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Any Lawyers?

JR

JR

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Just wondering if there are any lawyers on THP. I am STRONGLY considering a career in either criminal or corporate law and am wondering what your experiences have been? Are you glad you chose this career path? Any tips for my college career? What does your job really entail?
 
JR said:
Just wondering if there are any lawyers on THP. I am STRONGLY considering a career in either criminal or corporate law and am wondering what your experiences have been? Are you glad you chose this career path? Any tips for my college career? What does your job really entail?
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I'm a corporate lawyer, mainly M&A (mergers and acquisitions). I'm sure there are others, but I'll answer whatever questions you have that I can.

1. Am I glad? Yes, absolutely love what I do. However, work/life balance is non-existant.
2. Good grades. REALLY good grades. Keep the debt down.
3. Reading. Writing. Reading. Late hours. Reading.
 
JR said:
Just wondering if there are any lawyers on THP. I am STRONGLY considering a career in either criminal or corporate law and am wondering what your experiences have been? Are you glad you chose this career path? Any tips for my college career? What does your job really entail?
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Hope you like school, lots of reading, tons of studying. My brother is at FSU (criminal law I believe) now, and he's doing well, late nights at home instead of out having fun and a lot of dedication. Lots of hard work pays off in the future.
 
BigK29 said:
I'm a corporate lawyer, mainly M&A (mergers and acquisitions). I'm sure there are others, but I'll answer whatever questions you have that I can.1. Am I glad? Yes, absolutely love what I do. However, work/life balance is non-existant.2. Good grades. REALLY good grades. Keep the debt down.3. Reading. Writing. Reading. Late hours. Reading.
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So the LSAT and GPA are really important then. Check. I am studying English as an undergrad. Should I go ahead and shoot for my MBA? I have a full ride to undergrad, so I need to get all that schooling done.
 
My best friend just dropped out of a very good private law school here in NC. He just hated all the reading and writing. It wasn't uncommon for him to tell me he had 200+ pages to read per night. He said it's a ton of reading and writing. I barely saw him the past year when he was in law school. He never came out with us because he was at home studying. A lot of people like it, but its certainly not for everyone.
 
JR said:
So the LSAT and GPA are really important then. Check. I am studying English as an undergrad. Should I go ahead and shoot for my MBA? I have a full ride to undergrad, so I need to get all that schooling done.
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GPA is important just because for good law schools, every single person you compete with will have an outstanding GPA. Your LSAT is the key to getting into a top school. If you really want to do law, MBA is pretty useless. It's nice to have, but at a bigger firm, it's not going to advance your career in any way. It may help you understand some of the corporate/finance issues, but you can learn what you need by taking the right classes in law school or on the job.

One thing I will mention, I'm not sure how far along you are, but I'd recommend a degree in engineering. That's an undergrad degree that will open a ton of doors in both law school and once you're working. It gives you options such as going into IP law, taking the patent bar, etc. And engineer lawyers are always in demand.

Having no debt is nice, because it's very possible you'll come out with 6 figures from law school alone if you're borrowing at a top school.
 
Caveat - I'm coming from the standpoint of a corporate attorney working at a bigger firm. Solos, smaller firms, etc., MBA may be more useful in dealing with clients and give you a different point of view. I don't speak from the crim law view point at all - not what I do.
 
Thanks for the responses so far, keep em coming. There is a small law office in town, 1 lawyer. Would it be wise to see if he needed any help around the office so I could see what goes on?
 
Don't see how it could hurt.
 
BigK29 said:
Caveat - I'm coming from the standpoint of a corporate attorney working at a bigger firm. Solos, smaller firms, etc., MBA may be more useful in dealing with clients and give you a different point of view. I don't speak from the crim law view point at all - not what I do.
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I see. May I ask where you went to college and law school?
 
bahester said:
Don't see how it could hurt.
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Agreed. Doesn't hurt to ask. I never worked at a firm prior to going to law school, but I don't see how it would be negative. Free help for a solo is great too from what some of my buddies have told me.

I will tell you though, google some NY Times articles on the myths of law school. I'll see if I can track a few down. I'd recommend reading them prior to applying.
 
JR said:
I see. May I ask where you went to college and law school?
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Texas under, UH law. My GPA was a 2.2 and LSAT 171. I didn't get into Texas. Hence my advice of keeping the GPA up. My LSAT dominated.
 
BigK29 said:
Texas under, UH law. My GPA was a 2.2 and LSAT 171. I didn't get into Texas. Hence my advice of keeping the GPA up. My LSAT dominated.
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Dang. Nice score. Is it at all similar to the ACT you take for college? I did pretty damn well on that one.
 
I was originally dead set on attending law school but changed my mind about halfway through my junior year. I have some friends who have went on to law school and really enjoy it and, likewise, I know some people who have despised it.
 
I took the SAT for college...never took the ACT so no clue. It was similar in some respects to the SAT though, reading comp. portion. I can't remember if they had the logic games on the SAT. No math on the LSAT.
 
Steel President said:
I was originally dead set on attending law school but changed my mind about halfway through my junior year. I have some friends who have went on to law school and really enjoy it and, likewise, I know some people who have despised it.
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Spot on. It's not for everyone. Though, I know a lot of people who despised law school and love practicing, and people who loved law school and hate practicing. They're not very similar.
 
If there are lawyers on here, whose in hell?

I don't mean that. There is a huge level of dedication to becoming a lawyer. It's a thankless job that we could not live without.
 
blugold said:
If there are lawyers on here, whose in hell?I don't mean that. There is a huge level of dedication to becoming a lawyer. It's a thankless job that we could not live without.
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Why don't snakes bite lawyers?Professional Courtesy.
 
I recall reading an article a year ago about scores of unemployed law school grads with tons of debt. I'm sure you've looked at the job prospects but thought I'd mention it.

Mike
 
I went to law school but found I didn't play well with others in the legal profession so went back to uni and studied pharmacy. Law is still a pet interest of mine though.
 
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Every time my attorney sends me a bill I wonder if I went into the wrong field....
 
I can neither confirm nor deny if I'm one or not.

Like others have said in here....keep grades up, score well on the LSAT, keep debt down, be prepared lots of schooling and a minimal work/life balance. I have a criminal justice background but there's a reason I work in finance now hehe
 
My nephew graduated from law school 3 years ago, he went into International law and loves it, give him an opportunity to travel and he tells me the work is facinating
 
BigK29 said:
Exact NYT article(s) I was talking about. Read before deciding.

Read: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/business/09law.html?pagewanted=all
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Just read that article. Pretty darn scary.

I have a lot of experience working with Universities, and unfortunately, all of their programs are run the same way. It is all about student RETENTION, not necessarily graduation (recurring revenue). They are more concerned with making money than anything. Education has turned into a business and they care nothing for their customers.

Sad that it has come to this.
 
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