Choosing Law School 101

There’s far more to the question of whether you should go to law school than simply whether you will get in and do well. Law school is just the first step in the long, expensive process of becoming a lawyer, and way too many people only think about the steps that come before they pass the bar exam. I speak from experience because I was one of them.

Our goal is to help you learn much more about what it means to be a lawyer and the costs and benefits that should be weighed before embarking on a career in the legal profession. I simply want to help you make a well educated decision and to provide you with my perspective as a lawyer, the benefit of my hindsight, and my extensive research on the subject.

Step 1: Question Yourself

Why do you want to be a lawyer? If you don’t want to be a lawyer, then why do you want to go to law school?

Before you do anything else, ask yourself why you’re interested in going to law school The questions above are not metaphorical, rhetorical, or even general. You should literally get out a piece of paper and answer them right now, in that order. Then compare your answer to the many common reasons that people go to law school and ask yourself which of those apply to you.

There are many unstated assumptions people make about law school and lawyers. Actually writing down an answer will help you come to the real reasons you’re considering going to law school. Don’t put the cart before the horse.  If you don’t want to be a lawyer, you should have a damn good reason for going to law school because a law degree is not a general degree. It’s intended to prepare you to be a lawyer, and it’s expensive. Very expensive.

Step 2: Learn the Facts

It’s critical to consider whether you will enjoy being a lawyer. I’m not talking about some pie-in-the-sky notion of loving every minute of every day of your job. In every job there are things people don’t want to do and days that suck. I’m talking about a a fulfilling satisfaction at the end of the day and a genuine passion and  interest in the content of your job.

The question “should I go to law school?” is often relegated to the first, small chapter of books about how to get in to law school or how to succeed in law school. It’s rarely give the weight it deserves especially considering the challenges facing the legal industry, the number of lawyers who don’t like their jobs, and the rising costs of tuition and in turn student loans burdens.

It can be challenging to get a realistic portrayal of what it’s like to work in the legal profession. There’s more than enough media coverage of the legal industry, both glorifying and vilifying, but as with everything reality is somewhere in the middle.

The legal profession is a common target and the butt of many jokes! Everyone has an opinion, and there’s no way that any one opinion or point of view can adequately capture what it means to be a lawyer. We’ll do our best to lay out the facts and opinions from as many different perspectives as we can make available to you, but we’re mostly focused on getting you the information that typically doesn’t find it’s way those applying for law school.

Step 3: Make Your Own Decision

My goal is not to get you to 100% certainty. It doesn’t exist. My goal is for you to be certain beyond a reasonable doubt - the standard of proof required in a criminal trial. If it’s good enough to sentence people to jail, I think it’s good enough for us!

Clearly, the specific considerations will be different for everyone, but please don’t go to law school because your family wants it for you or for any reason that’s not entirely your own. You’re the final judge here. It’s your decision to go to law school and your name on the loans and the law license.