Graduated and Passed the Bar, but stuck waiting tables. . . What now?

[bigs5068]

I don't even know if going to law school results in a high likelihood of failure. You will need to start a career, which will require you to start at the bottom. Believe it or not even Steve Jobs & Bill Gates did not become overnight billioners they were working in a garage working towards something. They did not waste their time blogging about how unfair it was instead worked towards something that had no guarantee of success. It takes years to build a career or anything worth doing. Going through 3 years of school does not entitle you to anything it is the bare minimum you can possibly to do to become part of the legal profession. Note the bare minimum law school and life is competitive and doing the bare minimum is not going to get you anything.  If you go to law school it will take years to become a successful lawyer and just having a J.D. is not going to entitle you to anything. It will give you the opportunity to enter the legal profession and then it is up to you what you do with that opportunity. If you bi**h and moan when the slightest challenge comes your way do not go to law school. If you can suck it up and get through tough times and kick your own ass to get things done then go for it.

[BikePilot]

I'm not sure that's really true.  Pretty much everyone I graduated with went either straight to highly desirably government jobs (DOJ honors, Fed Cir. clerkships, permanent DOJ positions etc), similarly fancy public interest stuff or biglaw (of course there are some exceptions, but all I'm aware of were by choice). Its certainly not an entitlement, but it also doesn't take years to be a successful lawyer (depending on how you define successful). Everyone seemed super motivated and worked extremely hard - to get into school, to get through school and to find jobs after school (well, this was done during school, but you get the idea).  The point is, it doesn't have to take years, though it likely will take some diligence and work, a little bit of which on the front end might save years of drudgery on the back end.  If by "successful lawyer" you mean become a partner, give oral argument at the supreme court, get appointed justice or something like that then yeah, you might have to wait a few years

[bigs5068]

So your telling me that people who work hard in school, then work hard to find jobs can actually succeed? That doesn't seem to make any sense I thought you kicked it for three years in school and then passed the bar. You are then supposed to wait as job offers flow to you. It is pretty common knowledge that if you pass the bar you have qualifications that no other lawyer has . I mean you are special and should not be required to put in any work to find a job after passing the bar. Then if somehow nobody realizes how special you are for passing the bar and job offers don't come in you sue your law school. 

I don't know BikePilot This whole logic of working hard in school, working to find a job while in school, and having some sort of set goals for yourself seems like a lot of work. I thought the proper way to succeed was  go to a school put in a decent effort to get ok grades, then avoid any type of practical legal experience while in school,  take practical  classes like refugee law, international armed conflicts law, etc and then go get drunk in some study abroad  programs both of your law school summers. Then compose yourself sufficiently for a few months to pass the bar and wolaa  the job offers come flocking.  Then if you are one of those poor unfortunate souls that has to apply to a few jobs give it a week or two.  If after two weeks things don't go your way then blame everybody in sight, but yourself. Sue your law school or build a website like JDunderground mention things  like nothing in the schools brochure mentioned you might have to put some effort in to find work. How could I when accepted to X law school as a 23-26 year old college graduate who wrote a personal statement saying how great & responsible I was be held accountable for my decisions & actions. That is just ludicrous it is very important when things don't go your way you blame everybody else and steer clear of any type of accountability.

[Hamilton]

See?  There you go again with the presumption of this sense of entitlement out there - it is just not so - you are just flat-out wrong when you do that!  It is not a valid argument or counter to negative information or opinions.  Everyone seems to agree that law school is too expensive, employment stats are bogus, that there is a degree of risk attending law school, and that folks thinking about law school must do their due dilligence to decide whether it is right for them - yet when anyone posts factual negative information that might actually help someone gain perspective when doing their due dilligence they are derided and mocked with this bogus 'entitlement, 6-figure, job falling in the lap' baloney.  Folks should do their due dilligence, so long as they are shielded from negative informtion or opinions?

So your telling me that people who work hard in school, then work hard to find jobs can actually succeed? That doesn't seem to make any sense I thought you kicked it for three years in school and then passed the bar. You are then supposed to wait as job offers flow to you. It is pretty common knowledge that if you pass the bar you have qualifications that no other lawyer has . I mean you are special and should not be required to put in any work to find a job after passing the bar. Then if somehow nobody realizes how special you are for passing the bar and job offers don't come in you sue your law school. 

[bigs5068]

I know I take it to far sometimes. The simple fact is the law is competitive and I think everyone at any ABA school is smart, motivated, and hard working. They all put in a lot of work, but being smart & working hard does mean anything positive will happen. The real world is just competitive and I think the schools don't give accurate information. At the same time I don't expect them to they are a business and they need students to survive. They provide you with the opportunity to be a lawyer, but no school guarantees you will succeed. That Jack guy gave a post that overconfidence is the biggest flaw all these students have. That is true I mean before you start school you assume you will be in the top 10% of the class and yea maybe some people don't find job, but that kind of thing won't happen to me. However, 100% of incoming students think that. It is competitive and so is every profession out there. The world is not fair and it never has been. I am sure every school in America would love to see their student's succeed, but they can't. Not everyone can be a superstar, star, or even mediocre. So the real world is not fair, competitive, and hard. Those are plain simple facts and if you go into the legal profession life will be more competitive, harder, and even less fair. If as a grown man you make the decision to go into the legal profession be ready for life to get harder. If as a grown man or woman  you choose to go into the legal profession it is a choice you made and don't bi*** and moan about the choice you made as a grown educated adult. Instead take accountability for your actions and simple fact is law school is not the right choice for everyone and there is no way to know if it would work out. If I had a crystal ball for huge decisions I have made in my life up to this point I probably would have done some things differently, but I don't. So do your due diligence before going to law school. It is not a guarantee of success and U.S. News is a scam and the schools will misreport information. Businesses which both U.S. News & Law schools are  misreport information and use puffery to sell a product. If some misreported information is the worst thing that has happened to you then you probably have not lived enough.

A way to do your due diligence is to look at lawschooltransparency.com.  This site gives accurate salary information and shows many students are not accounted for.  I suggest any 0L look at it.