Law School Discussion

It partly depends on how many people who were accepted actually enroll.  I was waitlisted at my top choice school last year and didn't get in (thank god I had already enrolled someplace else as a safety net).  I heard that, because of the economy, practically everyone who was accepted did actually enroll, so nobody on the wait list got in.  Fortunately, I did well at the school I went to and can transfer to the other school for the fall.  The hardest thing is that you often don't find out if you got in off the wait list until just a couple weeks before school starts.  If you get in somewhere else, I'd recommend holding yourself a seat just in case.

Quote from: Remittitur on April 12, 2010, 10:38:37 PM

Much of the answer might best rest on you.  If what you're looking for is a transition into a legal or quasi-legal position, there are many advantages to a part-time position.  Conversely, if you're seeking a stronger break with your current life, the advantages of the full-time option can be stronger.  Your experience at the court might prove quite valuable, for several reasons.  Just be careful not to show up your Civ Pro professor.  = :  )

Haha - good point about the Civ Pro prof.  There are several people in my class who work at the court and some have tried to point out things that the prof got wrong.  It wasn't pretty.

That's a good idea.  I'm definitely going to file an extension and do my homework, like I should have done months ago.  I do some freelance PR and marketing consulting, but mostly freelance business writing and editing.  I worked at a PR agency for a few years before that.  Now I do a lot of ghostwriting business articles for entrepreneurs who want to gain visibility in their industry but can't write to save their lives.  Believe me, there are thousands of them out there.

Many areas offer low income free tax help too. You may want to look into that. I think they based it on net, so you'd be ok. What type of work do you do? Lawncare,delivery, construction,etc?

I didn't know that places like H&R block have insurance - I've always done them myself.  By the time I pay the taxes, my income is disgustingly low.  I've been procrastinating because I've been so freaked out about how much I'll have to pay, even after all my deductions.  Maybe I'll file for an extension and go that route. Whatever their fee is will be worth it for peace of mind.  Thanks for the advice - I really appreciate it.

Screw that. Don't feel that you have to pick between jail or debt. Just get a tax pro to help. I believe that H&R block has insurance where if they mess up its on their heads and not yours.

Could you afford that? I did contract work in the past, and sometimes the gross looks great but the net is pennies on the dollar. Been there, done that brother. 

Quote from: chi2009 on April 14, 2010, 01:01:03 PM

I am concerned because I have several 1099s for contracting work I did and used a home office and am deducting a lot of expenses related to that.  Obviously, I want to deduct as much as I can but I also want to be sure I can back everything up if it's reviewed.  Turbo Tax seems pretty liberal with the deductions it allows and I don't have enough accounting knowledge to know if it's all actually legit.  Guess I'll just bite the bullet and write a big check to uncle sam.

I'm a 32-year old 1L and there are a lot of people my age and older at my school.  I did not quit my job - I go part time in the evening, which only takes one extra year.  I think it's worth the extra year since I won't have nearly as much debt as I would if I quit my job to go full time.  I know from my undergrad and grad student loans that a lot of debt severely limits your options.  The evening program and older students have a different culture than the day program and younger students, and it gets harder and harder to relate to 22 years old right out of college when they insist on complaining about how hard their life is even though many of them have never even had a job.  But the camaraderie among the evening students is pretty solid and helps a lot.  

It's extremely difficult and you have to be totally committed and disciplined.  Believe me, you will gain exceptional time management and coping skills.  No one who has not gone through this has any idea what it's like - my current employer seems to regard this as just some hobby I picked up.  So be prepared to stand your ground and do what you need to do to succeed.  It makes no sense to pay more than $100K for a legal career and then compromise your future by worrying about keeping your friends and family happy.  A lot of people at my school who started out as evening students eventually transitioned into the day program and gave up their full-time jobs, either because of the stress or because they got part-time clerkship.  If you already have a job in the legal field, you may be better off just sticking with that.  

I got a merit scholarship because I made the dean's list my first semester, but it only covers tuition.  Still, it's better than nothing.  There are tons of scholarships out there - you just have to take the time to research them and fill out all the applications.  It's very time consuming, but worth it if it ends up saving you $100K or more.  Ultimately, I decided that if I didn't go to law school, I would probably regret it years later because it's always what I wanted to do anyway.  I just got distracted by the corporate world that paid me pretty well, so it was kind of hard to bite the bullet and go back to school.  If you really want to do it, you'll make it work.  If you're on the fence about it, I'd think long and hard before making the investment.  Once you start and pay the hefty first year's tuition, it will be really hard to quit.