NWOutdoorGrrl

Five reasons you shouldn’t go to law school

At a reception last night to honor Jenny Durkan, the new US Attorney for the Western District of Washington, I overheard a judge talking about his daughter who just took the LSAT. People listening let out audible groans - mostly because they know too well the three years of ~~hell~~ law school that await her, which may or may not lead to a career that sets her hair on fire.

With only a semester (and a couple weeks) to go before graduating, I can only offer my thoughts on the decision to pursue a J.D. Here are my top five reasons why you shouldn’t go to law school:

1. Don’t go to law school because you’re lured by the prospect of making money. As many high-profile managing partners have mentioned recently, the job-market for lawyers is pitiful. Most law grads will not get the six-figure salaries so often touted by the LSAT prep courses and the university career departments. Go because you’re excited about the prospect of gaining skills that will allow you to truly help people and make the world a little better.

2. Don’t go because you’re trying to please someone else who thinks law school is the right path for you. Law school is simply too hard, too time consuming, too emotionally draining, and too physically challenging an undertaking to do it for anybody else but yourself.

3. Don’t go to law school because you have nothing else to do. Remember those egg ads from the 80s - “this is your brain; this is your brain on drugs.” They forgot to mention, that if you leave that frying egg in the pan until it is black and crispy, that is your brain on law school. You need a reason for attending law school that will sustain you in the darkest hours (that would be around 2 a.m. when you have a half-completed appellate brief due the next day and 120 pages of reading to do for class at 8:30 in the morning). You’ve got to want it so badly, that your soul aches. Only then will it be worth the effort.

4. Don’t go because you think law school will serve as a “default” option - a doorway to just about anything. Did I mention that the workload is grueling? More importantly, tuition costs are astronomical and going up. When you’re considering whether to take on $150,000 of debt (plus lost income for three years), it is so important that you are enrolled because the law degree makes sense as a lucrative option for your future. How else are you going to pay down those debts?! (Refer to reason #1.)

5. Finally, don’t go to law school if you don’t have the requisite emotional fortitude. I met a solo practitioner at Seattle Rep last night who characterized being a lawyer as the only profession where people tell you you’re wrong all day long. Consider what that might mean to you before dedicating three years and a lot of money to get there.

I really don’t mean to suggest people shouldn’t attend law school. If the most difficult things are the most rewarding things, law school has been one of the richest experiences of my life - right up there with living abroad for a year. Even after two and a half years, I still feel blessed by the opportunity to spend my days with incredibly smart people, grappling with intellectually stimulating problems. Please just consider your reasons for going to law school and make sure they are ones that will get you through.

Posted by on 11/20 at 09:05 AM in Law