Did anyone else hate law school?
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Anonymous
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Law school was only good for the degree for me. I didn't learn a single thing during my time there. I had learned how to think and write like a lawyer in high school, because all that means is to think analytically and write to communicate. You don't need to go to law school to learn that. I learned all substantive law in bar review. Law school was 3 completely pointless years of my life, and the degree is not worth the money.
That said, I know work for the government and love it. The practice is interesting and the people are collegial. |
Anonymous
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I'm now 20 years out of law school and can barely remember most of it - which is a good thing. It wasn't a waste of time (graduated summa cum laude), but then again, it wasn't the best time of my life either (not much of a social life because I was studying all the time). For many years after undergrad and law school, I dreamed of a do-over; a chance to do both experiences with the knowledge I had. This was obviously impossible, but after a while I finally realized why I felt that way - I didn't take advantage of everything that LIFE (not law school or undergrad) had to offer.
Anyone who stumbles across this thread and feels the same way as the OP should realize one thing - you only get ONE LIFE. It's your life to live - not anyone else's. Stop letting your parents, friends, professors, etc... dictate how you should live your life. You should succeed at something because YOU want to do it, not because it's expected of you by someone else. That only leads to a continuous craving for external validation, which I believe the OP suffers from to a certain degree. The happy ending of my story is that today I'm general counsel of a Fortune 100 company subsidiary. Big house, beautiful wife and kids, and a few million in the bank. I achieved all of these things in spite of my law school experience, not because of it. They are the result of hard work and careful planning - both of which were due to my own efforts, not because of the friends I made during a very short period in my life. |
Anonymous
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I don't know how old this post is, but I remember looking at this post in the first year of law school. Everything that the OP said had hit too much to home for me. I was extremely miserable in law school. I had only one friend who I rarely saw, and because the cliques formed quickly it didn't take long for me to realize that I was going to be deemed the socially awkward girl in law school for the rest of the three years ....and I was.
Unlike the OP who actually is an introvert, I am both an introvert and a sufferer of social anxiety. I had been a loner most of my life, but I was able to get away with it because the schools were really big and nobody seemed to notice me. My law school was pretty much the "everyone knows everyone" kind of law school and it was HARD. I remember coming home from school crying because of how alone I was. My grades weren't all that great either. Nobody in my family is truly familiar with reading cases, or law school work. I had abysmal grades first year, but my grades steadily improved after serious tutoring and encouraging from my family. Law was never my choice. I never wanted to be a lawyer but I was pressured into doing this profession. I really wish I had branched somewhere in to the medical field. Not a Doctor but maybe a nurse. That would have been nice. Many of the students in my law school first year seemed like they were trying to hard to fit in but maybe just me being pessimistic. I am not one to approach people or start casual conversation. but yes, of all the things I did in law school, it was the people I hated first, then the subject. When I went to college, I regained the self confidence that I had lost severely after high school, then when I got out of college and was pressured into going into to law school, I never really lost my self confidence, I was just really depressed an felt very alone. I had never felt as socially awkward as I did in law school. Just glad to be done with that foolishness. I will NEVER let anyone who suffers from the type of social anxiety that I suffer from to go to law school. NOT RECOMMENDED. |
Anonymous
This was like reading my own thoughts. |
Anonymous
Yep. This is law school! For some strange reason, law school attracts these kind of people. |
Anonymous
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Everyone I know hated law school. BigLaw is probably worse. Run far away. Keep running.
I would hate it if one of my kids wanted to go to law school. |
Anonymous
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My neighbor went through law school with a child living at home so I didn’t think there was much of a social scene away at school.
She didn’t seem to complain about cliques or anything. She was able to find work after as well. I actually don’t know what biglaw is. She works for an insurance company so I don’t think that is the same thing, but she was able to find work quickly! |
Anonymous
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OP- It can get better! I also hated law school - both the curriculum and the people. I made a few friends, but most of the people were frat boys and sorority girls I didn’t click with. I did biglaw in nyc and loved it - did corporate work. I focused and studied, worked hard. While there are some shenanigans re boys club, if you work hard and do good work - that goes a long way in biglaw. The partner may first give work to another frat boy, but if that frat boy can’t deliver or is not responsive, they will move on.
Also, clients in nyc were diverse. That matters. Always serve the client - whether that’s your senior associate, partner or ultimate client. Be social but work and biglaw is not about bar reviews or barristers balls. Yes, there is a lot of drinking and socializing but it’s mostly work. Be good at it and move ahead. |
Anonymous
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If you really enjoyed law school, something is wrong with you. The social scene was so weird--it was like people had never consumed alcohol before. There were so many parties that were just people drinking to excess. I had taken time off to work and do graduate school, so it was like a major regression. People were cliquey and unfriendly--I once actually had someone say that I couldn't sit at their table in the cafeteria, and I once heard someone tell another person not to sit next to them in class. It was like middle school with 20-somethings.
But I found people I liked, and it helped that I wanted to go into public service. Classes weren't that hard for me, and I had non-law-school friends in the area, so I had time for a social life that didn't revolve around law school. That's probably what kept me sane. |
Anonymous
Probably yes to question one, and no to question two. Go and practice and see how you like it. If it's an are you enjoy, you might love it. I loved appellate and motion practice, but the constant conflict of litigation was wearing on me. It's nice and all to build a long legal career and be well-known in your legal community, but there are many other valid paths to take. I found myself in gov't and am doing all sorts of interesting things. The skills I learned in law school still have value today. |
Anonymous
| My DH is a senior assiciate at a DC Biglaw firm. He was a little older than the typical law student by a few years and wasn’t a huge fan of a lot of people at his T14 school. He went to a grand total of one bar review night. He made two friends that he still sort of keeps up with. He really likes his firm and the people in it. He enjoys networking at various events and says it is different from law school networking. We’ve become good friends with several people at his firm. All this to say, the Biglaw life (at least at his firm) is far different than law school. |
Anonymous
+1 I know people who did just that--they lived really frugally so they could pay off their loans, worked hard so that they had a good reputation, and then left for a non-profit or the government. And some of us who could have, never went to Biglaw in the first place! And some people didn't plan it, they just worked for a handful of years, realized that they hated it, and figured out how to leave. If you feel like a professional failure because you aren't making as much money but are doing work you like more with people you get along with, that's really on you. |
Anonymous
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I loved law school, but my school doesn't sound like your school. It was a supportive group of people who were not all competing for the same jobs since it had a national draw and many people planned to go back home to practice. The old book, "One L," was nothing at all like my experience.
You say you already have a job lined up, but I hope that when you interviewed, you paid more attention to the people than the prestige of the firm. You are choosing your colleagues and mentors and will spend the vast majority of time with these people for a decade or more of your life. So you better like and respect them. If you don't, start interviewing sooner rather than later and focus on the people. |
Anonymous
The original post was almost 6 years ago. |