law school

John Doe

Are there any lawyers here? I'm a year from graduating with a double major in Math and English, and am considering law school. Any ideas/pros/cons?

drew sagan

Pros:

Many Law students who become competent in their field will go on to have sucessful careers.

Cons:

You will be a Lawyer.

A lawyer was driving his big BMW down the highway, singing to himself, "I love my BMW, I love my BMW." Focusing on his car, not his driving, he smashed into a tree. He miraculously survived, but his car was totaled. "My BMW! My BMW!" he sobbed.

A good Samaritan drove by and cried out, "Sir, sir, you're bleeding! And my god, your left arm is gone!"

The lawyer, horrified, screamed "My Rolex! My Rolex!"

Elsewhere

A dog ran into a butcher shop and grabbed a roast off the counter. Fortunately, the butcher recognized the dog as belonging to a neighbor of his. The neighbor happened to be a lawyer.

Incensed at the theft, the butcher called up his neighbor and said, "Hey, if your dog stole a roast from my butcher shop, would you be liable for the cost of the meat?" The lawyer replied, "Of course, how much was the roast?" "$7.98."

A few days later the butcher received a check in the mail for $7.98. Attached to it was an invoice that read: Legal Consultation Service: $150.

AlmostAtheist

What have you got if you bury 100 lawyers up to their necks in sand?

A lack of sand.

(Seriously, good luck! Have a great career!)

Dave

carla

Yes, by all means become a lawyer, one of the best and help all the exjw's who need legal help. Or get rich by a class action lawsuit against the wt about the blood issue.

NYCkid

John, by all means go for it, but how on earth did you manage a double major on math and english? My hat off to you!!! I transferred to Columbia last year and am considering a English major with a concentration in polisci. I was interested in a law degree for a while but it's math intensive and I dislike math. Even polisci is math intensive so I'm reconsidering.

Columbia, St John and Fordham have great law schools in NYC.

I ex-JW friend of mine obtained a law degree, I can put her in touch with you...

Best,

NYCkid

kristyann

Just don't become a rotten defense lawyer that defends guilty people... seriously, all the money in the world wouldn't help me to sleep at night if I had defended O.J. or a terrorist or Scott Peterson or something...

skeeter1

Law school is great, and you will love it.

Getting in is the toughest part. There are thousands of applications for a few hundred spots, typically. From my experience, law school admissions is somewhat automated based on your LSAT score. If you are lower than the law school's range, you get an automatic rejection letter. Those who are in the range, get further consideration by a committee. This group reviews for plus factors - such as race (minority), not from the same region of the country (they want diversity), sports/jobs/charity work, etc. My advice is to apply to many that are within the LSAT range, you may (if you are lucky) get accepted at 20% of them. So, do not put all your eggs in one basket.

You have to pass law school, the Bar exam, and you have to be admitted to the Bar. The Bar admission process is the hardest, most intensive check you'll ever endure. If you've ever been arrested (even if not convicted) for anything (especially a DUI/drug offense), you'll have alot of explaining to do. You'll probably have to join a 12 step program. If you've written any bad checks, watch out. You'll be giving tons of bank records. If you've ever been in court or sued/been sued or been divorced, be prepared to give alot of details. These checks can begin in your first year of law school, and require alot of your time to gather all the information you'll need. Whatever you do, do not lie or cheat on anything you submit to the law school or to the Bar examiners. Now that I've scared you, I'll go on.

Since your background is science/math, you should consider a school that is good in patent/copyright law. There are so few law students that have this technical background, and its what patent law firms really crave. Of course, most patent law firms are in the big cities. Law schools are ranked by US News and World Report, and there are alot of other web-sites that have the rankings.

Before you commit, I sugget you call your nearest law school and ask to sit in on a class or two, especially in areas you are interested in. They generally are very happy to have visitors. But, you'll have to read that day's court cases.

I also suggest you ask the law schools you are looking at this question, "How many people are generally in your 1st year class and what % make it to the final year?" The reason is that some private schools take in a large first year class, knowing they will flunk alot of them, and those who flunked just paid for the upper classes who will all pass the Bar as they are the cream of the crop. For this reason alone, sometimes a State school is better. If you go out of state to a state school, you should be able to get in-state tuition for the 2nd & 3rd years. So, this will help with expenses.

Law school loans through the US government are great, but I hear the the US is raising the interest rates to help fight off the deficit. The intest rates have been around 3%. The loans are paid off over 30+ years, and can be based on your income. You may want to think about this debt. If you decide to be a DA, you will not make as much as if you worked in a large law firm. Paying those debts, having a family, etc can take a toll on you. It's not unheard of for a county prosecutor or public defendant to make $35,000/year.

I suggest that you read the book, "Slaying the Law School Dragon."

Cheers!

Skeeter1

John Doe

Thanks Skeeter. You give excellent suggestions. I haven't decided that I want to go--I'm merely considering it.

I downloaed a sample LSAT yesterday, and it looks right up my alley. Critical thinking has always been my strongpoint. I also think it would be a good idea to find a job with a law firm over the summer, just to get a better feel for it. There are only two law schools in Arkansas, so I can see how the selection will be competitive. However, I don't anticipate a problem with test scores. I've always scored in the top 5% on standardized test and usually in the top 1%.

Academics has never been a serious challenge for me--I'm just trying to find something I like. I think I would be most interested in written work as opposed to courtroom work, but I'm unsure how much of each different positions entail. Lots to think about at any rate. ;-)

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