Law school-is it worth it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To the PP with an MS in Legal Studies (whatever that is): I've been a lawyer for 20 years, and have worked at 2 very well known Big Law firms, and am now a partner. Your description of a paralegal "career" exists in Fairyland. Most of our best paralegals are bright young college grads who are trying to decide whether to go to law school (or are wisely saving up to do so). 200K a year? Advising clients? Hardly.

Just to clarify.....I am the PP with the Masters in Legal Studies. My original plan wasn't to work as a paralegal. The job fell in my lap. But I am not the poster who suggested that a paralegal made 200K a year. I guess it wouldn't surprise me in the DC area if the paralegal had a Masters or J.D.. But I don't know any paralegals who make that kind of money. I think I was pretty clear. I made $90,000 a year + bonus in Tennessee.

And I'm not sure what you meant by "Advising clients". I would never in a million years have provided legal advice to a client or anyone else. Information? Yes. Advice? Never. I am all too familiar with the risks of UPL. Plus I lack the education and experience to provide legal advice. What I can do is document preparation, trial prep, prep clients for depos and court, communicate with opposing counsel, medical personal, and insurance companies, perform the initial intake interview, research and write case briefs for my supervising attorney, work on the investigative/discovery phase of a case, mediation, ......I could keep going.

A good paralegal is a valuable asset to an attorney. She can free the attorney up to work on things that truly need his attention. And save the client thousands of dollars in legal fees.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Gerry Spence from Univ. of Wyoming is one and he didn't even pass the bar his first try.

Um, try to keep up. Gerry Spence graduated from law school in the 1950s. His experience isn't relevant to today's prospective law students in any way, and that's what many posters are trying to convey -- the legal market has suffered unprecedcented contraction in the past three years, while law schools graduate more and more lawyers with unheard of debt loads.

He retired in 2010. Good lawyers are born not made no matter where they go to law school

[Anonymous]

If you are organized and smart, paralegal is Much smarter career choice than lawyer right now.

I don't agree that being a paralegal wouldd be a smart choice for everyone that wants to be an attorney. A good paralegal is organized, self-motivated, and detail-oriented. I am a pretty good attorney and would be a terrible paralegal. I am not organized at all - my paralegal helps me with that . You need the right skill set for any job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
This is the kind of nonsense you hear ONLY in this area. Personally, I know four lawyers who went to their state university law school and are hugely succesful in their home state. As for your question, unless his heart is really into this, then I would think no he shouldn't go to law school. There are a lot of unemployed lawyers from "top tier" law schools. He might do better getting a Masters in something that will be a better fit for public policy. In any case $90,000 is a lot of debt to start out one's working life and I would pay that off before getting deeper in debt..


You hear this here because this area is so saturated with lawyers, and employers have their pick and will cross prospects off the list if they did not attend a top tier school. Perhaps in Idaho there aren't a whole lot of Harvard Law grads vying for legal jobs there, so state schools will suffice, but not here.

Your friends who are doing well with JDs from state universities - how did they do in law school? Law review & top of the class, or just average, middle-of-the-pack? And which states are you referring to? Someone would really need to be a superstar coming out of U of Miami to get a good job in any major market right now, and I'm not sure OP's brother is going to be that kind of a superstar.


Gerry Spence from Univ. of Wyoming is one and he didn't even pass the bar his first try.

Ok, so who are your other three friends and which state schools did they attend?

[Anonymous]

No, no, no. Not worth the money anymore.

[Anonymous]

Not worth it anymore.Only if you are STUPID and want to carry lots of debt.
Best wishes with your debt!

[Anonymous]

If your brother wants to be a lawyer and is interested in studying the law, then, yes, he should go to law school. Based on what you've told us, though, it sounds like that's not what's motivating your brother. As others have suggested, your brother should wait a few years, try to get a job to pay off some of his debt, get some exposure to law practice, and then decide what to do. And if he ultimately decides to go to law school, the weather should not be the primary factor influencing his school choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

"give legal advise"

The irony drippeth.

Really....please share where in my post I gave "legal advise"....that is, applied legal knowledge to a specific fact pattern. All I did was share my experiences working with lots of attorneys. Some loved practicing. Some absolutely hated it and regretted their decision. I merely offered an alternative. If he loves the law, there are other ways to work in the legal field.

Are you kidding?[/quote]

LOL I wondered the same thing . . .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it depends on what you want out of it. I didn't go to a top tier school (but did go to school in D.C.) I graduated with nearly 200K in debt. I got a job with the feds and got on the income based repayment plan. My loan payments are managable (under $300 a month) and in 8.5 more years the government will forgive my debt (under the public service forgiveness plan). My entire reason to go to law school was to always work for the Feds (although I am not at teh agency I originally wanted to be at). Still, I enjoy my life now and I am happy with the education I got and the friends I made. So for me it worked out (I graduated in 2009).

If one is planning to go to law school becuase they think it is an easy way to make money then I wouldn't go. I also tend to say that if you can't get into a top tier school or aren't offered a good scholarship at a lower school it might not be worth it financially, but again I didn't do either of those things and I think it was still worth it for me.

I think this is really interesting. Maybe the current situation will actully have a positive impact -- namely, it will "force" women to stay in the legal workforce longer instead of what's happened in the past where so many women opt out as soon as their loans are paid off.

[Anonymous]

FYI - legal secretaries in DC get paid MORE than paralegals. Why? The market is saturated with paralegals and there aren't nearly as many people looking for secretarial work. What your brother should do is study to be a legal secretary -- he can start preparing by practicing solitaire and repeating several times daily "I don't do that, that's not in my job description" and "Everything hurts, I have to go home"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

If you are organized and smart, paralegal is Much smarter career choice than lawyer right now.

I don't agree that being a paralegal wouldd be a smart choice for everyone that wants to be an attorney. A good paralegal is organized, self-motivated, and detail-oriented. I am a pretty good attorney and would be a terrible paralegal. I am not organized at all - my paralegal helps me with that . You need the right skill set for any job.

Huh. I have all three of the attributes you described for a good paralegal, yet I am an attorney. Maybe that explains a few things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To the PP with an MS in Legal Studies (whatever that is): I've been a lawyer for 20 years, and have worked at 2 very well known Big Law firms, and am now a partner. Your description of a paralegal "career" exists in Fairyland. Most of our best paralegals are bright young college grads who are trying to decide whether to go to law school (or are wisely saving up to do so). 200K a year? Advising clients? Hardly.

YOU are totally wrong. I worked big law for many years and worked with some fabulous career paralegals who were seasoned professionals with no plans of going to law school, as that WAS their career. What an egotistical post you wrote.

[Anonymous]

Does your brother really want to be a lawyer or does he not know what to do next? There are so many other career paths where he could make equal or greater. I make more than many of my peers who are partners at firms and I work far less hours than they do. I am just saying taht he has so many other options, especially in the business world. He would be better off getting a engineering degree and working iN Silicon Valley!

[Anonymous]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/17/business/law-school-economics-job-market-weakens-tuition-rises.html?pagewanted=5&_r=1&hp

Interesting article on law school economics

[Anonymous]

For many years people have gone to law school because they didn't know what else to do with their lives. Law school -- unlike medical school -- has been a place for young people to stall, grow up, etc. Because the market was good, law school grads could get high-paying jobs, practice for a few years, pay off loans, and then quit the law (either to move into a new profession, become a SAHM, etc.). This downturn in the legal profession should force people to think long and hard before going to law school (which, frankly, I think people should have been doing all along). Perhaps the good news is that we may end up, ultimately, with a much better and more contented profession, rather than what we've seen up until this time: a bunch of lawyers who hate their jobs because they never should have gone to law school in the first place. The bad news is these young people will need to figure out somewhere else to go...