Do NOT go to law school (a sincere warning)

[nealric]

This thread is chock full of:

[cooleylawstudent]

You can't seriously be that retarded? WOW!!!!!!!!

How in your mind is JAG the same as infantry? How is a pvt the same as a captain? How is representing people in court not law related, fetus or not, you're an idiot.

I seriously don't even know what you're talking about, it seems you have some reading comprehension issues.  You most certainly have some attitude issues.

I'm not crying and I don't advocate anyone dropping out of law school, first or last semester.  I just wanted to give my opinion to people who are about to commit to law school.  It's a serious life choice and people should know what it's really like out there.  The situation is dire out there, for LEGAL JOBS.  No poo you can join the Army.  You can do that without law school and save a bunch of money.  But don't for a second think that someone will want to hire you after you just spent three years after law school doing nothing law-related.  How is that a good investment?

And I don't even understand why you're being so angry and obnoxious about it. 

[cantdecide2010]

well if you want to practice law, what would you suggest doing? 

[cooleylawstudent]

go to lawschool. The point of this forum. Pay no attention to the flunkees and trolls.

quote author=cantdecide2010 link=topic=4023233.msg5377033#msg5377033 date=1271644491]
well if you want to practice law, what would you suggest doing? 
[/quote]

[the white rabbit]

well if you want to practice law, what would you suggest doing? 

I would first consider whether it's possible to do what you want to do and make a living off of it.

Also, I would ask myself why I wanted to practice law, and see if what I envisioned matched up with reality.

Law school's a good decision for some.  For others, not so much. 

[the white rabbit]

Nowhere in the original post does the OP say that law school will ruin your life or that the schools are out to get you.  All she said was that the job market is not good even for graduates of top schools and that people should be wary, and that schools are trying to keep their employment statistics up.  There's nothing wrong with providing people with a word of caution.  If you don't need the message, then just ignore it.

Also, the bar analogy isn't at all applicable because the bartender doesn't have much control over whether or not you get laid at the end of the night.  Where you go to law school has some effect on how well you fare, even if it's not 100% determinative.

I have the inside view from a T14. MOST of my fellow graduating 3Ls do not have job offers. ANY offers. This is not simply a lack of BigLaw jobs but a structural problem in the legal community in general. Don't be fooled into thinking, "Well, I never wanted to be making $160k working at a stifling corporate law firm anyway." The job market is pure crap across the board. There is stunningly high unemployment at these elite schools.

However, the school is rehiring many of us to work at the library or in part-time research assistant positions so that we do not drag down the employment rate.

You are a fool if you think law school is a decent place to "ride out the recession."

Even Harvard Law grads are having problems finding jobs. So if the T14 grads are in danger, then what about the rest of the schools (from first tier to TTT to fourth tier)?

I hope this post is not deleted. It could save people hundreds of thousands of dollars. If you got into a law school and paid a deposit, you must still think about what I am saying and make a wise decision.

[the white rabbit]

That is just what gets me is people just say these things like it only applies to law school. I am pretty sure every type of school tries to manipulate their stats as best they can.

But it's a law school discussion forum.  It would be a strange thing if the focus of the discussion was not on law school, wouldn't it?  I haven't heard anyone say anything to the effect of, "law school is more of a scam than anything else."

[cantdecide2010]

I want to be a lawyer, my mother was a lawyer and I've worked as a teacher and I enjoyed my internships in law much more, you can't take the bar without having gone to law school so the Do NOT go to law school trolls are pointless.  For those going to law school because they have nothing else to do or a worthless UG degree i understand, but for those who have a strong desire to become a lawyer, there isn't any other way to pursue that goal (unless you want to be a paralegal).

[CJScalia]

I didn't say it was a permanent job.  It is a summer position.   If there are summer positions available, does that not indicate there are jobs in general.  I'm also not saying that every person who goes to law school will get a job.  I was saying that perhaps you didn't network enough.

Again, unless there's some nepotism at work here, I still don't believe you. I've sort of explained in detail below why I don't believe you. Not that I really give a rats ass, even assuming you are telling the truth, that would simply mean you've found a lawyer/law firm that should be committed to some psychiatric facility.

Also, if it's so unbelievable that I have a summer job before beginning school, I guess that speaks pretty well for me.  What is so difficult to believe about it, really?

Why would that speak well about you? You have no idea how well or bad you're going to do in law school, and neither does that employer. It speaks nothing about you, but it speaks extremely poorly about that employer who's willing to hand out a job to someone that for all he knows could be expelled from school, or fail half his exams before the time comes.

Again, the reason I replied the way I did is that I've simply never, ever, heard about any legal employer making an offer to someone who hasn't even started law school, that's simply beyond ridiculous.

Again, if you're offered a job at your fathers office or your uncle's or something like that, yeah, of course they're going to give you a job. But if you're telling me you sent an application to random law firms and pretty much said "Hey, I'm gonna go to law school, got a job for me?" and they actually said yes, then yeah, there's something seriously wrong.

I'm still leaning towards not believing you though. Mainly considering just how incredibly far away this is from the experiences of every currently in law school or the legal business. It's literally unheard of.

you can't take the bar without having gone to law school so the Do NOT go to law school trolls are pointless. 

Well, this is in fact not true. Several jurisdictions allow you to sit for the bar without actually going to law school. And yes, that includes the two most "important" states; California and New York. Of the top of my head I can also think of Washington and Virginia that allows you to take the bar without going to law school. I know there are other states too, but I'm just too damn lazy to google it.

[the white rabbit]

I want to be a lawyer, my mother was a lawyer and I've worked as a teacher and I enjoyed my internships in law much more, you can't take the bar without having gone to law school so the Do NOT go to law school trolls are pointless.  For those going to law school because they have nothing else to do or a worthless UG degree i understand, but for those who have a strong desire to become a lawyer, there isn't any other way to pursue that goal (unless you want to be a paralegal).

In that case, I would recommend making conservative financial decisions.