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Re: why does everyone want to be a lawyer?
 

You make a HUGE assumption by stating, "why does everyone want to be a lawyer?'" I woder why you didn't ask why everyone wants to be a doctor or teacher or fireman?

These are all professions, and if someone wants to be something, they should at least be able to pursue that option.

You also make another huge assumption by stating "Do people think becoming a lawyer is that easy and it just happens like that?" For the most part, I feel that educated people who are considering law school understand the time and work that will be required of them. I also tend to think that most of these people (myself included) understand that such a path in life will be no cake walk.

Yet, you make ANOTHER HUGE assumption by stating "Just because their choice of study didn't work out for them?" Ok, if that were the case, they are off to McDonalds or try their hand at something else. You make it seem as if anyone can get into law school, not true, but yet another one of your great assumptions.

If you haven't noticed I tend to go to law school. Not to be a lawyer in all of my days ahead, but to eventually get into politics or something related.

For the sake of argument, please inform us of your profession....

In my case it just makes sense.

Father's a lawyer... Has a lucrative practice. Son comes in as a partner and incrementally takes over practice and continues with lucrative business.

So I'm not pre-law major.. Sue me:D

Re: why does everyone want to be a lawyer?
 

"That easy?!" I don't think so!

Maybe it's a little easier than it ought to be, given the number of shoddy lawyers who get through, but I wouldn't call it easy. Law school was hard. (What's more, I'm still waiting for my bar exam results, so this is a bit of a touchy subject with me....)

I was a philosophy major in undergrad. The stuff that most interested me was practical, ethical, moral philosophy -- the stuff that involves what happens in people's day to day lives. This stuff doesn't interest a lot of people in abstract analytical philosophy. I thought about getting a Ph.D. in philosophy and trying to get a teaching job, but, as my advisor put it, "there are several thousand philosophy Ph.Ds in the American Philosophical Association, plus who knows how many thousand more driving taxis." A friend of mine told me that for an opening teaching philosophy at a small midwestern liberal arts school, there were over a hundred candidates, some of which had come from very prestigious schools indeed.

So, I thought, "in what field can I continue to explore the sorts of things I like thinking about, hopefully finding an avenue to put it to productive use in the world?" Law seemed the best bet. It could give me opportunities to work with at least some of the things in my wide range of interests.

One thing that made me a lot more interested in law practice was the year I spent working in my law school's civil practice clinic. I worked with three real clients, doing a marital dissolution and two Social Security disability denial appeals. I realized just how important it can be to have a lawyer at the right time. I realized the kind of responsibility that implies for the lawyer. I also started to learn how to handle it when you have a losing case and there's nothing you can do to save it. I became very interested in the client counseling aspects of lawyering.

Aside from the relative brutality of law school, the only downside now is that I still don't know exactly what I'm doing next. It's hard to move to a new area and find a legal job there when nobody there knows you and the market is already pretty full. The economy changed a lot while I was in law school. Still, I'm optimistic. If I'd gone for my Ph.D, I wouldn't be $70,000 in debt, but then, I would be a lot less likely to find a job in the next month.

I don't want to be a lawyer...

It's a noble and potentially a lucrative profession.

Most of the people that "just want to be a ___" without having enough passion for it end up failing. It's funny seeing people getting their JD from some 5th tier Podunk school they applied to last minute - as if they'll be working at Skadden when they graduate.

-Rudey
--I hear if you take one of those online MBA classes you get heavily recruited by Goldman Sachs, so screw law school.

Re: why does everyone want to be a lawyer?
 

Because sharks are becoming an endangered specis?

Sorry, I couldn't resist. Both of my brothers-in-law are lawyers, and really good guys.

Still...

I was going to go for my MBA after graduataion... But I interviewed the retiring Chancellor for the Oklahoma Board of Regents for Higher Education for the news show I work on and he and his PIO show me an article about how MBA's are not worth much in today's job market... So I figure law school is where I'd better go. I've always felt drawn to the profession and feel I have a natural aptitude for it.

And yes, it *can* be a noble profession... But only if you're a noble person.

I want to be a doctor, that is all I've ever wanted to be. I would stay in school like 9 years as an undergrad if that is what it took me to get into med school. I would do anything, because that is the only think I want to do, I can't see myself doing anything else, no matter how hard school is, or how much you make doing something else.

I was looking into law school because I have a degree in history and political science. I was extremely interested in studying constitutional law and taking on cases that involved federal-provincial relations. But I decided on the marketing route instead. I don't think everyone wants to become a lawyer, but if they I'm sure they have a good reason for it, whatever that reason my be.

And from what information did you get all of this total rubbish from? Oh right... you were making blatent, totally uninformed assumptions.

I don't think that anybody on this board who is a pre-law major has EVER implied in any way whatsoever that they wanted to become a lawyer because its "easy." I have no clue where you could possibly have gotten that impression.

Regarding "because their choice of study didn't work out"... Pardon my rudeness, but are you incredibly ignorant or are you incredibly simple-minded? Which is it? On exactly what statistics do you base the fact that the law is actually a last ditch attempt at a career? You obviously know nothing about the time and dedication it takes to become an attorney.

So here are the facts: (1) Not everyone wants to be a lawyer. Perhaps you ought to realize that sweeping statements aren't considered appropiate for the average intelligent person to make. (2) Nobody here thinks that becoming a lawyer is "easy." Nobody here really implied that any career was easy... everything takes time and effort (except for making really silly remarks which you're an expert at). (3) For the majority of law students, it was not a second major after the first attempt at a different major failed. (4) Are you SURE you have a college education?

XOXO,
Annie, who hates oversimplication, generalization, and ignorant people.

Law school definately isn't easy (although i'm personally not doing too bad) , but we've already had a few people drop out.

Overall, applications nationally for law school this year went up 20%; and 40% at my school.
The economy is bad right now, and a lot of people probably don't think they can find jobs. Whereas some people may have worked for a few years then continued their education, they'r'e going straight into it.

A law degree is also something that gives you a lot of options, you can do many things with it and get paid well.

I'm assuming you have something personal going on because your attitude sure doesn't sound too good....

I don't want to be a lawyer... I want to be extremely successful in the field of IT or programming.. that's what I do.. that's what I love.

Some people go for law school because they love that sort of thing.. or because they think they will be super rich ... or they maybe suffered an injustice in their life and want to try to see that it doesn't happen to someone else? I'm sure there are plenty of reasons people want to study law just like there are plenty of reasons people study family medicine, teaching, or communications.

I would go to law school because it would be interesting and a legal background would be nice. But screw it, I want to make films. Also, highlight the letters in peoples signatures.

Because I am a masochist.

Seriously, though, I feel very strongly about the field of Intellectual Property and Information Technology law. There are some pretty badly written laws out there that basically take away all rights of the consumer when it comes to digital media (The Digital Millenium Copyright Act is just a horrid, biased piece of legislation written by people with zero IT knowledge). I was already going for an undgergrad in IT, so I figured why the hell not?

Also, both of my parents are attorneys, as are my mom's sister, and two of my dad's brothers (and some of their kids as well). Its a world I've always been exposed to, and that I feel comfortable with.

I've always wanted to be a lawyer and will die trying. I love the research and dedication behind becoming one and applying it in future situations. I've always been a thinker and heavy arbitrator, love law and politics as well. Looking at law school in Boston, and planning to go into mergers and acquisitions.
1 year from law school and getting ready for the LSAT....Question for anyone who has already taken the LSAT?...what's the best way to prepare, because I'm just using kAPLAN and Princeton Review's study guides.

on preparing for the LSAT
 

I took it more or less cold and did pretty well, but I have a tendency to do well on standardized tests. I probably would have done better had I worked through a lot of example problems first. That was in 1998. I hear they might be changing the test format soon, but that's just rumor. Of course, I don't keep track of it anymore.

People who took the test more than once might have a different view on it than I do.

I think that URL=http://mowabb.com/ai/archives/2002_09_04.html#000886]this person[/URL] is probably on the mark as far as study courses go.

The very first thing to do if you want to start learning a bit about the test is to grab an application packet for the LSAT, even if you're not going to take it in this year's testing cycle. Your school's career services office probably has them. There are sample questions in there.

The LSAC would love to sell you even more sample questions, but I bet that there are plenty of sample questions in the review books.

Review books usually contain some of the questions that have been released by the testing organization, but the bulk of the questions are probably test questions that they made up to emulate the harder test questions that the testing organization is more hesitant to release.

I would say to spend a bit of time familiarizing yourself with the kinds of questions they ask and the different processes you can take to solving the questions they present. Learn their tricks. When you've learned what to watch for and what kinds of approaches you can take, you've done about all you can.

Most people find that the hardest part of the test is the logic / problem-solving section.

Most law schools use a composite of the LSAT score and the undergraduate GPA as their starting point for admissions considerations. There is usually a way to find out just what weight law schools give to each of them -- not all law schools treat them equally. I don't remember where that information is, but I remember it being out there.

Finally, try not to stress about it too much. Focus, but don't stress. This is a 3-5 hour aptitude test. This ain't the bar exam (which is a knowledge and skills test that takes 12 to 18 hours or so of actual test time, depending on the state). For the LSAT, you should spend some time learning your way around the kinds of questions and learning what their tricks are, but you shouldn't make it your life.

Good luck to you!

Maybee its in thing these days lol .

Three lawyers in the family: a brother and two cousins.
My brother first went the corporate route mainly handling my dad's company legal matters. After my dad died, my brother opened a solo practice in a poverty area. He barely squeaks by, but is happier.

1 cousin was a deputy DA in a major crimes division, after years of that he has taken a timeout and is off sailing.

2nd cousin lawyer: actually just finished law school, wants to focus on consumer law and landlord-tenant rights, favoring tenant.

None made or will make the big bucks, my brother was, but he found he wasn't happy amid the country club set.

Those family members entering school are being encouraged to become doctors and shrinks, to deal with the rest of us.

Law School Admissions...
 

EUpolis,
I really liked the information you gave. I was hoping you could give me some more info, as well. Anyone who is willing to give great info. would be GREAT!

1.) I graduated from a Big Ten university with a "B-" average....apparently not good enough for my top choice law schools (not Harvard or anything....Rutgers, Temple, etc.)

2.) My LSATs weren't stellar. I am taking them again-eventually.

3.) I decided to go back to college for my Graduate Degree (once again-at this same said Big Ten university)....and work part-time. Once I get my degree (depending upon where I am living at the time because my boyfriend is transferring to another school for Biology) I am probably going to just work full-time.

4.) If you look at my majors (Sociology and History) you will see that many of the Sociology courses at my university melt into the Criminal Justice degree. I've recognized that I am technically 4-5 classes away from getting my undergraduate degree in Criminal Justice.

5.) Now-my question. Will having military, sorority, and community service experience help me with getting into law school (my better choices) if I have a Graduate Degree alone or should I get my graduate degree and go back for my third bachelor's degree and get a better GPA? What would you-or anyone on here-suggest? I'm hoping to do better on my LSATs but, I am confused. Thank you.

Given that EUpolis provided that info in September 2002 and hasn't posted anything since December 2002, I doubt he'll be giving any more info.

Law schools pretty much just care about grades and LSAT scores. Obviously if you have some crazy unique circumstance like your dad is George Bush or Bill Gates or you are an asylee because Hitler murdered your family or something they will pay attention to that, but otherwise it's really just LSAT and grades.

That being said, do not keep going back to school hoping to get a good enough GPA to get into law school. That's crazy debt and you'll just accumulate more when you go to law school. A third bachelor's wouldn't help much. You need to do really well in your graduate program and much better on your LSATs.

Showing interest in the schools when you apply really helps. At my school borderline applicants who come to tour and ask to do a student interview and meet faculty sometimes get the bump because the school is pretty sure they'll attend.

Also, you need to keep in mind that there are a lot of people applying to law school every single year. I think a lot of people get discouraged because they think "Oh, I got a 155 on my LSATs, that puts me at the 50th percentile" but what you need to realize is that is 50% of the people who took the LSAT, not 50% of the people who will later apply to law school. Personally, I think if you get less than a 150 you might not be the best candidate for law in general, but that's easy for me to say as a third-year student.

If you are removed from undergrad, as in you've already graduated, law schools will look more at what you've done in terms of employment and your LSAT score and less at your GPA.

The GPA is more heavily considered if you are applying right out of college.