38 yr old mom - #14 law school - selfish/crazy?

[sollicitus]

That wasn't my point, whether it is government work or legal work, it is not back breaking manual labor.

Your "argument" is a nonstarter. "backbreaking" manual labor is easier than true legal work. To compare that to most govt work is just a joke at best, if not a complete and irrelevant inaccuracy

[jonlevy]

Animal Farm logic.

[sollicitus]

Animal Farm logic.

Also a nonstarter, as stated "done both".

"DarkWing Duck" logic. (or whatever, cartoons,etc)

[musicalshore]

I've come to the board with the same question, and I'm in a similar boat.

I'm 38 years old. I've a BA in Comp.Sci and I've been working as a programmer/consultant for 14 years. I'm unmarried, have not been too career oriented until now (although some of my friends might disagree). Being a consultant has given me a lot of freedom to move around and see different places.

I'm completely bored by programming as well. The thing is, I'm good at it and I get paid well. I'm also not rich. I've saved some money, but basically I've used most of my savings to buy not having to work.

About a year and a half ago, a friend set me up on a blind date with someone who turned out to be seriously mentally ill, and when I broke up with her she went to the police and told them I beat her. I was arrested and charged with felony assault. I successfully fought the case. It was a miserable situation to be in, but I came alive defending myself. I did most of the work, the lawyer just knew how to maneuver in the courts.

This got me thinking again about law school, and I did some more research. My lawyer loved his work and when I told him I was thinking about going to law school, he was very encouraging. He was the only one. I've a friend who is a lawyer for the DAs office in his city; he advised against it. He said he had two lawyers from top tier schools at his firm working for free for the past six months because they were hoping they would get hired. His advice was "don't go to law school unless you are independently wealthy." He felt overworked and underpaid.

Is it worth it? I'm a "non-traditional" student. Most things that I'm good at I've taught myself. If I'm not interested in something, I don't give it too much of my time. I do really well on standardized tests, and I think outside of the box. I'm resourceful, intuitive and very curious. I'm also very good at spotting untruths and inconsistencies in a story.

Here's more: I've deep contempt for injustice and for bullies. I've heard this is not a good personality trait for lawyers. I don't readily back down from conflict, which is another reason I want to be a lawyer. As an adult I've often felt at a great disadvantage in business situations due to unfamiliarity with the law.

Would going to law school be a bad idea at this age?

[musicalshore]

That wasn't my point, whether it is government work or legal work, it is not back breaking manual labor.

I agree with Apophenia. Mindless manual labor may kill you quicker, but at least you can daydream while you are doing it. Focusing requires sustained effort. Most of my friends who do manual labor do it because they don't have any ambition, not because they are unintelligent. Also, I've met a lot of people in the corporate world who are barely literate.

[CWFirm]

Make sure you don't sacrifice your time with your kids. This is always the one thing that people regret after looking back at a successful career. So if you do decide to take the plunge, make sure you are still prioritizing.

[sollicitus]

Make sure you don't sacrifice your time with your kids. This is always the one thing that people regret after looking back at a successful career. So if you do decide to take the plunge, make sure you are still prioritizing.

True, but that time gets eaten up just as fast working overtime as sitting in class.

[nmlaw]

I would definitely go for it, especially if you have the support of a nanny and financial security.  I'm a 33yo mom of two.  My first was a month old and just out of the NICU when I started law school, and my second was born when I was a 2L.  Of course being a parent in law school brings it's own set of challenges (to be honest, every day is a juggling act and sometimes I feel like I'm trying to be supermom by taking on way too much) but it is worth it!  I am in a part-time program and so am able to spend a lot of time with my girls but still get in enough study time.  When I graduate, they will be in school and (hopefully!) I won't feel badly about returning to work full-time.  I think I faced two hurdles: "mommy brain" and exams.  The former was simply due to having babies and being in night school (not such a good combination after all), but I've overcome that.  Exams caught me off-guard in the beginning, just because I was out of practice after working for so long before returning to school. 

I think the best decision I made was to become involved in law school activities.  As a new mom, I sought out other student parents (there are more than you think) and began organizing events for the law school community and their kids.  I have gotten to know many of the students, professors, and staff and I have found a strong, supportive network in them.  Because of this, I landed an amazing summer internship, and I suspect this may ultimately help me with a job offer when I graduate.

In sum, you have a unique set of skills as a mature student and a mom.  Use them to your advantage and you can thrive in law school and still be an awesome mom.