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Law School is a sham

Good for you for thinking about this now rather than 2.5 years from now.
(1) What are the realistic career prospects for someone with mediocre grades at Tennessee law? Can you get a law job? If yes, what type of law job (private practice, government, public interest)?
(2) Is practicing law - and specifically, whatever the answer is to #1 - something you really really want to do? So much that you'd pay over a grand a month to do that instead of sales or whatever else you might do?
 
Unfortunately, I know people whose debt will reach 200k since they paid sticker for private schools away from home. The average debt at American here in DC (I knew a lot of people who went there) is 150k. 150k!!!

I landed a spot as a paid clerk during 2L and got an offer during 3L. I put down some money right away on that 130 to help a bit.

But with no one getting big law jobs and small/medium firms cutting back on salaries since there are so few opportunities for so many graduates (plus new health care laws, etc), it now makes more sense for most of the people in my circle to fight for gov't jobs, pay very little on your loans every month, get them forgiven after 10 years, then join the private sector in your mid-to-late 30's.

Also, speaking to Tim's 2nd question, it's impossible to know what goes on everyday in the field of law without actually working.
 
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The killer is the 80 year old partner that won't quit. We need these dudes to die (most of them are amazing lawyers and people so I say that in jest...kinda).
 
Manifest Destiny said:
I was in it for the cash. Im sure i could end up making money being an attorney but im trying to decide if its worth it to be in so much debt starting out.
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Then this is a tough path to take. The education bubble has not popped, and universities are still loading debt onto their students. See also "College is a bad investment" thread. This thread documents that the legal profession is not what it was.

I think there are better ways to cash in on your brain, such as IT. There are many possibilities, but Pega programmers make six figures (most come from India, so your advantage is English speaking American w/o need of green card). Our FileNet admin was an English major who was trained after college. He did well, then left us to work for FileNet (document repository application bought by IBM several years ago). With the Target fiasco and international spying, internet security is a safe and probably lucrative field. Database administration probably isn't going anywhere. I'm sure others could give better recommendations. There will be training costs, but they will be about half of a year of law school. The employment prospects in IT are better, and the work hours are less than law.

If you are interested in pursuing this option, I'd talk with an IT headhunter. S/he could direct you to a marketable field, and probably recommend training sites. They'll gladly try to place you when you are trained.
 
Go said:
The killer is the 80 year old partner that won't quit. We need these dudes to die (most of them are amazing lawyers and people so I say that in jest...kinda).
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This is a huge problem. Baby boomers are fucking up everything. I'm glad to be out of private practice.
 
If your school offers any kind of public sector loan repayment program (we call ours the Loan Repayment Assistance Program, or LRAP), you may consider gunning for one of those jobs.

Also, is UT the only law school in Tennessee? If so, I have to imagine you could network your way into working for a judge there.
 
wfudkn said:
This is a huge problem. Baby boomers are fucking up everything. I'm glad to be out of private practice.
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Go said:
The killer is the 80 year old partner that won't quit. We need these dudes to die (most of them are amazing lawyers and people so I say that in jest...kinda).
Click to expand...

At least in biglaw, every firm I've encountered has a mandatory retirement age.

Unsurprisingly, the boomers bitch and moan about it.
 
The good news is by the time Gen Y is 40, there will be a need for people as Gen X is not nearly as populous as the Boom
 
Manifest Destiny said:
I was in it for the cash. Im sure i could end up making money being an attorney but im trying to decide if its worth it to be in so much debt starting out.
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That is enough for me to tell you to gtfo now. The job itself is a drain anyway, so you have to like it to make it worthwhile. If you are just in it for the cash, you can make decent cash doing plenty of other things without the debt and without this particular job.
 
ImTheCaptain said:
so, 15 pages later, Law School: Sham or No Sham
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I think if you're outside the top 100ish it can def be a sham if you fuck around and don't get good grades.

There's no sham(e) in getting a law degree and using the education you receive to better your station in life, its just a lot harder than it used to be and you might not get to be a Mitch McDeere out the gate.
 
Manifest Destiny said:
I was in it for the cash. Im sure i could end up making money being an attorney but im trying to decide if its worth it to be in so much debt starting out.
Click to expand...

If that's all you're in it for, I'd bail while your not in too big of a hole. If I could do it all over again, I'd seriously consider going to community college, learning a trade and opening up my own business. My wife's and my combined student loans are > our mortgage.
 
TexasDeac10 said:
If your school offers any kind of public sector loan repayment program (we call ours the Loan Repayment Assistance Program, or LRAP), you may consider gunning for one of those jobs.

Also, is UT the only law school in Tennessee? If so, I have to imagine you could network your way into working for a judge there.
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That is certainly something i am looking into. UT is one of 5 schools in Tennessee but is the main source of attorneys. Vandy is there but competes more nationally and the other 3 are very small and ranked low.
ResIpsaDeac said:
If that's all you're in it for, I'd bail while your not in too big of a hole. If I could do it all over again, I'd seriously consider going to community college, learning a trade and opening up my own business. My wife's and my combined student loans are > our mortgage.
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This is a thought I have had as well. What trade to get into would be the next big question though.
 
Ok, your UT is ranked like #67. Decidedly second tier. You are in the middle of a fairly large class. Therefore your chances of getting a summer job with a decent law firm are quite low IMO. You will have to knock it out of the park this spring and your 2L year to get back toward the top and get a decent 2L summer gig, and there is no guarantee (at all) that this will parlay into a full time job. If you don't knock it out of the park, you're looking at government or public interest jobs which are going to pay very little. You're looking at 60K of debt by the time you get out I guess.

I think it may be time to cut your losses, especially given your statement that you don't have a passion for it. Go into IT as someone suggested or go get your electrician's license. Judging from what I paid the guys who rewired some outlets for me this week, they do OK.
 
ImTheCaptain said:
so, 15 pages later, Law School: Sham or No Sham
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Sham. 2 years, max. Teach students how to actually practice law. Let them find out what being a lawyer means in some capacity. Oh wait, that wouldn't be very profitable.

I may have known some fun cases and memorized some black letter, but if I wanted to draft a complaint at graduation, I would have gone to the local gov't website like any pro se party.
 
wake20 said:
Sham. 2 years, max. Teach students how to actually practice law. Let them find out what being a lawyer means in some capacity. Oh wait, that wouldn't be very profitable.

I may have known some fun cases and memorized some black letter, but if I wanted to draft a complaint at graduation, I would have gone to the local gov't website like any pro se party.
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I agree. I think lawschool is worthless (this is a common argument I have with my wife, who I met in lawschool). It doesn't teach you shit. Some say it teaches you how to think, but I think that's a load of crap. I haven't used a single thing I learned in lawschool in 10+ years of practice. I've learned by doing.
 
wfudkn said:
I agree. I think lawschool is worthless (this is a common argument I have with my wife, who I met in lawschool). It doesn't teach you shit. Some say it teaches you how to think, but I think that's a load of crap. I haven't used a single thing I learned in lawschool in 10+ years of practice. I've learned by doing.
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This somewhat encourages me because i hate law school. I hate the way its taught and much of the material.
 
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