Anonymous wrote:No one mentioned the bad end of the law school spectrum. She could graduate with $250k in student loan debt and 1) end up in the same career after undergrad but missing 3 years work experience, or 2) stuck in ignominious document review jobs clicking a mouse for 60 hrs a week, having zero prospects for actual attorney work, and worrying if AI will take away all the next projects.

This is exactly why I say have a plan.

No one mentioned the bad end of the law school spectrum. She could graduate with $250k in student loan debt and 1) end up in the same career after undergrad but missing 3 years work experience, or 2) stuck in ignominious document review jobs clicking a mouse for 60 hrs a week, having zero prospects for actual attorney work, and worrying if AI will take away all the next projects.

It varies a lot. My sister and I are both attorneys. She's a litigator, I'm a transactional attorney. She's in court all the time, I work from home and write all day.

My very particular job is all about tiny details. I do well because I can remember the niche exceptions to the rules.

I am also the first lawyer in my family. When people ask me for advice about whether they should go to law school, I always say, have a plan.

It doesn’t make sense to just think I’ll go to law school, the get a big law job and ride into the sunset… you might not get the job, and if you do, you might hate it or not be cut out for the grueling hours and minutiae. And don’t just think, oh I’ll just do big law until I pay off my debt… lifestyle creep is very real and it’s hard to find a good off-ramp.

Now that I’m in my mid-40s, I only know a few people who stuck with big law and now make tons and tons of money as partners. Most of them are men, and they all still work insane hours and have a lot of stress. The happiest lawyers I know are senior level directors at non profits they love, lawyers who started their own firms in specialized fields, or lobbyists.

They are all miserable. No thanks.

Thank you all so much. This is tremendously helpful