it. I knew I wanted to be a lawyer. My friend who worked at Skadden took the LSATs with me, didn't do as well as she'd hoped, and decided to be a paralegal for a year or two to make money and see if she liked the law firm environment. In the end, she decided that it was not for her. But I do agree with the other poster who said that paralegals and lawyers do different things. Being a paralegal can expose you to the environment and give you a sense of what the lawyers do. If you go to a smaller firm, you may get more responsibility and do things that more closely resemble what a junior attorney would work on. My other friend works for the general counsel production company in LA - technically, she is an assistant (she has a BA in English) but she often drafts agreements (with the attorney's supervision, of course).
I agree that you might want to sit in on a 1st year law class. You might be surprised by what you see. Law school is incredibly intense. I worked all through college as a teaching assistant for up to 6 classes at a time in addition to playing 2 varsity sports and running 3 campus organizations, so believe me when I tell you that there is no way I could have worked AT ALL during my 1L year. Just learning how to read cases took forever. In fact, my school had a set rule that 1Ls were not even allowed to work more than 20 hours per week.
The good news is that some law schools offer a loan repayment assistance program if you go into public service. My law school does this and it means that they will pay a majority of your loans for you if you enter public service upon graduation. The only catch is that if you marry someone whose salary puts you over a certain 'limit', you aren't eligible for the program anymore.
Hope this helps and, of course, feel free to FM me if you have any questions
