177. White Male. Not really sure I have a goal yet for law school, Big Law seems not worth it, I just did well on the LSAT. Am a junior in undergrad right now, took the LSAT relatively early during summer after sophomore year. Have a internship at a top PE firm lined up for this upcoming summer which gives FT returns.

 

177. White Male. Not really sure I have a goal yet for law school, Big Law seems not worth it, I just did well on the LSAT. Am a junior in undergrad right now, took the LSAT relatively early during summer after sophomore year. Have a internship at a top PE firm lined up for this upcoming summer which gives FT returns.

Based on your score, you can go to a school where you can do no studying and get a big law offer. The two tracks are litigation and transactional. If you are interested in transactional, then do the PE internship, get the offer, and go into finance instead of law. The responsibilities, ability to advance more quickly, and pay instead of student debt make it an obvious choice. If you have second thoughts, talk to in-house counsel and see if you can look at what outside counsel do. It will be mundane and full of fire drills. 
 

Litigation often appears more interesting than it is.  It is a research and motion writing position. If you are interested in this, go to the local courtroom and observe as many trials as you can to get a sense of how much of it is procedural. Feel free to meet the litigators for coffee and try to shadow them. You will make more money in PE, unless you are in contingency cases for medical malpractice or toxic tort. 
 

Feel free to let me know if you need any clarification. 

 
Most Helpful

I have very limited experience here, but may be able to offer some insight.

  • Went to a target undergrad.
  • Graduated with a 3.8+ GPA with opportunities to go into finance.
  • Went to a T50 (strong regional school) on a full-ride instead.
  • Worked at a business litigation firm for a summer.
  • Worked with a boutique IP firm for the last 2.5 years.
  • Never clerked and never journaled (nor have I been interested in those).
  • Never been in a courtroom and was litigation-averse the entirety of law school.

Given what I know now about the practice of the law, I would not recommend being a lawyer (and I'm not drawing only from my own experience here, but from the experiences of my classmates, alumni, and people in my network, whose opinions I've mined extensively before deciding to pivot away from a career in the law).

I'm also the type of person who you'd be surprised to hear this from:

  1. I work at a great firm.
  2. I work with the types of clients I always wanted to work with.
  3. I do the kind of work I always wanted to do.
  4. I have significant autonomy in how I go about my work.

Even with all these working in my favor, however, it still hasn't been enough to overcome my plain dislike of the practice of law (just ask any lawyer if they really like their job).

Also, since you're on WSO, you're probably the type of person who needs to hear this: It'll be incredibly hard to get back all the opportunities you're likely awash in now as a (seemingly) successful undergrad. As an undergrad, I felt like hot shit. Now, as I'm sending out teasers to the finance world, I feel like no one wants to touch me. 

Hope this helps.

 

WSO should not be your go-to place for advice on a legal career.  You are primarily going to get feedback from disgruntled former lawyers or law students.  You are going to get a very jaded view of the legal profession.  

 
financeabc

WSO should not be your go-to place for advice on a legal career.  You are primarily going to get feedback from disgruntled former lawyers or law students.  You are going to get a very jaded view of the legal profession.  

It is because he is on WSO that the advice is don’t go. If you have any interest in business you have no reason to attend law school. The advice on, say, Top Law Schools Forum is different because those people asking don’t have his credentials or PE summer offer. 

 

Every time I feel bad about my job I remember at least I'm not our lawyer

Our? I hardly know you.

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

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