| Topic Name: |
What careers would be best for me? |
| Message Name: |
not so cynical attorney |
| Date Posted: |
10/04/2002 |
| In Reply To: |
I am a 44 y.o. attorney (successful practice, unfortunately, my partner is my estranged wife so I have to change jobs) also looking at a career change. Before you invest three years of your life (and untold thousands of dollars - most young attorneys we have hired are coming out of law school close to $100K in debt) think about whether you really want to practice law. First, there are too many attorneys out there (starting salaries at major firms are good, but you are effectively working 2 or more jobs since you will be putting in 80+ hours a week; but at most firms, starting salaries are in the 30K to 40K range); Second, most of the lawyers I know (including me) want to get out of the practice of law.
Good luck in finding what you are looking for (I believe that happiness in life starts with happiness/contentment in career - its where you spend most of your waking hours). |
| Message: |
I am a 37 y.o. attorney, went back to school for it in the last economic downturn (early 1990s).
True that most attorneys are getting out of practice - but there are TOO MANY in private practice to begin with. Its to be expected, I think. There is a very, very high burn-out rate among private/cilvil attorneys.
I never wanted to practice, and think the training is invaluable for any field. Especially for someone who is like me - the so-called "renaissance" person, with a wide variety of interests.
I have practiced, worked as a UN consultant, taught graduate business students - it's a great degree, UNLESS you have visions of private practice, which is boring, cutthroat, and in my opinion, hurting society with pointless legal action.
Beware - during difficult economic times, grad. school entrance is much more competitive.
If you do want to get a law degree and don't have visions of private practice, then there is absolutely no need to spend 100K on the degree.
The elitism of law practice is ridiculous. We all pass the same bar exam. Virtually nobody will ask you where you got your law degree after you've worked for a few years.
It is harder to get that first job in private practice unless you're at the top of the class and/or from a prominent school.
Those of us who can swallow our pride and go to less prestigious schools have saved enough cash at the end to build a house or start a practice, for that matter.
It's absurd to pay 100K for any degree when we have excellent public schools in this country.
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