NWR: Law School

I'm thinking about it. Any girls who are currently in it or have gone through it who might be able to FM me some guidance? Good schools to consider, duration, etc. Specifically real estate law, but any input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

my boss is at Touro. she just completed her 3rd year and has one more to go, she goes part time.

This is not a good time to go to law school b/c of the job market. Last year NY churned out something like 10k lawyers and MANY of them remain unemployed or had to find jobs outside of the law. Many of my friends who graduated in the top 10% and were recruited to 'biglaw' have now been laid off completely.

My suggestion if you REALLLLLLY want to go is to DO IT CHEAP. In other words, if you have the lsat and gpa to get into a tier 1 take a scholarship from a tier 2 instead (and make sure that the school has decent terms as far as KEEPING the scholarship i.e. staying in the top half or third of the class and not top 10% etc). Also, there is a CUNY law school.

Real estate specifically is a hard game right now because there are MANY unemployed lawyers who will try and do closings for cheaper. Personally, I have my own real estate and criminal practice but still have to supplement it with contract work/ document review gigs with big law firms b/c despite the fact that I worked in real estate even before law school there are still plenty of inexperienced out of work attys to undercut me.

Best of luck though (and sorry for the sort of grim response) but when I was in your position I had no one to ask (I come from more of a medical field family) and I went to an overpriced law school thinking I would get a better job b/c of it's 'ranking' and that just wasn't true.

I went to Touro (evening part-time program) You dont pick a specialty really.....you have to take required class and then only get a few choices along the way.

Did you take the LSAT's????? start there and see how you do because that will narrow where you can go. I didn't do so good and thats how I ended up at Touro. In the end was glad that where I went because the program is just as good as other schools but it just doesn't have the reputation that say NYU has. Plus I me DH during my first year.


I wouldn't worry about the job market in the legal field because by the time you get done school the market will have changed. You are at least 3 and maybe 4 years from graduating depending on what program you do and then another few months to take the bar....so an actual attorney job would be far off.

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Posted by candybride123

This is not a good time to go to law school b/c of the job market. Last year NY churned out something like 10k lawyers and MANY of them remain unemployed or had to find jobs outside of the law. Many of my friends who graduated in the top 10% and were recruited to 'biglaw' have now been laid off completely.

My suggestion if you REALLLLLLY want to go is to DO IT CHEAP. In other words, if you have the lsat and gpa to get into a tier 1 take a scholarship from a tier 2 instead (and make sure that the school has decent terms as far as KEEPING the scholarship i.e. staying in the top half or third of the class and not top 10% etc). Also, there is a CUNY law school.

Real estate specifically is a hard game right now because there are MANY unemployed lawyers who will try and do closings for cheaper. Personally, I have my own real estate and criminal practice but still have to supplement it with contract work/ document review gigs with big law firms b/c despite the fact that I worked in real estate even before law school there are still plenty of inexperienced out of work attys to undercut me.

Best of luck though (and sorry for the sort of grim response) but when I was in your position I had no one to ask (I come from more of a medical field family) and I went to an overpriced law school thinking I would get a better job b/c of it's 'ranking' and that just wasn't true.

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No, I really appreciate the 'grim' response. I know it's not the greatest time out there for career changes, especially anything real estate related. FH was mentioning to me how a coworker of his, his wife went to law school for real estate law and does like 2 closings a month out of their home and that it's 'easy money'. Which is basically what I would consider...part time law for supplemental income once we have a family. So have to weigh the pros and cons of such a pricey endeavor vs. the return if it's not going to be a high powered long term career.

I guess the real problem is I haven't figured out what I want to be when I grow up yet lol.

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Posted by seawedding

The surge of unemployed lawyers has me reconsidering my choice to enter law school in Fall 2010. I am taking the LSATS in the fall so that I have the option. I looked into working for a school so that I could take advantage of a tuition initiative type of program and get some sort of reduced rate but it seems as if these programs do not apply to graduate-level programs.

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I seriously dont think the legal field has been hit any worse then many other fields. There will always be new lawyers coming into the field and I think it is more of a shift of fields within the legal community.

If you do bankruptcy law you are doing great right now....also attorneys that specialize in real estate foreclosure are also doing good. Like I said if you start in 2010 you wont be complete until 2013. The job market will be different by then. A recession is actually the best time to go back to school but it is also the most competitive as many more people are applying.

In the area CUNY at Queens college is the cheapest but I really only suggest that school if you want to go into public interest law as that is what they are known for.

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Posted by candybride123

This is not a good time to go to law school b/c of the job market. Last year NY churned out something like 10k lawyers and MANY of them remain unemployed or had to find jobs outside of the law. Many of my friends who graduated in the top 10% and were recruited to 'biglaw' have now been laid off completely.

My suggestion if you REALLLLLLY want to go is to DO IT CHEAP. In other words, if you have the lsat and gpa to get into a tier 1 take a scholarship from a tier 2 instead (and make sure that the school has decent terms as far as KEEPING the scholarship i.e. staying in the top half or third of the class and not top 10% etc). Also, there is a CUNY law school.

Real estate specifically is a hard game right now because there are MANY unemployed lawyers who will try and do closings for cheaper. Personally, I have my own real estate and criminal practice but still have to supplement it with contract work/ document review gigs with big law firms b/c despite the fact that I worked in real estate even before law school there are still plenty of inexperienced out of work attys to undercut me.

Best of luck though (and sorry for the sort of grim response) but when I was in your position I had no one to ask (I come from more of a medical field family) and I went to an overpriced law school thinking I would get a better job b/c of it's 'ranking' and that just wasn't true.

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I agree. I went to an out of state law school and was lucky enough to land a 'midLaw' gig. Unfortunately, I am now one of many laid off NY attorneys, but was lucky enough to save up money for the wedding.

You don't concentrate on a specific practice in law school, so you could arguably become any type of lawyer after you graduate. The problem really is racking up $100k+ in debt. So while you can do closings out of your house, having to pay $1000+ every month for student loans, on top of all the other bills you have, really eats into a lot of your profit. So, if you really want to go, definitely try to do it as cheaply as possible. That being said, I actually like practicing law, but I have many law school friends who now regret becoming lawyers. HTH

Ugh... if I could go back in time I would absolutely NOT go to law school and I would have gone to CUNY if I was gonna go because it is so much cheaper. I am going to graduate with a LOT in loans and no matter what job I get it will be years upon years before it's paid off.

But I will say, in your case, I would NOT do it because you want to use it as a part-time back-up plan in your future. Really, I say this to anyone who wants to go to law school, my advice is do not go to law school unless you really want to practice law. Otherwise in my opinion it is not worth all the expense, time and HARD WORK that's involved.

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Posted by DWKSwed

Ugh... if I could go back in time I would absolutely NOT go to law school and I would have gone to CUNY if I was gonna go because it is so much cheaper. I am going to graduate with a LOT in loans and no matter what job I get it will be years upon years before it's paid off.

But I will say, in your case, I would NOT do it because you want to use it as a part-time back-up plan in your future. Really, I say this to anyone who wants to go to law school, my advice is do not go to law school unless you really want to practice law. Otherwise in my opinion it is not worth all the expense, time and HARD WORK that's involved.

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I agree that I wouldnt go for a part time job in the future kinda thing. DH & I both went to law school at the same time. Combined we have over 250K in law school loans. THank god we both have good jobs....he is still in finance and I have a great job doing construction/legal consulting and I get to work from home. But we are house hunting and because of our loans we will probably never get approved for a mortgage above 300K. If it wasnt for our loans we could get a much bigger and better home.

I will never talk someone out of going to law school. I went back to school at the age of 31 so you can do it at anytime but just make sure you know what you are getting into financially.

i know nothing about law school......i jst wanted to say u have a great way with wrds and i think u would be a great lawyer..

and also i will prob need one in the future and it would begreat to have one u know

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Posted by gina409

i know nothing about law school......i jst wanted to say u have a great way with wrds and i think u would be a great lawyer..

and also i will prob need one in the future and it would begreat to have one u know

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Gina, I would be honored to represent you one day!!!!

Seriously, me and FH are Vincent LaGardia Gambini and Mona Lisa Vito personified....well, even more personified lol. We've both always said we wanted to go to law school...it's just where do you draw the line with practicality and dreams?

I've been itching to go back to school ever since I graduated 2 years ago...it's come back tenfold since my job situation went in the crapper. It's just really tough, because what I LOVE isn't practical....linguistics. Job prospects for that is either go live with a tribe and pick apart their language, or become an ESL teacher, which would probably make my head explode because I am very, very opinionated on that subject. So it's like...what's the best option? Go back to school for something a little more stable, go back to school for something you love but no prospects, or do nothing and stay miserable?

Ehh, maybe I'll just pop out a few kids and make FH worry about it

i think if u really nt it..u should go for it...worst that can happen is u go and realize its ot foru..u dont wan to wonder what if


and for the record fh loves when i d the sene with the deer and the bullet from that movie...i get out my best quueens itaan and say the whole thing....cracks his irish a$$ right up

I graduated last year from New York Law School, just got admitted and and am going for a Tax masters at NYLS.

Right now it is hard in the legal market, in any job market really, but in my opinion having a JD is an invaluable tool that will be an asset at most jobs you would go to. I currently work in a small firm in the city, I know people who were hired at the big firms and are worried now, and then of course there are the loans.

However, in 3 years, who knows where the market will be?

I know right now there is a big call for Tax and Bankruptcy lawyers, but in law school you dont have to specialize unless you want to.

I would echo some of the other sentiments, look into which school will give you the best scholarship, and the state schools where it may be less expensive. I am looking at ridiculous amounts of loans right now, but its a trade off

I am not sure where the legal market will be in 3 years. Right now not to be grim it is not good. Many law firms are laying off associates and some are going under. Real estate is not a good field right now, but you do not have to pick a field you want to practice in until after you get out of law school.

However, after practicing you will realize you either like being a lawyer or you don't. I realized I do not like it and I am getting out of the field, but my sister practices defense med mal and loves it!

Also, I agree with the above posts look at the costs of school. Some of my co-workers have $125,00-200,000 in student loans! I went to a state school even though I paid out of state tuition my loans are not anywhere near this amount.

No matter what people tell you its up to you - good luck on whatever you decide. If you want to go to law school you should go

If you are interested in real estate but not sure if you want to spent the time and money on law school, have you thought about working for a title company or for a property management company doing their closings as a closing coordinator?

I have been an attorney for 6 years, and the ups and downs even in this short amount of time have been insane. I do real estate right now and NO ONE has a safe job. I work at one of the largest firms in the world. There are so many unemployed Harvard Law grads right now it is scary, not to even begin talking about the dozens (well, hundreds) of other law schools that are out there. My sister is currently in law school and she has been telling me that no one is getting jobs, internships, etc. She is now considering moving after law school to another state just so she has better job prospects.

Then again, the downs always come back up. So you never know. I am just trying to stay employed long enough to ride it out!

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Posted by Tracey1979

I disagree. I have been practicing law for 5 years. By the time you apply and get in, go for 3 years, and get out, the market will turn around, I am confident.

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I agree with this. I am currently studying for the Bar and even though it is the worst year to be entering the market it should be fine in a year and definitely will be good for you.

You don't really specialize in law school. Just take a bunch of courses in subjects you enjoy (aside from requirements) and then try to intern in the field.

I would apply to all law schools in the NY area and once getting accepted narrow it down by $, rank, location, alumni, ect...

Good Luck!!
GO FOR IT!