1-2 year paralegal before law school

[Anonymous]

All great advice. Thank you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I got a job as a legal secretary at Holland and Knight back in the late 90s, with just a BA from a top college. I did it with a plan to do it for 1 year, while I applied to law school. I was technically underemployed, but I’m glad I did it.

Turns out I hated lawyering or at least what I saw of it; most of the lawyers seemed miserable. Even the senior ones.

I went after that and got an entry level job in sales and marketing after that and then got an mba. Have had a successful corporate career but am VERY glad I dodged the lawyer/ law school bullet by trying it first.

To be fair, Holland & Knight STILL has a horrible reputation as a place to work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I got a paralegal job for a big DC-based firm straight out of college. It was easy. I wrote directly to an attorney that I wanted to work for (very niche area) and she hired me. There were a dozen others at the firm in the same situation. All of us just trying to explore law before committing to law school. I ended up opting for a different path, because I found out it wasn't for me. Great use of a year instead of diving straight in.

My son has just submitted his law school applications and has the stats and other qualifications for a T14 law school. He has been planning to defer for 1-2 years in order to get some real world experience. He has just started setting up informational conversations with a few attorneys to get advice. But in looking for litigation paralegal positions in DC, what he is seeing is the requirement to have 5-10 years experience first.

Is this just the AI impact? Where are all the entry level jobs? Is there seasonal hiring? Have those vanished? Do law firms now want only career paralegals? DC's internships during his college years have all been law-related, but are nonprofit and state governmental experiences.

Thanks for advice!

Depends upon which law schools make an offer of admission, whether or not your son should defer attending law school for a paralegal position.

What are your son's LSAT score & GPA ? To which Top 14 law schools did he apply ?

If cost of attendance is the major concern, then he may want to apply below the Top 14 law schools in order to compete for a full tuition scholarship at a law school ranked among the top 30 or so, but not Top 14.

[Anonymous]

BigLaw firms definitely still hire folks right out of college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I got a paralegal job for a big DC-based firm straight out of college. It was easy. I wrote directly to an attorney that I wanted to work for (very niche area) and she hired me. There were a dozen others at the firm in the same situation. All of us just trying to explore law before committing to law school. I ended up opting for a different path, because I found out it wasn't for me. Great use of a year instead of diving straight in.

My son has just submitted his law school applications and has the stats and other qualifications for a T14 law school. He has been planning to defer for 1-2 years in order to get some real world experience. He has just started setting up informational conversations with a few attorneys to get advice. But in looking for litigation paralegal positions in DC, [i]what he is seeing is the requirement to have 5-10 years experience first.

Is this just the AI impact? Where are all the entry level jobs? Is there seasonal hiring? Have those vanished? Do law firms now want only career paralegals? DC's internships during his college years have all been law-related, but are nonprofit and state governmental experiences.

Thanks for advice!

This is for regular career paralegals. Top firms still hire recent grads for one or two year periods - I just snagged two for top grads at UVA at White & Case and Covington & Burling - but the applicant has to have a strong resume. Your kid needs to go to their college career office and also work current professors for ideas and LOCs.

Accurate ^^. Even DOJ does this.

[Anonymous]

He’s going to be a lawyer for the rest of his life. Suggest he do something different and fun. Best advice my property prof ever gave was to be a lifeguard for 1st year summer bc after 2nd year you have to work in firm and then it never stops. (Thank you prof Ernst!!)