Should we really go into law?

[LawGiver]

I mean the consensus seems to be there are too many law schools and too many lawyers and too many graduates every year Should we consider going into the health field instead? Medical, Dental or Pharmacy school perhaps? Im 26 graduated from college 4 years ago.

['blueskies]

Should we or should you?

[SASS]

I mean the consensus seems to be there are too many law schools and too many lawyers and too many graduates every year Should we consider going into the health field instead? Medical, Dental or Pharmacy school perhaps? Im 26 graduated from college 4 years ago.

Why don't YOU figure out if you want to go to law school. There are no similarities between law and medicine so when I hear people weigh law school v. med school, I am inclined to believe they haven't actually thought about whether they would like to do either. A profession is the rest of your life. Make a choice about what you want to do, not b/c you can't think of anything better than law or medicine.

[LawGiver]

well both.


A profession surely is not the rest of your life, hence the term "non traditional". Plenty of lawyers who switch professions and v/v.


Have all of you even looked in the reality of things? There is even a section on lsd that might be helpfull:

http://www.lawschooldiscussion.org/students/index.php/board,1009.0.html

 

[k0em9u]

I mean the consensus seems to be there are too many law schools and too many lawyers and too many graduates every year Should we consider going into the health field instead? Medical, Dental or Pharmacy school perhaps? Im 26 graduated from college 4 years ago.

If you want to be a dentist you certainly shouldn't go to law school.

The again, if you want to be a lawyer, I don't see dental school doing you much good.

I don't understand why you ask this question. The only scenario where this question would be a legitimate one would be if you have no idea what you want to do with your life. If that is the case, I'd recommend doing nothing (in terms of higher education) and get a job while you try to figure it out.

I disagree with the idea that a profession isn't for the rest of your life. Employment as an attorney might not be. Although, even with a law degree nobody says you have to be an attorney at all. However, the direction you take when choosing a professional education is something that will have permanent effect on your life. Do put some thought into it.

As a general matter to your original question, assuming that law schools do put out too many candidates (an argument I am not willing to accept, this is only the case for BigLaw, and I would be willing to bet that a lot more people would be willing to abstain from BigLaw if they weren't forced in that direction by debt) it is in either case irrelevant to you. You are the master of your own fortune, if there are too many people to get the good jobs, make sure those surplus people are "the others".

[LawGiver]

looks like one can have more than one passion

http://www.lawschooldiscussion.org/prelaw/index.php/topic,4019031.0.html

I get the feeling some of you are uncomfortable with a question like mine. Maybe because you have not thought things through?

The fact the above poster seems to be serious about not believing there is a surplus of lawyers makes me think I'm right. You should really look into this more. I'm just trying to be helpful.

among many other worthy articles,

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119040786780835602.html?mod=djemITP

[k0em9u]

I can only speak for myself, but I am uncomfortable by your question because it's a question that isn't well thought through on an issue that you should definitely think through as much as possible. I would, almost without exception, say that in my law school the bottom of the class rank is padded with the "Law school seems like a good idea" type of people, where as essentially everyone that is succeeding are the ones that came into it with passion and drive. So yes, if you do not have that passion and drive, I would urge you to also consider alternative paths.

On a separate note, your final comment doesn't make sense. You asked a question, we are answering it. If that is your way of "being helpful" that is of course very "Socratic", but does not really make sense otherwise.

Yes you can certainly have more than one passion, I had a different career before going to law school myself. I have no problems understanding that.

But since you bring up med school and dentistry at the same time as law school, those "passions" are pretty much separated by Grand Canyon. All I said was that I would recommend you find out what you want to do with your life before you make this decision. By keeping every professional school as an option, I am inclined to think that you are motivated by money/prestige/both. Neither of those are a good reason for picking either career, in my opinion.

I honestly do not feel that a surplus of lawyers is where the problem is at (that is not saying it isn't an issue). I feel that the problem is currently the cost of attending law school, which forces law graduates to all target the high paying jobs. There are a number of "inferior" legal areas that are not overstaffed, but they are generally paying too poorly for a debt-laden graduate to consider if they have other options available.

My point wasn't really whether or not there were too many lawyers in the world. My point was that you should do what you think you would enjoy doing for the greater part of your life. Succeeding in law school is just as simple as succeeding anywhere else; work harder than the other guy. If there are too many lawyers in the world, that's ok as long as you make sure not to be one of them.

[bl825]

The fact that there is a surplus of lawyers doesn't mean that no one should go into law at this point, but it might be something to consider when making the decision.  You can say that a person should follow her dream and all, but there's also a case to be made for people considering how realistic their dreams are when they decide whether or not to chase them.

[Navlaw]

If the reason you are going to law school is you are looking to get a high paying job and money is all you care about, then you need to think about your choice to go to law school. But if you want to be a lawyer, I don't see going to Medical school as an option. Yes jobs are not as abundant and many newly graduated law students are jobless right now. But that just means that things are going to be more competitive. You will need to rely more on networking and probably won't be able to rely on employers coming to you. But if you want to be a lawyer you will be a lawyer and not "settle" with becoming a dentist or doctor. Yes it is a gamble to take out a bunch of loans to go to law school with the job market the way it is. But if you want to be a lawyer bad enough it might be worth taking the gamble.

[squireJons]

as a lawyer who graduated from law school over a year ago as a nontrad student, I can tell you NOT to go.

There are no jobs.

There is little solo work for the huge amount of solo lawyers.

There is rampant age discrimination.

me== top ten percent magna cum laude TTT grad in the sunbelt. Cannot even get a response to my resumes.

Any more questions?