Should I go to law school?

[student79]

1) Can you explain to me what lawyers do?

1) Lawyers practice law.

This brief response conveyed far more than I'm sure even you wanted it to. Don't go to law school.

As a prospective student, I see the same thing you do here... that's like saying "engineer's engineer". I'm hoping this is yet another case of mistaken sarcasm, as I've already fell victim to once today. And, as well all know, sarcasm on the Interwebs is a piece of cake to detect

Vuarnet,

Thank you for your comment. I disagree with your remark regarding sarcasm though.

I was asked a very broad question as lawyers do many things. 2 best answers that I came up with were: 1 - practice law, 2 - represent a client. I decided on first choice because it seemed a little bit more broad.

How would you answer that question yourself? Keep in mind that if your answer will be very narrow such as "lawyer drafts patents", you could open yourself to a number of hostile comments claiming that you omitted this giant fields of other things that lawyers do and therefor you don't know what you are talking about.

Furthermore, there was no reason for me to be sarcastic towards user IrrX. He is spending his time here answering my question at no charge. Why would I want to make fun of him??? I was not sarcastic to him in my other replies as well, it would be very strange that all of a sudden I decided to switch gears and make some inappropriate comment here which wasn't called for. I was merely trying to give thoughtful answers which would prevent reaction comments such as: "oh, you clearly don't know what lawyers do because you omitted this giant field of duties"

Also, please note that IrrX did not accuse me of being sarcastic or hostile at all. This is something that you came up with on your own dear sir.

Disclaimer: I am not being sarcastic in this reply

P.S. I purchased 3 powerscore books, first one is almost done. I am planning to take LSAT in October this year and than go from there. So, this discussion will likely take 1 year. Thanks to all who will participate in this discussion.

[vuarnet]

Thanks for qualifying your lack of sarcasm and I would say your second representation of what lawyers "do" is probably more descriptive than your first... but perhaps that's just my interpretation. To an extent, all service-oriented professionals serve (or represent) a client. I do that in my current occupation, but I am not an attorney.

If I was forced to define what lawyers "do" I would probably end on the classic answer of "it depends". On what? The discipline of law you plan to practice. And ideally (depending on time, which I am somehow always short on...) include an example or two. Just like not all engineers use CAD and create schematics -- some advise design teams on what is feasible from an engineering standpoint for manufacture or service delivery and they may never directly engineer at all. Our general counsel does that. He advises us what we can and can't do, and rarely creates anything on our behalf (such as a service agreement) -- he mostly just documents his recommendations and their legal substantiations in order to make his recommendations defensible. Meanwhile, friends of mine who are attorneys spend their time buried in paperwork, research or else living from courtroom to courtroom. So, in sum, it depends.

But yes, you are correct -- I did originate the concept that perhaps you were being sarcastic. Much like I hope that a dangerously reckless driver is drunk in hopes that his/her wanton disregard for human life is not 24/7 status quo but instead the product of alcohol and an isolated event (overall reduction in risk exposure). Often I wish people *were* sarcastic, because it would offer an excuse for their otherwise poor reasoning and restore some fraction of my faith in humanity (yes, some sarcasm there...).

Your answer did not convey (in my opinion) an understanding of the intent behind asking the question to begin with. I don't want to speak for IrrX, but it would appear to me that s/he asked the question to hopefully guard against the increasingly myopic tendencies of many law school students and hopefuls. And to instead elicit some forethought into the post-law-school workload (ask yourself -- What would I be doing everyday? Would I like that? Would I like it enough to want to spend 80+ hours a week doing it? Is it worth sacrificing my hobbies or even family time? What would my long-term career path be? How would a law degree catalyze that or not?) All of those questions are questions that hopefully you've already asked yourself.

It's unfortunate, but many people today have an entitlement mentality. They think A-->Z (where "A" is go to law school and "Z" is get rich). And forget to include the hard work and sacrifice it takes to make it through the necessary steps of B through Y (where "B" is go insanely into debt, "C" is work like I'm insanely in debt [oh wait!] ... etc ... intro to formal logic, right?).

Finally, please don't misconstrue my generalizations about the naivete of *many* (e.g. "not all") students as an assertion that they necessarily apply to you. Simply those who feel a sense of personal responsibility to help guide others to help them make good decisions often try to help them think of the less favorable aspects of a decision, in order to better help them weigh the pros and cons.

In the end, it's all your decision. Regardless of your choice, I wish you the best of hard work (there is no luck!), commitment and sacrifice. And above all, the courage to make the difficult choices to succeed in whatever way you define it. (And there is not a hint of sarcasm in that!

[jaderudall]

I am considering going to law school. I would like to get some input from senior attorneys.

I have MS in Engineering, 10 years experience in automotive industry. At work I am responsible for design and release of safety components at a major OEM. I also help our legal guys answer interrogatories when we are being sued by someone. Of course, I consult only from technical side.

How helpful do you think my experience in automotive industry will be for my legal career in product liability realm?

Don't get me wrong, I'd don't want to go after my employer. Automotive OEMs operate very similarly though and I would have pretty good technical perspective at some of the running changes that they adopt.

If you are running a legal firm, would you hire a guy like me with law degree at a decent salary? What is a salary range can a person like me expect?

Thank you for feedback,

student79

Hi, First of All salary range is determined on the basis of experience and skills. Secondly, as your background is not related to the law, then it would be good for you to enrolled into some basic law programs before going into the law school. Study about product liability realm before going to make it your legal career. If you feel that you are comfortable and have also complete the basic level law courses then go to law school and keep intouch with the law firms for more assistance.

[student79]

Hi, First of All saraly range decided on the basis of experience and skills. Secondly, as your background is not related to the law, then it would be good for you to enrolled into some basic law programs before going into the law school. Study about product liability realm before going to make it your legal career. If you feel that you are comfortable and have also complete the basic level law courses then go to law school and keep intouch with the law firms for more assistance.

jaderudall,

Thank you for your comment. Very good tip.

I am checking local colleges to see if there is a class that I can take as a guest student, can't be too expensive especially if its some community college.

I've been reading on product liability issues for a while now. I signed up for Google alert which brings me daily web content on "product liability" key word. It usually brings blog posts from different attorneys, its good general info.

Networking with law firms - yes, everyone rightfully brings up this point. I imagine myself graduating from law school, passing the bar and....now what? Where is this horde of clients eagerly waiting for my legal help?!?!

Once in law school, I will try to offer expert witness services or some kind of consulting services (almost free) to any law firm that wants to talk to me. I will use it as a way to meet up legal guys and also get familiar with litigation process.

[Julie Fern]

better get credit card ready.

[gabby7]

Networking with law firms - yes, everyone rightfully brings up this point. I imagine myself graduating from law school, passing the bar and....now what? Where is this horde of clients eagerly waiting for my legal help?!?!

If that is your passion and it seems that you have strong determination of being a lawyer. Then go for it. As I read all your points here, your decision is firmed.

[albertjuan]

After engineering i would go for Bar Exam and then apply for the law practice.