@canarydiamond: yeah it’s pretty bad out there, but it sounds like OP has a passion for it. It’s not impossible to be successful, you just have to want it more than anything. You have to basically put law school and work afterwards above all your relationships, free time, and family. It sucks but if its what you love doing, you should do it. I would just recommend people shadowing a lawyer before going to law school, because a lot of people think that lawyers do something’s totally different than they really do. All we do is write write write, and deal with terrible people lol. I’m a litigation associate, which basically means civil trial attorney, and I’ve never been to court. Not because I’m new, but because non of my cases have ever gone to trial. In reality, only about 2% of cases actually go to trial, so if you’re lucky, you might go to trial once or twice a year. Transactional lawyers literally never go to trial. It just breaks my heart when people go to law school thinking they will be doing one thing, when in reality they’ll be doing something totally different, because that’s how we end up with all these unhappy lawyers. It’s not their fault, though. Movies and TV really glamorize the lifestyle of lawyers, as well as the actual work. If a movie crew followed me around for an entire year at my job, they would never make it into a movie. It would be so boring to watch lol.
@Meant2Bee: No problem! I wish someone was there to tell me all these things when I started school, so I just want to pass on any advice I can. One more piece of advice: don’t get stuck on one type of law you think you want to practice, because it will change! I went to law school because I wanted to be a prosecutor, but I changed my mind and now I’m doing what I love, which is the exact opposite of that (civil defense). I don’t think I know anyone who is actually practicing in the area they thought they wanted to when they came to law school. Go in with an open mind and take a variety of classes your second and third year so you can explore different areas And find out what you really want to do. Don’t feel pressured into getting a “concentration” which is basically like a major in college). They do more harm than good, in my experience. You don’t want to get yourself pinned down into one area. To successfully practice law, you’ll need a wide variety of experience, and concentrations basically force you into taking a bunch of the same type of classes. Law firms do not give two shits about any concentration you have, all they care about are your grades and class rank. Being on a Journal is good, too, as far as job prospects go (you’ll know what that means when you get into school).
One more thing (Sorry, I know I said that before, but this is the last one, I promise!). I don’t know if your school will do this, but a lot of them offer a summer program for incoming 1Ls that takes place a week or two before school starts. You go to mock classes and they teach you how to read and brief cases. If your school offers this, please do it! It isn’t graded, so there’s no pressure, and they are usually free. This will give you a head start ahead of your classmates, and the first day of school will be so much less stressful because you’ll know exactly what to expect. You’ll also meet people, which means you’ll already know a lot of people in your class by the time school starts, which makes a huge difference. I met my Maid/Matron of Honor and most of my bridesmaids during this summer program. They usually have limited space, though, so if your school does this, make sure you sign up as soon as you can!
Ok I’m done, I promise haha!
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