Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why don't you try to get a paralegal position in an employment law practice group. Your experience is relevant and you will get a taste of the more "legal" side of what you already do.

OP here. Ideally, I would aim at getting a job at one of the national employment firms -- Jackson Lewis, Seyfarth Shaw, Littler Mendolsohn are some of the ones I am aware of. I think my work experience is relevant and should outweigh any issues with the rank of my school or how I do in law school. I just have to get an interview. You have all given me something to think about, though. Even when I get hired at a big firm I may hate it and it doesn't look like I will get any money from a school to attend so I will owe a lot... #decisionsdecisions

Sorry, but this seems naive. I don't want to be mean, but if you can look at all of the problems with this plan that are staring you in the face and still conclude that it's a worthwhile endeavor...you may not have what it takes to be a good lawyer.

Firms care about grades and law school rank. Period. They would rather hire a 23 year old Harvard law grad who has zero work experience than you for this position. Does that make sense? No. But it is how it works.

This isn't always true once you're past entry-level, but it's true for those right out of school.

I know 10 people who have passed the bar in the past 2 years. Only 1 has a full time, decent paying job in the law field and she lives in Ohio.

I met a guy (3rd year) from georgetown law who said their graduating class is 650! I was sure he meant all three years total was 650 but he said just this one year. Not sure where all those folks will go for employment....

I've been in practice for 10 years. Totally agree with 12:51. And even if you succeed, get into a great school and are ranked top of your class, I still don't know that I'd tell you to go to law school. I'm happy, but it's a lot harder at this point in time for people coming right out of school.

the market is tough, but you don't have to be #1 at other schools not mentioned (say, MD law or George Mason Law or Richmond, just to list a few regional schools) to get a job making BigLaw market. top 20% and a clerkship might do it. Maybe not a Skadden or Cravath, but a McGuire Woods/Holland & Knight type BigLaw job.

12.51 is spot on.

(Though I'd add that the job market was better when he was in school, so even though he managed to succeed, he may not have in the current market.)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why don't you try to get a paralegal position in an employment law practice group. Your experience is relevant and you will get a taste of the more "legal" side of what you already do.

OP here. Ideally, I would aim at getting a job at one of the national employment firms -- Jackson Lewis, Seyfarth Shaw, Littler Mendolsohn are some of the ones I am aware of. I think my work experience is relevant and should outweigh any issues with the rank of my school or how I do in law school. I just have to get an interview. You have all given me something to think about, though. Even when I get hired at a big firm I may hate it and it doesn't look like I will get any money from a school to attend so I will owe a lot... #decisionsdecisions

So you would go to a law school for a hypothetical interview? Because everything else *should* then somehow fall into place. You work in HR, how can you be so clueless?

No, I would go to law school so I can eventually be a lawyer at one of these firms, not just for an interivew. Duh! Unless you know of a way I can be an attorney without 3 years of schooling? If so, tell me.

Also to the PP who said the firms won't hire me bc of school, you must have missed the part where I talked about my REAL WORLD experience. A firm is going to just throw my resume in the garbage because I didn't go to the right school, even though I have actual experience in the area they practice in? I think some of you are just overly negative and maybe have failed yourselfs professionally, I don't know. I don't mean to be rude...

Hi OP. I was you, sort of, in the late 90s. About 30, working in the (at that time) booming internet industry, interested in law school. My plan, much like yours, was to work for a firm that was taking the lead in the interesting and challenging internet law issues. I figured my REAL WORLD experience and true understanding of the internet would be an asset that firms wouldn't be able to resist. And that the (at the time) $100K starting salary in biglaw firms would double the $50K I was making.

It worked out for me, but not in the way I expected, and I think the lessons I learned might be helpful to you:

FIRST: Firms DO NOT CARE about your prior experience. I went to Georgetown's evening program and was surrounded by people with incredibly impressive resumes. The only person whose prior work mattered when it came to getting a job was the Navy guy who wound up a JAG. In the 15 years since, the only time I've ever seen prior experience matter is for very specialized fields like lobbying, where your prior experience qualifies you in a way that law school doesn't. Working in HR is simply irrelevant, except that you will be more than 10 years older than every other applicant, which on balance is a negative rather than a positive.

SECOND: Firms care only about your law school and your standing within the law school. You cannot expect to get hired by a decent firm unless you went to a top law school. If that law school is not Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Chicago, NYU, or maybe one or two others, you also need to be in the top 15%. If you go to Georgetown and want to work in DC you need to be in the top 15%, maybe stretched to 20% but no further. For GW you need to be in the top 10 percent. For AU you need to be in the top 3%. Any other school you need to be #1, and even then it may be a long shot.

THIRD: You're not likely to get into the schools you're hoping for with those scores. If you take the LSAT again and get 170+ you might be able to get Georgetown to look at you. You need at least 10 more points for GW, at least 160 for AU.

For me, it worked out because: (1) I had a higher LSAT score (high 160s -- but getting in was easier back then) and undergrad GPA (3.8); (2) I went to the highest ranked school in my city; (3) I paid for a good part of law school with stock options, lowering the risk of crippling loans if the plan didn't work out; and (4) I did very very well in law school. You don't have (1), which means you can't get (2), you don't have (3), and nobody can count on (4). You need to give up the dream, sorry.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why don't you try to get a paralegal position in an employment law practice group. Your experience is relevant and you will get a taste of the more "legal" side of what you already do.

OP here. Ideally, I would aim at getting a job at one of the national employment firms -- Jackson Lewis, Seyfarth Shaw, Littler Mendolsohn are some of the ones I am aware of. I think my work experience is relevant and should outweigh any issues with the rank of my school or how I do in law school. I just have to get an interview. You have all given me something to think about, though. Even when I get hired at a big firm I may hate it and it doesn't look like I will get any money from a school to attend so I will owe a lot... #decisionsdecisions

Sorry, but this seems naive. I don't want to be mean, but if you can look at all of the problems with this plan that are staring you in the face and still conclude that it's a worthwhile endeavor...you may not have what it takes to be a good lawyer.

Firms care about grades and law school rank. Period. They would rather hire a 23 year old Harvard law grad who has zero work experience than you for this position. Does that make sense? No. But it is how it works.

OP - Go to law school part time, if you stay employed and your current employer is footing the bill. Often times if they are paying, they will have a clause stating that you must work for them for a set period upon graduation.

Otherwise listen to the other posters.

Anonymous wrote:And here we have a classic example of the person who was always told they were special, could do no wrong, anyone who disagreed with them is mean and miserable themselves, can do anything they want in life because they are so amazing...etc.

+100

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why don't you try to get a paralegal position in an employment law practice group. Your experience is relevant and you will get a taste of the more "legal" side of what you already do.

OP here. Ideally, I would aim at getting a job at one of the national employment firms -- Jackson Lewis, Seyfarth Shaw, Littler Mendolsohn are some of the ones I am aware of. I think my work experience is relevant and should outweigh any issues with the rank of my school or how I do in law school. I just have to get an interview. You have all given me something to think about, though. Even when I get hired at a big firm I may hate it and it doesn't look like I will get any money from a school to attend so I will owe a lot... #decisionsdecisions

So you would go to a law school for a hypothetical interview? Because everything else *should* then somehow fall into place. You work in HR, how can you be so clueless?

No, I would go to law school so I can eventually be a lawyer at one of these firms, not just for an interivew. Duh! Unless you know of a way I can be an attorney without 3 years of schooling? If so, tell me.

Also to the PP who said the firms won't hire me bc of school, you must have missed the part where I talked about my REAL WORLD experience. A firm is going to just throw my resume in the garbage because I didn't go to the right school, even though I have actual experience in the area they practice in? I think some of you are just overly negative and maybe have failed yourselfs professionally, I don't know. I don't mean to be rude...

Yes, OP, this is EXACTLY it! Your profound insight has convinced me. You SHOULD go to law school! Don't listen to these harpies who are actual lawyers and understand the legal market- they're just big old party poopers.

A firm is going to just throw my resume in the garbage because I didn't go to the right school, even though I have actual experience in the area they practice in?

YES. Your HR experience is not going to be the same sort of asset as, say, an advanced science degree would be for an aspiring patent attorney or Wall Street experience for an aspiring securities attorney. Please listen to the folks on here -- it is extremely difficult for a graduate of a lower-tier law school to get any job, much less one at a firm. In this market, even graduates of top schools cannot find jobs, and experienced attorneys are having difficulty moving into new jobs, even with on-point experience.

I wholeheartedly agree with PPs that you should work as a paralegal before considering law school. After you have done several major document reviews, witnessed the personalities involved, and viewed the work first hand, then you can decide whether you really want to be an attorney, or whether you are simply feeling stuck in your current job and practicing law sounds like a good solution.

And here we have a classic example of the person who was always told they were special, could do no wrong, anyone who disagreed with them is mean and miserable themselves, can do anything they want in life because they are so amazing...etc.

Anonymous wrote:OP, definitely go to law school if you like the idea of going into 6 figure debt and then graduating to find that you can make . . . approximately what you make right now in HR.

I agree with the PP who advised looking into HR at a government agency if you are looking to make more $ and/or have more opportunities for promotion.

No PP...can't you see?! OP's REAL LIFE experience in HR means he's going to have 6 figure salary offers being thrown at him. They'll be lining up outside his/her door begging him/her to work for their company.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why don't you try to get a paralegal position in an employment law practice group. Your experience is relevant and you will get a taste of the more "legal" side of what you already do.

OP here. Ideally, I would aim at getting a job at one of the national employment firms -- Jackson Lewis, Seyfarth Shaw, Littler Mendolsohn are some of the ones I am aware of. I think my work experience is relevant and should outweigh any issues with the rank of my school or how I do in law school. I just have to get an interview. You have all given me something to think about, though. Even when I get hired at a big firm I may hate it and it doesn't look like I will get any money from a school to attend so I will owe a lot... #decisionsdecisions

So you would go to a law school for a hypothetical interview? Because everything else *should* then somehow fall into place. You work in HR, how can you be so clueless?

No, I would go to law school so I can eventually be a lawyer at one of these firms, not just for an interivew. Duh! Unless you know of a way I can be an attorney without 3 years of schooling? If so, tell me.

Also to the PP who said the firms won't hire me bc of school, you must have missed the part where I talked about my REAL WORLD experience. A firm is going to just throw my resume in the garbage because I didn't go to the right school, even though I have actual experience in the area they practice in? I think some of you are just overly negative and maybe have failed yourselfs professionally, I don't know. I don't mean to be rude...

On what planet do you live? People's resumes with "real world experience" - and educational credentials to boot - are thrown into garbage all the time. But somehow you are confident that your previous career, in which you made unimpressive sallary (i.e. didn't excel) is going to overweigh your mediocre credentials, at a firm of your choice. And this is what you are willing to bank 150k and 3 years on?

From everything you wrote here, it appears that you are not very smart, and you are never going to be very successful, in anything. On the top of it, you are clueless and arrogant. But sure, go ahead, I don't care.