Is Law School for You?
by Jennifer Fields

Originally published Nov. 19, 1999 on studentadvantage.com.

If the proliferation of books and guides on law school and LSATs haven't clued you in to how enormous the process is, I'll just tell you straight out - it's an enormous process. It can't be undertaken last minute or half-heartedly. It's stressful. It's expensive. It's time consuming. Did I mention it's really expensive?

I applied to law school a few years ago, and though I decided it wasn't for me, I have many friends who took the law-school route. Having been through the application process, we've found that there's an abundance of information on taking the LSAT and writing the best possible essay, but very little that acquaints you with the reality of being a law student or a lawyer.

We all know law school is competitive, but can't a quiet, non-competitive person be a lawyer too? We know about the lawyers who make more than $80,000 in their first year and never see the inside of a courtroom, but what about those low-paid assistant district attorneys who spend long hours in court from day one?

We've heard that jobs for attorneys abound, but we never hear about the lawyers who go jobless for years. There are a million different possibilities for attorneys - many of which you may not have considered or may not even know about.

So before you spend the next year of your life trying to get into law school, think carefully about why you want to be a lawyer in the first place. There are a lot of things about the field to consider.

• The competition to get in is fierce. Many schools - particularly top-tier law schools - take fewer than 25 percent of their applicants.
  
• The competition to stay in is even fiercer. Students have been known to steal other students' notebooks and try to sabotage each others' work at law review.
  
• Law school is expensive. A three-year education at a private law school can run you about $125,000.
  
• It'll take you three years to get your degree - and you still have to pass the bar after you graduate. The odds you'll pass the bar the first time range from 65 percent for graduates of fourth-tier schools to 85 percent for grads of top-tier schools.

But there's good news, too.

• Law school lasts only three years. Other graduate and professional programs often suck four or more years out of your life.
  
• Jobs abound in many fields for people with law backgrounds. U.S. News and World Report says that about one out of four law grads goes into public service and about 14 percent take jobs in business. U.S. News also reports that firms, which generally hire the most new attorneys, had about 10,000 more entry-level positions to fill this year than they did last year.
  
• Lawyers have tremendous earning potential. Though salary varies widely according to where and what you practice, firms are holding strong in the bullish economy, which spells plenty more cash in your wallet.

Once you weigh the pros and cons of the legal profession and law school itself, it's important to understand exactly what you want to get out of law school to determine if it's really worth it.

I've had many friends who made the commitment to an expensive legal education only to discover they hated law because it didn't meet their expectations. Now they work as attorneys only because they don't want to "waste" their degrees.

On the other hand, I've known people who thought law school wasn't so bad and love their jobs. It's really a matter of knowing what you want and what to expect.

Generally, I've found that law school applicants fall into three categories:

The Idealists
"I want to help people and change the world ..."

I, too, was once an idealist. After becoming fed up with my job as a social worker, I thought going to law school would be the best way to give me the ability to change social policy. While lawyers do have the ability to affect change on a case-by-case basis, it is important to realize (as I eventually did) that there is a tremendous amount that lawyers can't change.

Deborah Aaron, author of What Can You Do With a Law Degree? A Lawyer's Guide to Career Alternatives Inside, Outside, & Around the Law, emphasizes that law school may not be the best way to make your dream of changing society come true. "It's a very expensive way to contribute," she said. "Law school is so expensive and public interest jobs pay so little that you can't afford to go out and change the world and do good."

She also points out that affecting change through law is the exception rather than the rule. "The law has been significant in changing things: Brown vs. Board of Education, for example. You could be one of those rare few lawyers, but I wouldn't recommend going to law school with this as your sole goal," she said.

The Dazed and Confused
"When in doubt, go to law school ..."

So many of my friends who have struggled to find a career have said to me, "Well, I guess I can always go to law school." It's as if law school was their last-ditch attempt to become a respectable member of society. They know they don't want to be doctors or go into business, so why not be a lawyer?

Some go to law school without even wanting to be lawyers - they cling to the hope that their degree will be useful no matter what career path they choose. I've found that these are the people who are most likely to be unhappy in law school and even unhappier when they graduate.

"A legal education provides exceptional training for a variety of fields," said Ben Paris, Curriculum Director for Graduate Programs at Kaplan Education Center. "Going to law school knowing that you don't want to practice law is okay as long as you have some idea of how your education will fit into your career goals. Going to law school just because you have nothing else to do is a serious mistake."

There is definitely something to be said for the benefits of having a law degree, but law school is a demanding and rigorous experience that warrants a little more consideration and certainty than making it a when-all-else-fails type of alternative.

The Realists
"Money, money, money!" and "Esquire is such a cool courtesy title ..."

"It can be a nice way to make money," Aaron says, "but statistically you're better off going into computer work than law." On average, entry-level computer workers earn more than entry-level attorneys, according to Aaron.

Paris agrees. "There are positions that offer prestige and very substantial salaries," he said. "But those positions are highly competitive and require a serious time commitment. So, if you're just in it for the money, you should probably revise your plans."

Still, a definite benefit of being an attorney is the tremendous power you wield. "One thing about being an attorney is the instant prestige and respect you get from others," Aaron said.

So, who should be a lawyer?

According to Aaron, people who really want to either practice law or teach law. "Don't go to law school with an idea of any other job besides being a lawyer," she said. Aaron believes that aspiring lawyers should enjoy autonomy, crave lots of variety, love to learn and be comfortable with - if not relish - conflict. "Law is for people who like to lead with their heads rather than their hearts," she said. "It's for people who love logic."

Paris disagrees. "There's no one personality profile for successful lawyers," he said. "Many people think that lawyers have to be super-competitive and argumentative, but that just isn't so. If you're interested in litigation, you probably have to be able to deal with confrontations, but most lawyers aren't litigators.

"There's enough variety in the law profession for many different kinds of people to make a meaningful contribution," Paris said.

There are as many reasons to be a lawyer as not to be a lawyer. Ultimately, it's up to you. It's important to go into the process of getting in to law school with all the knowledge you can and gather a clear idea of what you want.

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