Do Not Go To Law School
Do not go to law school. I know that this is a Finance board but I suspect that some people on here have an itch for this. Trust me. You do not want to do it to yourself.
Listen. All law schools will tell you what you would like to hear. Listen to your own inner voice. There is literally nothing there. I suspect that 80 to 90 percent of students have no job and no income for 36 months and graduate with nothing. You will not get a job. Orientations are run by students to trick people into doing what they otherwise would not do in the first place, which is enroll. If the orientations were run by faculty and staff, you would smell their crap from day one. Your antenna would be on high alert.
You will not be in the top 10 or 20 percent. You won't even be in the top 33 percent. You will be in the bottom 2/3 of the class, bottom 80 percent or bottom 90 percent. You will not be able to get a job at all.
To make matters worse, your undergrad degree will lose value. You will graduate from law school and find out that recruiters and HR professionals ignore you more than they did coming out of undergrad. If you thought it was hard to get a job out of undergrad, wait til you tack on a degree that they don't value on your resume. They want linear resumes that they can plug into their company. The JD is the disease, the virus, the ultimate resume gap.
Despite the abysmal employment prospects, 150 suckers per year enroll any way, thinking their outcome will be different. There is nothing there!
You will not get a job.
Wait there's more. When you finish your JD program, you will be really kicking yourself when you find out that your classmates from undergrad will have passed you by. They will have been promoted 2 or 3, even 4 times by the time you finish your JD which will have you jobless. They will have an upscale apartment or condo or house. You'll realize then you were really screwed.
There is nothing there.
Don't even waste money on an application.
Keep your head up and keep looking for a job out of undergrad and go from there.
Which law school did you graduate from? And where did you do undergrad at?
Are you saying that 80-90% of students graduating law school and passing the bar will not have a job for 3 years or are you talking about people that get a JD and look for a job in finance? I have friends that are lawyers and after they passed the bar it seemed like they all had decent gigs lined up, maybe not at all top firms but they're making a decent living.
Even though there is some truth to what you're saying, I think everyone knows by now that law school is only worth it if you go to a T-14. At T-14, I do not think your statements apply anymore.
Exactly. Everyone I know (majority attend top 20) from law school has no issue finding a job post-graduation... they do just fine. My good buddy goes to a really good law school and he'll be doing just as well as an associate in PE once he graduates.
a buddy of mine finished up recently and started at $130k and was not even T-30
edit: non major market too
100% of people will be in the bottom 10% of their class? I don't get it...maybe this explains why your job prospects are so low.
No but I think his point is that you're probably not going to be as good as you think you are. Like I read something about how at a law school orientation session, the speaker asked the crowd how many of them were the best writers in their college/hs classes, and like every hand went up. And from what I read, at the bottom of the T-14 you have to be at least in the top 50% to get a good job.
Exactly what I'm saying. You are walking into a trap. Btw it is not common knowledge that one should look at top 14 or not at all. Otherwise you wouldn't have 150 suckers enroll per year below that tier. Frankly, I'd go so far as saying you shouldn't look at anything below top 7.
Work at Goldman Sachs and don't look back. 8 figure bonuses, partner by 30 track, etc.
Why the hell would you put this on youtube lol
lol it's not me. I made a thread on it on my user page if you want to read.
Jesus, put a dimple in that tie and tighten it up before I go blind...
Read third tier law blog. Hillarious.
@TNA" please provide a link - it sounds awesome
I'd like to see that link too lol.
What are your credentials and experience in the legal professional expertise? Everyone is different, and clearly you're unfit to have your skin in that particular game. Your all-knowing "don't go to Law School" because I know "so" based on "cutthroat competition" is utter embarrassing trash advice.
Real life is a competition itself, but the effort and will you exert can prove to be fruitful. Damn I hate these defeatist I failed so you'll fail threads.
Edit: Holy shit, I even have to edit my post again to emphasize how sad this thread is.
great related thread http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/blog/law-school-is-a-terrible-idea
I think it is pretty common knowledge that you have to go to T-14 school for a decent chance at a corporate job.
I agree with you on 95% of what you said, but some simply wake up and go to sleep wanting to help those who have been hurt by horrific criminal justice system.
Assuming people have that burning passion and love law it is completely possible to get a six figure job coming out of a lower tier law school. You don't need to join a large corporate firm to make that kind of money. If you goto law school get good grades, network (which is usually mandatory to some degree because of mentorship programs), and intern most people will be fine. Will they work in a major law firm...probably not. But that probably wasn't that persons goal to begin with.
TraderDaily, could you give some color on your background? That would really help digest your post.
don't bother. check the post history, either a troll or delusional.
sorry OP, your reputation speaks for itself.
I know the truth hurts, but I'm not delusional. Another poster put a link up talking about this same issue. The risk/reward is skewed towards risk and minimal reward.
There are a lot of problems with law school and the legal profession but I'm not sure you've emphasized the right ones. Law school can be a great idea for people who actually want to be lawyers, or people who have excellent grades and want to a well-paying professional career (200k for a 25 year old right after graduation is a damn good gig for most people, even with debt).
That said, I think a lot of other business jobs end up being more interesting than corporate work, with better hours and better long-term earning potential (without the three year opportunity cost). Agree with other posters above that going to anything below T14 is risky employment wise (and way more so below T1), but there's tons of information about that and that topic has been beaten to death on other forums.
A friend of mine went to University of Michigan Law School and now is an Associate at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP in NYC doing corporate law. I don't think law school is that bad. :)
Wtf is this? My law school friends are smart but arrogant as fuck that's why they can't get a job. They don't get the real world so they're useless... Unless they want to be politicians of course
And to be frank, I think that careers such as lawyers and doctors are more reliable (i.e. more stable in economic downturn) because there is a higher barrier of entry than investment bankers (especially below Director level). No one really need to go to school to become an investment banker. You can train a monkey to become an investment banker if you force him to do one year of bulge bracket full time training. By 2-3 years (at Associate level), you already know all there is to know about investment banking. You can't say the same thing on being a lawyer or a doctor (i.e. I can't just quit my job; get 2 years of training at emergency center to become a fully license doctor). Just saying.
This is outdated thinking. The ABA allowed way too many law schools and your parent's friends that are lawyers live in a completely different career reality. Doctors on the other hand, they have effectively managed their cartel to keep the supply of doctors more in line with demand.
pretty sure you don't need law school to become lawyer, just pass the bar, right?
edit: not that this is a common route, but possible, eh?
Thanks for posting this. I think it's pretty well-established in other threads on this site as well as law-centric sites like ABT that law school isn't all that it's cracked up to be.
This flowchart from Above the Law, a pretty good legal news service, pretty much covers all the reasons you shouldn't go to law school:
http://abovethelaw.com/2013/10/deciding-to-go-to-law-school-in-one-epic… (link to article)
http://abovethelaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/DGTLSU-Flow-Chart-Two… (actual flowchart)
The perception of the JD was valid in the past when most educated people could get a law degree to indicate their level of intelligence and transition into numerous other industries - today, as you mentioned, most HR departments will view you as being overqualified/likely to jump ship quickly if you receive a better offer. That being said, I do know some successful people who went to a top tier law school with no intention of becoming lawyers and who still recommend a law school education simply for intellectual benefits it gives you.
My personal view is that the tradeoff between corporate law vs. banking is not worth it because you get paid less and work (slightly) more at any legitimate law firm. In the past, you'd have a more risk-averse career but I can't say the same now.
What is your background to be saying all this?
A cousin of mine (went to T6) graduated 3 years ago and seems to be making over $250k, seems to me law school panned out pretty well for her.
Although many of your points are valid, you just sound extremely bitter.
Maybe you're an idiot? Two friends of mine just finished up their second year at GW and already have jobs lined up for them when they graduate. Neither of them are insanely intelligent, they just work hard. They will be starting at ~160k all in.
ITT: Hey I'll ignore the statistics the sober-minded posters are submitting and counter with some anecdotal examples about my friend/cousin's success!
I debated going to law school post undergrad. Really glad I decided not to.
Now that I work with RE attorneys at top firms everyday I think I would blow my brains out if I had to work 80+ hour weeks staring at lease docs and PSA agreements every day.
They are paid for the drudgery of their job.
How many Ari Gold's actually are needed/exist?
YES
Post of 2017
Read Tucker Max and his reasons not to go to Law school
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