25 y/o $4M Net Worth-should I go to law school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You would be ancient to be a first year!

Um, no.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The issue tactics of law is a stupid way to earn a living.

Been burned by a lawyer?

[Anonymous]

NickScarfo wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don’t go to law school. pls dont give law schools a cent for tuition out of this money. And don’t miss out on 3 good earning years at this point.

Just work hard and rise up in some other field.

I would have done that if I were you.

~ Top biglaw after going to top law school, F*ing exhausted

Agree. Do whatever you want, you’re set.

~ Top Biglaw somehow for my entire career after going to top law school, f*ing exhausted d have been forever but now it’s worse, and after a divorce and some weird career decisions just now at the net worth OP has.

I'm surprised that attorneys would even get married to begin with. Seems like a huge liability. Outside of religious meaning, why would anyone invite the government to define their partnership?

Lol is this for real? OMG def don’t go to law school. EQ too low to really make it in biglaw.

[NickScarfo]

Anonymous wrote:

NickScarfo wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don’t go to law school. pls dont give law schools a cent for tuition out of this money. And don’t miss out on 3 good earning years at this point.

Just work hard and rise up in some other field.

I would have done that if I were you.

~ Top biglaw after going to top law school, F*ing exhausted

Agree. Do whatever you want, you’re set.

~ Top Biglaw somehow for my entire career after going to top law school, f*ing exhausted d have been forever but now it’s worse, and after a divorce and some weird career decisions just now at the net worth OP has.

I'm surprised that attorneys would even get married to begin with. Seems like a huge liability. Outside of religious meaning, why would anyone invite the government to define their partnership?

Lol is this for real? OMG def don’t go to law school. EQ too low to really make it in biglaw.

In a world where divorce is so common and costly, I don't think questioning marriage is bizarre. Of course, I don't discuss this stuff in any professional setting.

[Anonymous]

NickScarfo wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

NickScarfo wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don’t go to law school. pls dont give law schools a cent for tuition out of this money. And don’t miss out on 3 good earning years at this point.

Just work hard and rise up in some other field.

I would have done that if I were you.

~ Top biglaw after going to top law school, F*ing exhausted

Agree. Do whatever you want, you’re set.

~ Top Biglaw somehow for my entire career after going to top law school, f*ing exhausted d have been forever but now it’s worse, and after a divorce and some weird career decisions just now at the net worth OP has.

I'm surprised that attorneys would even get married to begin with. Seems like a huge liability. Outside of religious meaning, why would anyone invite the government to define their partnership?

Lol is this for real? OMG def don’t go to law school. EQ too low to really make it in biglaw.

In a world where divorce is so common and costly, I don't think questioning marriage is bizarre. Of course, I don't discuss this stuff in any professional setting.

Divorce isn’t really common among lawyers. And it’s the splitting up of a household and kids that’s expensive (eg no longer having pooled retirement savings and a joint housing budget), not really the dissolution of marriage.

[Anonymous]

I certainly wouldn't go to law school if the only thing you would want to do with a law degree is big law. There's no guarantee of landing a big law position and, even if you do, big law really sucks if you don't actually want to practice law.

[NickScarfo]

Anonymous wrote:

NickScarfo wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

NickScarfo wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don’t go to law school. pls dont give law schools a cent for tuition out of this money. And don’t miss out on 3 good earning years at this point.

Just work hard and rise up in some other field.

I would have done that if I were you.

~ Top biglaw after going to top law school, F*ing exhausted

Agree. Do whatever you want, you’re set.

~ Top Biglaw somehow for my entire career after going to top law school, f*ing exhausted d have been forever but now it’s worse, and after a divorce and some weird career decisions just now at the net worth OP has.

I'm surprised that attorneys would even get married to begin with. Seems like a huge liability. Outside of religious meaning, why would anyone invite the government to define their partnership?

Lol is this for real? OMG def don’t go to law school. EQ too low to really make it in biglaw.

In a world where divorce is so common and costly, I don't think questioning marriage is bizarre. Of course, I don't discuss this stuff in any professional setting.

Divorce isn’t really common among lawyers. And it’s the splitting up of a household and kids that’s expensive (eg no longer having pooled retirement savings and a joint housing budget), not really the dissolution of marriage.

I'm not sure how useful it is to consider divorce rates by profession. Too many idiosyncratic factors among couples. How is asset division not expensive?

[Anonymous]

OP, I was basically in your situation 20+ years ago, except I didn't inherit until the end of law school. Did Biglaw for a couple of years. I hated it, and didn't have the financial motivation to stay like some people did. Worked at a bunch of low-paying jobs (both law-related and not) because I could afford to. Currently not working because I could also afford to quit when my employer tried to force me back into the office unsafely last fall, and now I have kids to take care of. In your shoes, I would not go to law school. It hasn't paid off for me in the way that it did for people who are more motivated to make money. Do something that makes you happy.

[Anonymous]

Law school is a terrific education that will change the way you see the world and sharpen your analytical skills in new ways. You can do a lot with a law degree, not just biglaw. Public interest law, nonprofits, in-house at a company, litigation, government prosecutor or public defender, politics, or just strike out with your own practice in whichever area interests you. Without financial needs, you are free to use your legal skills to do something you believe in, help the world, change lives, whatever. Do it if you are motivated by the training and the career possibilities, and are willing to work hard because law school is hard. But don't do it if you just want to live a banal life of leisure riding compound interest on funds that you did nothing to earn.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Take some money as an investment in you - to figure out where you get energy. Where are your passions.

Throughout this thread - I have not heard ..... what I really Love is .....
what did you right in your college application? I am sure there was some element of changing the world. Go find that person.

Law School can be great - do you want to do immigration law? Work for the Southern Poverty Law Center? Another part of society that is underserved? [There are students in DC who have learning needs who are 5th year 9th graders - but parents never realized that their children were not getting the services that Federal Laws require DC to provide] You are in the financial position to take your father's hard work, pay it forward, and have a great life.

When you are 50 - and you look back - what do you want to have accomplished?

This. OP, you have the financial freedom to do what many lawyers planned to do when they were idealistic law students, before law school debt and the costs of home ownership and families pushed them into more lucrative areas of legal practice. It's crazy you are only looking at biglaw when you don't even care about biglaw. It sounds like you care more about the prestige of biglaw, but this is ephemeral and superficia, not to mention unnecessary since you're already very wealthy.

[Anonymous]

People are going to respect someone with $4M a lot more if your career is devoted to helping other people, such as being a teacher or a public interest lawyer. Someone with $4M who is working at biglaw will get none of that respect, and will be working like crazy.

[Anonymous]

If you are rich then you will either drop out of the law because you are too rich to tolerate the grind or you will have a fantastic life working at your very own non-profit advocacy org.

[NickScarfo]

Anonymous wrote:
Law school is a terrific education that will change the way you see the world and sharpen your analytical skills in new ways. You can do a lot with a law degree, not just biglaw. Public interest law, nonprofits, in-house at a company, litigation, government prosecutor or public defender, politics, or just strike out with your own practice in whichever area interests you. Without financial needs, you are free to use your legal skills to do something you believe in, help the world, change lives, whatever. Do it if you are motivated by the training and the career possibilities, and are willing to work hard because law school is hard. But don't do it if you just want to live a banal life of leisure riding compound interest on funds that you did nothing to earn.

I absolutely want a career. What's banal or overly leisurely about going into a different industry within the business world? Again, I'm not drawing any income from the inheritance. I'm living on my salary and am reinvesting dividend cash.

I don't even want to buy a primary residence until I know where work will take me more permanently and I have $5M liquid independent of home equity. So, that's like 5-8 years of renting and not using investment income at all.

[NickScarfo]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I was basically in your situation 20+ years ago, except I didn't inherit until the end of law school. Did Biglaw for a couple of years. I hated it, and didn't have the financial motivation to stay like some people did. Worked at a bunch of low-paying jobs (both law-related and not) because I could afford to. Currently not working because I could also afford to quit when my employer tried to force me back into the office unsafely last fall, and now I have kids to take care of. In your shoes, I would not go to law school. It hasn't paid off for me in the way that it did for people who are more motivated to make money. Do something that makes you happy.

Thank you for sharing! I am most happy doing good work, learning, and advancing through the ranks. Of course, I don't need law for any of this.

[Anonymous]

NickScarfo wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

NickScarfo wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

NickScarfo wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don’t go to law school. pls dont give law schools a cent for tuition out of this money. And don’t miss out on 3 good earning years at this point.

Just work hard and rise up in some other field.

I would have done that if I were you.

~ Top biglaw after going to top law school, F*ing exhausted

Agree. Do whatever you want, you’re set.

~ Top Biglaw somehow for my entire career after going to top law school, f*ing exhausted d have been forever but now it’s worse, and after a divorce and some weird career decisions just now at the net worth OP has.

I'm surprised that attorneys would even get married to begin with. Seems like a huge liability. Outside of religious meaning, why would anyone invite the government to define their partnership?

Lol is this for real? OMG def don’t go to law school. EQ too low to really make it in biglaw.

In a world where divorce is so common and costly, I don't think questioning marriage is bizarre. Of course, I don't discuss this stuff in any professional setting.

Divorce isn’t really common among lawyers. And it’s the splitting up of a household and kids that’s expensive (eg no longer having pooled retirement savings and a joint housing budget), not really the dissolution of marriage.

I'm not sure how useful it is to consider divorce rates by profession. Too many idiosyncratic factors among couples. How is asset division not expensive?

It's expensive to lose half your joint assets but only because you had joint assets in the first place. The flip side of the coin is that it's VERY expensive to be single. The best financial outcome is a happy marriage, not being single.