What do you do? 1L, Law Student.
Do you like it? I love it so far. I'd still quit in a second if I won the lottery or something.
What makes you in particular well-suited or poorly-suited for your work? I am smart and good at taking tests and knowing what professors are looking for on exams. I have natural intelligence, so despite probably being in the bottom 5% in terms of hours put in, I get better than average grades.
What kind of people do best in your work? People that can view law school as a job, and put the hours in. Also, know how to study for exams and how greatly that differs from standing out during class. Definitely have to be good at both analytical and creative thinking. Hitting all the points on a law school exam will get you a B+/A-, but to get the A, you have to get a little creative.
What qualifications are necessary for people considering work in the same field as you? Undergraduate degree, LSAT. If I had to do it again, maybe some work experience would have been helpful. If unsure, major in a hard science since it opens up a lot of doors for patent work, etc.
What is a typical day like? See A Day in the Life Thread
What kind of problems do you encounter? Stress of being called on when you haven't read the cases. Time crunch when memos are due and during finals.
What are the biggest (most common) sources of frustration and elation? Grades are based off of one exam for the most part. This is great for me, but still stressful. Looking at my grades from first semester, there was 0 correlation between my relative strength in the class and my exam grade.
How much do you make? Thanks to scholarships, I make about -$30K. (125k+ for private practice after graduation)
How much can one expect to make in your position? Law School has almost no need based aid, so unless you get scholarships, expect to pay $50k per year. Jobs after graduation range from 30k for public interest to 140k for big law.