Looking for advice on going to law school in my mid 30s. Went into consulting out of undergrad and settled into a role with solid pay/WLB (325k TC/remote/45 hrs week). I have the LSAT/GPA for T14, but struggle with the idea of taking on debt/ giving up $1M in career earnings. Thinking of doing a top part time program, but unsure how I would pivot into a well compensated law job after graduation. Would you trade solid pay/WLB in the middle of your career for higher comp on the back end of it?

No it will be many many years before you can make that kind of $$ for that amount of hours/week. I would have killed to be making that in my 30s for 45 hours a week. The grass is greener where you are

I feel like OP is on a low-key humble brag mission to shame actual lawyers who have to show up at the office in full Brooks Brothers garb and Patrick Bateman sanity mask over 120 hours a week to bill out like 75 quality hours of demonstrable client work to ratchet up that 200K base salary to 325K.

If my suspicions are correct, then well done OP.

If not, then… dude — what are you thinking? You’ve actually got it made at this point. As long as AI is not about to roll out a more elite version of OP, he better stay put.

Don’t.

$325k for 45 hours/week is something lawyers only dream of. Lawyers are tops in substance abuse, depression, and suicide, and WLB is surely part of it. Even if you get to $325k it sure as heck won’t be for 45 hours a week.

Definitely don’t take on debt, as much as you can avoid it.

You need to talk to lawyers in real life. Find somebody who went to your undergrad who works in the area you’re interested in and ask them the deep questions.

Definitely not. That’s a crazy good salary for the hours. You won’t get a value like that in big law, and won’t even crack that same salary until you’re a mid-level anyway. Also, as someone who went to law school slightly later than the K through JD crowd, I can say it still sometimes feels slightly demoralizing knowing my age peers are now becoming partner and I’m only still a mid-level. It can be frustrating and the debt is a huge burden. If you love the idea of practicing law, maybe consider a school outside the T14 - with a high LSAT, you can get a really good scholarship and then maybe the debt trade off won’t be as bad. But I certainly wouldn’t pursue it just to end up in big law. A good lot of us are miserable

Personally, after 6 years of practicing in biglaw, no. I wouldn’t and would proceed cautiously. However, if it’s truly your passion and you think you will be happier / more fulfilled practicing law, then you should jump and do what you love and not let anything stop that. Just would recognize that anything like what you’re doing now is a unicorn opportunity in the legal field tbh

Some dreams should not be pursued. I could not imagine giving up a lucrative and successful career in order to start over as a big law first year. That said, it may be difficult to get a big law first year associate position as a 40 year old graduate of a part time program. Look at it from the firm’s perspective. Why would they want to train someone who has a very limited window for making the firm money? Talk to big law associates and get their view on your plan.

The earnings are not guaranteed, especially in BigLaw. People get laid off all the time and rarely make it to partnership. Also, folks are lucky to be able to go in house to make less when what you are currently making. It’s not a risk I’d be willing to take, especially given the sunk cost of taking on more (significant) student loans and not working for several years to only start at around 200k comp and hope to make it the 8-10 years to partnership

Dude, if you are honestly making $325K in a Remote 45 Hour a week Consulting Gig (I almost think you're lying that sounds so good to be true, but if that really is true), you're an idiot to give that up to go to law school. Personally, I loved Law School, but I came out with over $200K (thats with a JD an MPA Degree) and honestly I don't know anybody I either went to school with or any other law I know who makes that much, even after many many years of moving up the latter. And I CERTAINLY DON'T KNOW ANYBODY ONLY WORKING 45 HOURS A WEEK (AND REMOTE NO LESS)! Dude, I would gladly switch places with you were you're at! Stay Put! You'd be crazy to give up what you currently have!

The chances of you making more than $325k as a lawyer are probably not great. The market is saturated and you’ll be considered a new lawyer despite your age and experience. I’m seeing lawyer jobs in my area that start at $70k.

No

Absolutely not unless you were definitely going to get a job in biglaw. Even then, you're not going to be able to keep up with your salary during law school, then you have to study for and pass the bar and THEN you have to take a giant pay cut to be a junior associate. Too many unpredictable risks. Being a lawyer isn't amazing and most lawyers don't ever make $300k/year.

Sounds like you have a lot of options. The advice I give to everyone is you really have to want to do the work a lawyer does everyday. Or it’s not worth it. I worked in politics for 10 years, then went to law school, and it was the best choice I ever made. I genuinely enjoy it. I went to a middle tier school for free, and that was the best choice for me.

If you would just go into transactional, I would question the utility of the degree. Maybe I’m a stuck up litigator, but I’m not sure how much a law degree really does for transactional. On the other hand, if you did a remote school and add the degree onto what you’re already doing, that could work.

One thing for sure is you will not just pivot into a job making a bunch of money. You will start at the bottom.

Whats more importan, the work life balance or salary? To exceed your current salary you're likely looking at significant reduction in wl balance.

Hated working in a law firm so much I contemplated going to med school. Ended up going inhouse which made me like being a lawyer again.

I pivoted from tech sales (heavy science focus) - making $500k plus (almost $1m the last year I did it) and went to LS in my early/mid 30s. I went to a T1 (public) LS and ended up with a full scholarship. I’m now making about $500k/year again - 10 years out. I’m glad I did it, as the travel for sales would have been impossible once I had kids at 39 and 43, but I am now totally burnt out and counting down days until retirement, which, on the bright side is happening in 3-5 years, so by the time I’m 54 at latest.

For me, it was a good choice. I would absolutely NOT incur debt in your 30s to attend LS though, as the handcuffs aren’t worth it. Are you “certain” you want to practice law? Bc if you’re not certain, you’re probably better off not making the change.

I went back to law school in my mid 30s in a part time program. I now practice in big law. It was worth it for me, however, I did not make nearly as much as you do. A well compensated law job is a crapshoot and heavily contingent upon performing at the top of your class, which you cannot predict. There is a study that showed that ~90% of law students think they will perform in the top 20%. So, yeah.

Feel free to DM me if you want to discuss.

You should take a look at postings for attorneys and see what their starting salaries are - it's going to take a lot to beat what you're making now. A lot of it depends on what area of law you get into, how good you are, who hires you on (what kind of payment structure do they offer), and if you're willing to put in some long ass hours (more than 45/week) and deal with the never ending stress. Average burn-out is 5-7 years. Best of Luck.

You hit 325k total comp roughly a dozen years out of undergrad. Assuming you can survive / thrive in the big law world, you’d be doing way better after a dozen years in big law. I’d do a spreadsheet of lifetime earnings from here out, enter in estimated costs and salary per year, and then add up the total. Biglaw will likely be higher, even with the years out of the workforce. For schooling, if I were you, I’d do full time law school at the school most likely to get you into big law in your preferred location, see how grades and the job search go first semester (top law schools now have employers giving offers after one semester) and then go back to work in consulting 2L and 3L (with a negotiated break for the summer associate internship) while taking the easiest evening classes possible. You won’t get Latin honors but who cares. The only question is whether your personal life is compatible with big law and if you’d enjoy the actual material (it’s good if you love to learn and get paid for what you know).

I agree with the general sentiment not to give up your current career. That said, what makes you want to practice law? You might consider it as a later-in-life passion project if it’s something that you really want to do. But for the actual practice at BigLaw, absolutely not.

I went to law school at 28, so I feel like I completely understand what you’re feeling! I had also always wanted to go to law school. But the key difference for me was that I didn’t have much upward salary potential, so it was worth the investment from my perspective. For you, I’d really think twice.

I’m an 8th year lawyer at a big law firm. Starting as a junior lawyer often sucks (long hours, unpredictability, grunt work) and it will take time to make the salary you are making now (assuming you want to / manage to get into big law - otherwise it may not even be feasible). It’s also tough to find a gig with decent work life balance with the salary you have now, as most in-house roles—even for more senior lawyers—only seem to pay around $200K ish, at least to start. Law school is also rough—it’ll be a full time job with a lot of pressure and no income, plus it’s expensive.

In short, if I were you I’d stay put.

I am glad to have gone to law school but you have zero business doing it