Any of you lawyers...

[Jayce]

read "One L" by Scott Turow?

I heard a few good things about it on the web, and I'm thinking of getting it for my wife who's contemplating law school.

From what one guy said, it always makes him want to go to law school.  So I think she'd enjoy it.  But I was wondering if any of you had read it, and what you thought of it.

[Abagadro]

Never read it.

Telll your wife not to go to law school.

[Flashman]

I read it.

Tell your wife not to go to law school.






heh, its not something to go into lightly. If you are not committed to it, you will end up miserable.

Seriously. This describes 90% of the lawyers I know.

[El Gallo]

Never read it.

Tell you wife that she shouldn't go to law school until she has seen the inside on a day to day basis and wants it.  The happiest people I know are people who were paralegals at big firms after college, saw the life and wanted it or people that worked on the Hill and hit a wall where they needed a law degree to get where they wanted to go.  The unhappiest people I know are the ones who had no idea at all what *DAY TO DAY* lawyering was before they went to school,

[Jayce]

Thanks for the advice.

Her dad's a lawyer, so she does know some of what's involved. 

I think she wants to go into immigration law, with I presume little to no litigation, just advice.  I don't know if that changes your opinions any.

[Rasix]

I think she wants to go into immigration law, with I presume little to no litigation, just advice.  I don't know if that changes your opinions any.

Hah, that describes 90% of the people I met at one of my wife's first year social mixers.  "I want to help immigrants!  I know Mexicans!!!"  Pffffffffft. 

Too bad it took her half a year to figure out she hated it and didn't want to be a lawyer.

[Jayce]

I think she wants to go into immigration law, with I presume little to no litigation, just advice.  I don't know if that changes your opinions any.

Hah, that describes 90% of the people I met at one of my wife's first year social mixers.  "I want to help immigrants!  I know Mexicans!!!"  Pffffffffft. 

Too bad it took her half a year to figure out she hated it and didn't want to be a lawyer.

The question is, how many of those 90% did go on to help Mexicans?

She also is thinking about constitutional law, which she studied in undergrad and got a passion for.

So, are you guys thinking primarily of litigation, or will she hate being a research/advice lawyer?

[El Gallo]

Lots of people adore litigation, and lots of people adore being "research/advice lawyers" too.  I do think that a lot of people going into LS don't really know what the day-to-day life of either of those people is like.  The fact that her father is one should give her an edge on this one, but maybe she could try volunteering at some immigrant-focused legal aid clinic or something like that so she gets to know the work before spending the time and money on LS.  This is just based on my experience that the happiest people I know post-LS are generally those who went into LS for fairly specific reasons. 

[Flashman]

The question is, how many of those 90% did go on to help Mexicans?

So, are you guys thinking primarily of litigation, or will she hate being a research/advice lawyer?

NONE! Once they figured out how much they made versus how much their loans were.

I'm only half joking. I think many good intentions fall to the wayside, once the loan bills start coming in.

[Jayce]

Lots of people adore litigation, and lots of people adore being "research/advice lawyers" too.  I do think that a lot of people going into LS don't really know what the day-to-day life of either of those people is like.  The fact that her father is one should give her an edge on this one, but maybe she could try volunteering at some immigrant-focused legal aid clinic or something like that so she gets to know the work before spending the time and money on LS. 

Sounds like good advice Gallo.  Thanks for all the pointers folks.

[Zar]

Would any of you lawyers or former lawyers be willing to comment on the daily activities of the average attorney?  Or at least your experiences when you practiced.  The reason I ask is I'm in my third year of undergrad. and have been heavily considering entering law school upon graduation.  From what I've gathered from reading these forums, many (some?) of you did not find law to be all that attractive of a career -- and I'm curious as to why that is exactly.  What kind of person would conceivably enjoy lawyering?  Any info would be appreciated.

[Abagadro]

This is personal, so take it for what it is worth.

I hated it for a variety of reasons: It is very stressful. You deal with a lot of very unpleasant people. The system is very frustrating. It is very time demanding.  It take a lot of your mental energy, even when you aren't "working."  You constantly have to watch your ass so you don't screw up and get sued for malpractice.  Many people hate you based solely upon a prejudiced view of your profession.

You either need to be extremely mellow and be very good at compartmentalizing your job from your psyche or really like mixing it up and thrive on the stress. I thought I was #2, turns out I wasn't.

[CmdrSlack]

This is personal, so take it for what it is worth.

I hated it for a variety of reasons: It is very stressful. You deal with a lot of very unpleasant people. The system is very frustrating. It is very time demanding.  It take a lot of your mental energy, even when you aren't "working."  You constantly have to watch your ass so you don't screw up and get sued for malpractice.  Many people hate you based solely upon a prejudiced view of your profession.

You either need to be extremely mellow and be very good at compartmentalizing your job from your psyche or really like mixing it up and thrive on the stress. I thought I was #2, turns out I wasn't.

Ab is largely right.

Hell, one brief foray into the world of litigation (I defended a guy at a deposition....the idea was sit there, take notes, object) got me subpoenaed because these asshat attorneys decided to throw around their weight to intimidate the new attorney.  I'm still dealing with trying to get out of appearing at the damn thing.

On the other hand, I just do real estate closings now and even those can be high stress if you let the inability of most mortgage brokers to get their shit together bother you. 

I've discovered that what I like about law is entirely in theory and policy land.  So I'm back in school to get an advanced law degree that will put me on the professor/policy guru/guy who writes books about law track.  At the end of the day, I'd rather sit around, think my thoughts about the law and then write about them. 

If that allows me to help people develop better policy in regards to IT law and privacy issues, then good.  If it doesn't, as long as my bills are paid and I can slowly pay off my student loans (all I have is about 60k in fed debt anyway) then I'm happy.

Besides, it looks like the real money is made by buying and selling properties anyway.

[HaemishM]

On the other hand, I just do real estate closings now and even those can be high stress if you let the inability of most mortgage brokers to get their shit together bother you. 

From what I've heard, this is the best type of lawyering there is. Most of your clients on both sides are pretty happy to be there (with the occasional problems with divorced couples on the seller's side). You never leave your office. You get paid gobbodles of money to essentially make sure all the I's and T's are dotted and crossed. You are a glorified, overpaid secretary, and you never have to go to court unless you royally fuck up. This comes from my insurance agent, who is a talkative, chatty redneck motherfucker, but whose probably dealt with closing attorneys many times.