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Why lawschool is wrong for most people here:
1. Most here already have a job. Your income now is a known quantity. Going to lawschool fresh out of undergrad is a less bad idea because you're deferring an entry level job now for an entry level job 3 years in the future. Going to lawschool as an experienced consultant means deferring 3 years of pay as an experienced consultant for the salary of a first year associate. Your experience as a consultant really isn't very transferable and unlikely to result in much, if any, extra pay.
2. Lawschool isn't normal school. A lot of people know that you need good grades from a good school to get a high paying job after graduation. What most people DON'T know is lawschool is set up specifically to prevent everyone from killing it in school. Your grades 1L year are THE most important factor in getting an internship at a prestigious lawfirm, which opens up the doors for employment after graduation. But here's the catch - most lawschools grade on a forced curve. This means that there is a finite number of A's and a finite number of B's that a professor can give. Unless you are absolutely the smartess person in your section, (something that's unlikely if you go to a top school) you WILL get C's, and there's nothing as depressing as seeing smart, driven, hard working classmates get their first C in their entire life and automatically think they're a failure.
3. Let's say you survive the grinder and make it to big law as a first year associate. You're making 190k a year, but you already gave up 3 years of earnings and are likely owing at least 100 to 200k in debt. How long do you need to stay at that big law job to make up for the added debt and lost in income when you were in school? Then consider the fact that the attrition rate and burnout in biglaw is enormous - the median tenure is around 3 years - thanks to the fact that you are forced to bill insane billable hours, and the chances of you making back your investment of time and money when you are ALREADY making good money as a consultant, is suspect.
This is not to say that it's a bad idea for everyone. I graduated in 2013, and I do have one friend who started in biglaw and is still there because she loves her practice area and went to lawschool specifically because she wanted to be a patent attorney. There are also a few people who wanted to be prosecutors or criminal defense due to personal experiences in the past when the law failed them, and they wanted to make a difference. If you have the passion, lawschool is a good choice. If not, stay away.
I’m prepping for the LSAT now. Friends of mine say the job market after is dependent on your rank in school and what type of law you’re looking to practice.
Seconding this. You’ll find a job. It just depends what kind of job you want and where.
Don't do it. Lawyer turned consultant here. I'm much happier on this side of the fence.
Can you please explain why? It would probably be helpful for op and i to understand why lawyers are so miserable
All my friends with a JD/MBA want jobs un business. Some of my JD friends wish they had gotten MBAs. It just depends on the work you want to do
I really find law fascinating and always have. However, I am a little nervous stepping away from a very comfortable salary for 3 years. I have no dependents but probably will soonish.
I’m considering it too. I’ve always wanted to be a lawyer and it matches with my strengths more than consulting. The only issue is I’v heard horror stories about the stress and lack of fulfillment. Plus the debt. It’s not an easy road
Imagine all of the things you dislike about your current job. Office politics, unreasonable managers/partners, demanding clients, long hours and strict deadlines, etc. All of that exists practicing law, but there's an additional layer of being an attorney that makes a lot of people miserable, and that's the adversarial nature of the work.
Think about it, you bring lawyers in when there's a disagreement. Theres the prosecuting attorney and defense attorney. Legal counsel and opposing counsel. The entire profession is about conflict and opposing the other side on any and all fronts possible. This is probably why the grading system in law school will never change, because they want young attorneys to get used to the idea early on that YOU ARE COMPETING WITH THESE PEOPLE FOR THE REST OF YOUR LEGAL CAREER. For someone with a nonchalant personality like me, the idea of being locked in constant conflict forever was not appealing, and I could tell it was starting to affect my emotional wellbeing. At one point, we lost a case and I was secretly happy we lost, because I agreed with the other side and hated the client. That was when I knew I had to get out.
Go for it. Ultimately, what’s the downside? Just get into a good school and rank as high as you can as that is how recruiting is done
Just quit your job, what's the downside? Just create a startup and sell it for $1 billion
Only do it if you want to go to big law for the money. If you don’t want to go to big law than I would stay clear being a lawyer sounds excruciatingly boring
Recovering lawyer here. I second the above comments: Don’t do it unless you get top scores on LSAT and attend tier 1 law school.
C2 and PwC1—what type of law did you practice, and why did you decide law wasn’t for you? Why do you like consulting more? Thanks for sharing your insights
Corporate litigation defense work. I’ll just echo what others have said: the time and money you invest in law school in comparison to the debt you accumulate is an equation that only makes sense if you have top scores on LSAT and are accepted to a top law school.
I switched to consulting because it allowed me to hold myself to a higher standard of giving practical advice to clients that made sense from a business perspective and not just an overview of the rule of law etc. Hope that helps!
Wife did it. Not worth it unless you can get into a top law school, preferably with a hefty scholarship.