so i'll have a law degree soon...

[scott1]

There was an article in the NY Times in just the past couple years talking about the fact that fewer law school grads are ever practicing law (I didn't find it with a quick search). The critical thinking/logical approach you learn, plus the degree, are attractive to a lot of different professions. I think if you spend some time looking for resources and reading about this you'll find it is worth your time.

[midas]

Joker:

You have other options - you could become an investment banker depending on your school (top 10) and grades. But the work is still long and hard. In any entry level job, the salary is usually proportionate to the hours worked.

Nobody goes to law school for the year 1 salary, they go for the potential for partner level salary. A partner at a decent sized law firm in a major city will out earn 99% of professional poker players.

If you don't like the Law why are you in school? Unless the parents are paying for a freeroll - [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img].

[Henry17]

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also, 18 months may not sound like alot but i still have 600k hands that say i poker will "work out for me" should i decide to go back to it. that is what is making the decision so hard...i wish i never played a hand of poker in my life.

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I had been playing poker and betting on sports for 7 years but when I finished law school and I still wasn't sure what I should do.

If 1998 hadn't been an insane year I probably would have gone into law. In 98 though I was making 60-80% of my first year salary every week. That never happened again. I still make very good money and am way ahead of what I would have made in law (plus much happier) but that just highlights the danger of using a single year of data for making decisions.

[tippy]

If you don't like law, drop out now. If you don't like law school, you won't like practicing law. Practicing law is one of the most boring and tedious occupations on the face of the earth.

Take this advice from someone who has a law degree and hated practicing: Do something you love with your life, especially if you are young and don't have many responsibilities.

If later in life you realize that law might be your thing, you can always go back to law school.

[Somnius]

Know how you feel Joker, I just turned down a couple scholarships to law schools in the states (I'm from Toronto) for this schoolyear to keep pursuing the internet money making world...and to decide if it's even worth it to go if you really don't have much desire to practice.

It's hard I think to really uncover if holding that degree will really benefit you in ways that 3 years of opportunity cost, x money if you're paying tuition, and a removal from your other interests, are an ev sacrifice and not a waste...especially considering 95% of the pop is conditioned to believe it's so great, which on one hand does mean it has the social value, jusitified or not, but if you have other interests or look kindly on other fields, just not sure law outweighs that. I really predict in our lifetime (...im 23) there will be a paradigm shift in how it's perceived by the general public, and maybe even their pockets.

Regardless, it's still a respectable field held in high regard, I think you're going to have to uncover it's real world non-practicing value for yourself, especially considering you already started, when you finish, should you decide to, at least then you'll know. I'm going to stay away from it for a couple years and see where my mind takes me, really hard to ignore the pressure of its social weight and utility though, so I know what you're going through.

After all, as was mentioned, it gives a great amount of credbility that could very well create lots of +ev in future ventures...unfortunate if you ask me, but, it really is seen as steps above to the general public...talk about people going for the wrong reasons, how about people putting the profession on a pedestal for the wrong and often inaccurate reasons.

[joker122]

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Rich people are always talking about having lawyers to protect them from their other lawyers etc, so if I went to law school I tend to think I'd see through a lot of that and also have some good skills to utilize for tax planning, contracts, investments and the like. Is it possible to pick up the skills just going to law school?


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absolutely. this is one of the main reasons i went - so i can handle my major transactions/contracts throughout my life myself.

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If the answer is yes, then I say finish it. A financially independent, intelligent, motivated and enterprising young adult who is law school educated, will do better in the long run than one who is not law school educated, IMO, especially if those three years were currently assigned to doing nothing much.

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there is no doubt that a law degree will be very useful. what i'm trying to do is decide if it's so useful to justify the $120k it costs + the 3 years of income/experience that i am foregoing by attending.

[joker122]

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Nobody goes to law school for the year 1 salary, they go for the potential for partner level salary. A partner at a decent sized law firm in a major city will out earn 99% of professional poker players.

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i understand that the idea is to make partner eventually but 1. a pretty small % of lawyers actually end up making partner (i think around 10-15% or so) 2. you won't make partner until you have been worked to the bone for 10-15 years

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If you don't like the Law why are you in school? Unless the parents are paying for a freeroll - .

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no - i like the law and enjoy very much learning about it. it is fascinating. that is actually the problem - i like learning about it but if i want to actually apply it to a career i'd have to wade through a bunch of BS before i could actually do the stuff i want (e.g. have my own clients and litigate their cases myself). also, i am paying for it 100% by myself with poker.

[joker122]

[ QUOTE ]
If you don't like law, drop out now. If you don't like law school, you won't like practicing law. Practicing law is one of the most boring and tedious occupations on the face of the earth.

Take this advice from someone who has a law degree and hated practicing: Do something you love with your life, especially if you are young and don't have many responsibilities.

If later in life you realize that law might be your thing, you can always go back to law school.

[/ QUOTE ]


thank you for the candid insight. however, as i said before i do enjoy law school and the law in an academic sense. i also like the idea of the power a law degree will give me (not some macho societal thing but rather the idea that i will have a leg up on people i negotiate/contract with in any pursuit i am engaged in).

that said, if i value a law degree in those senses, do you still recommend dropping out?

[tippy]

It all depends on what makes you happy I guess. I've personally never found having a law degree some special power or image to present to others. Most people just don't really care (and you have to listen to the lawyer jokes, lol). I suppose it makes some people feel better about themselves, but it sure is an expensive way in both time and money to make yourself feel better.

If you like law and want to make a career out of it, then stick with it. If you are doing it just so you can write J.D. behind your name, have a diploma on the wall to impress your friends or justify the other things in you are doing in your life, then get out now.

[joker122]

"If you like law and want to make a career out of it, then stick with it. If you are doing it just so you can write J.D. behind your name, have a diploma on the wall to impress your friends or justify the other things in you are doing in your life, then get out now.
"

yeah this is a large reason i entertained the notion of law school years back, but that has since evolved into much more "genuine" reasons (mostly).