1 year later....still glad u went to law school?

[Texas88]

This is a scary thread.

I hope I still want to be a lawyer after my upcoming 1L year.

Anyone have plans to pursue a new and exciting career?

[BigRig]

Wow, couldn't have read a worse thread at a worse time. I'm sure anxiety and second-guessing is setting in for a lot of will-be 1Ls as we are just two months away.  Perhaps we'll hear some positive experiences (not that I put creedence in what others say here).

It is of my opinion that if you don't make the degree work for you and what you want out of life, you'll be unhappy. You might have to make sacrifices and tough it out for a couple of years along the way (debt is an obvious reason), but a legal education offers the opportunity to grow intellectually and professionally.  Is it half empty or half full?

Necessarily, I think many of the lawyers that are unhappy are so because of their ability to look for potential problems (i.e. what's wrong, risky, dangerous, etc.) in any given situation. This is surely important for legal analysis, but horrible if applied to every facet of life.  I have found that the it's the extremes where you find those that are miserable in the field, whether extremely academic-oriented, extremely firm-oriented, etc.

If you expect the degree to set your life on course by itself, you are mistaken. If you utilize it, you can surely benefit from many exciting, rewarding (monetarily and otherwise) endeavors that otherwise would have likely not occurred.

I am not looking back and know that I will make it a good investment for my life.

[NSFW]

Yes, I loved it. That's just my opinion.

[reverendlex]

Right now, I'm not glad I spent the last three years in law school. Then again, I'm spending too much time with my new girlfriend Barbri. Definitely high maintainence. Wants all my attention, money, yet won't stop when I want to talk to her. And she only talks about what interests her. I'm planning on dumping her soon, probably some time in late July. I really hope this won't be a rebound relationship.


Besides, my wife is getting jealous.

Was law school worth it? I'll let you know when I start work right after I pass a bar or two.

[Lenny]

Having just finished law school, I can say that I was one hundred percent satisfied with my experience.  I enjoyed the material and I enjoyed being around smart people that were interested in the things I am interested in.  I am even looking forward to starting my job.  Am I looking forward to working big firm hours for the next few years?  No, I would certainly like to work less and get paid the same, but such is life.  But am I looking forward to the opportunities, flexibility, and credibility that my JD will afford me?  Absolutely.

Law school isn't for everyone, as this thread points out.  But, as in most areas of life, you very rarely hear the people that are satisfied and content screaming and yelling about how content they are.  Instead you hear from those that are unhappy and want to tell others about it.

[mother]

But, in answer to the OP's question, NO -- I am not glad I went to law school. Further, I would encourage every single person thinking about law school to NOT apply until you have dealt with the law in some capacity and know without a doubt that you want to pursue a JD.

If I could do it all over again, I would go to med school, or dental school, or hell . . . maybe just make cocktails on the beach ala Tom Cruise in "Cocktail."

Exactly, you hit the @ # ! * i n' nail right on the head! I mean, look at jc! And I have to LOL at that beach thing

[hotdiggity]

If I could do it all over again, I would go to med school, or dental school, or hell . . . maybe just make cocktails on the beach ala Tom Cruise in "Cocktail."

threre are miserable dentists and doctors, probably not beach bartenders because that may be the best job known to man. 

I have worked in the legal field before going to law school, I've worked in a DA's office in a major city, and the people in that office seem to be some of the most dedicated and satisified employees I've seen in any profession.  I went into that internship not knowing what I want and workign there made me want to become a prosecutor.  I have no interest in BIGlaw what so ever and I'm glad I don't. What you sacrifice at a DA's office I'm assuming you receive back in satisfaction and a life outside of work.  These people have a softball team, go to the karoke bar after work and do something they enjoy (presenting cases in court) for less hours (most DA's i've met work Mon-Fri 9-6 or 7) Sometime less depending on trials.  But the kick in the ass if that you only start at 46,000 a year, and it's a difficult job to get in to.  Just my two cents.  I"m an incoming 1L and I know a good amount of happy laywers.  So don't let the scaremongers on this site disuade you.  If you went to law school for the right reason (you want to practice Law) then you'll be okay.  If not, you will have a harder time, but then again law school is a glorified trade school, so you wouldn't go and join a union to become a carpenter if the thoughts of swinging a hammer all day pissed you off. 

[tacojohn]

I am very happy I decided to go to law school, but my approach has always been a little different.  I've forced myself to continue thinking that I want to have a J.D. not be an attorney.  I've always tried to approach law school as graduate school, not professional school.  I think it's immensely more enjoyable if you do.  I didn't participate in the 1L job search, I'm just taking a couple class this summer, I didn't sign up for journal or moot court, and the only class ranking I concerned myself with was the one I needed to keep my scholarship.

I think a major problem with the disillusionment of law students is that they don't feel like they have committed themselves to the law for three years, they feel like they have for life.  That's simply not the case.  Are the vast majority of law students going to be working in some tradition legal job for a least a few years at the beginning of their career?  Sure.  But you're not locked in that for life.  And there are a significant number of law students who never work in a tradition legal job.

I think the most you could have possibly commmitted yourself to the law is 10 years.  After three years of law school, and seven years of practice.  At that point reciprocity kicks in to just about every state, you can go anywhere you want, and if you planned right your loans should be paid off.  You'll be in your mid-30's for most law students, and you have at least 30 years of your working career to reinvent yourself and do whatever you want.  Also at that point, if you've been working in a firm you should have a good idea of whether you're going to be up for partner.  So you have that added option which can be explored and might change your mind about the law.

It's probably my biggest criticism of law schools that they force the job search on you so early, and make the law school experience so much about a career and not an education.  If law schools would just offer the help they do in getting a job, and not shove it down your throats, I think a lot of law students would be more enthusiastic about the law, especially 3Ls.  A lot of people complain that employers are dragging students out of law school by the third year, but I think the law schools are shoving them out as fast as they can.  If you maintain a better seperation between you education and your career, at least mentally, the decision to enter law school will not be something you look back on as a decision to lock yourself up in one career for the rest of your life.

[re]

[...] there's not that difficult to figure out what is it about law that makes some (or should I say most) people hate it ..

1. Law school engenders greed and intellectual myopia.
2. Law school breaks people. It is experienced as a trauma, an assault. If law school changes people, it is rarely for the better.
3. Law leads to self-loathing, mental illness and substance abuse.
4. Law uses fear and shame as a motivating force.
5. With the help of the bar exam, the law school graduate is nothing but a licensed fraud.
6. Law is crowded and full of despair.

[hbo]

But the kick in the ass if that you only start at 46,000 a year, and it's a difficult job to get in to. Just my two cents. I'm an incoming 1L and I know a good amount of happy laywers. 

A $46K job difficult to get in to?! LOL!