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So I'll be graduating in December (B.S. in Legal Studies), and I'm actually taking my LSAT this Saturday.

I've heard quite a few people say that I should pretty much avoid law school like the plague right now.

 

While I do want to be a lawyer, I'm not so keen on taking on 150k worth of debt with no chance to find a job.

 

Then again I'm not particularly interested in a biglaw job anyway. I'm looking more for public service/interest/advocacy type thing.

Are these jobs pretty much available more?

 

My cousin said with me being a paramedic getting a job at a personal injury firm later should be pretty easy. Is this really true?

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May I ask if your cousin is a counselor for careers to make such a summation?

Is Law your passion? What skills do you maintain in the law arena that can aide the advocacy field? If its compassion, then you and I both know the law doesnt work that way......

On another note entirely, May you pass on the first testing!! Law hasn't lost its economic appeal. Its like Doctors, they are always in need.

Bottom line- Speak with a College Career counselor and review your current curriculum. If you are going to change horses then now is the time before investing further....

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Then again I'm not particularly interested in a biglaw job anyway. I'm looking more for public service/interest/advocacy type thing.

Are these jobs pretty much available more?

 

 

Those are as hard, if not harder, than getting biglaw jobs.

 

By the way, if you're not attending the top 14 law schools, you can pretty much forget about ever step a foot into biglaw.

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Afishwithabike
So I'll be graduating in December (B.S. in Legal Studies), and I'm actually taking my LSAT this Saturday.

I've heard quite a few people say that I should pretty much avoid law school like the plague right now.

 

I'm an attorney. My employer has several hundred employees, but we're not hiring now. There's a hiring freeze that went into effect. Of course one doesn't know what the job market will be like in three years when you get out.

While I do want to be a lawyer, I'm not so keen on taking on 150k worth of debt with no chance to find a job.

 

Then again I'm not particularly interested in a biglaw job anyway. I'm looking more for public service/interest/advocacy type thing.

Are these jobs pretty much available more?

 

 

I worked for the local legal aid office.. Public service jobs can be feast or famine. The median public interest salary for graduates is less than $40k. When I was employed at the legal aid office, I was constantly looking for grants to support the work I was doing. I'm not ashamed to say I left because the pay was so poor. I wasn't in debt from law school because my parents paid for it so I could afford the "luxury" of taking a low paying job. My starting salary at my public service job was in the low 30s.

If you're going to be saddled with huge debt, you might want to think more about public interest jobs. On the other hand, I've heard that if you go into public interest law sometimes your school loans are forgiven.

 

 

My cousin said with me being a paramedic getting a job at a personal injury firm later should be pretty easy. Is this really true?

 

Personal injury isn't my area, but there was a woman in my law school class who was an experienced medical doctor. She got her law degree, passed the bar exam and set up her own medical malpractice service. I can see how your paramedic background would be useful.

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Those are as hard, if not harder, than getting biglaw jobs.

 

By the way, if you're not attending the top 14 law schools, you can pretty much forget about ever step a foot into biglaw.

 

I have 1 pick that's a t14 (Georgetown). Generally I'm aiming for top 20-40.

My final gpa should be somewhere in the 3.45 range, and an LSAT above 162ish is something I'd be content with.

 

My timeline is a little messed up. I'm trying to prepare for the LSAT with taking classes, which isn't really ideal. This is really the only way I'd make the 2012 deadlines though. I'd much rather only have my LSAT prep to worry about, but it is what it is.

 

I'm in Pittsburgh so I think most of the firm jobs are small/mid really.

 

Fish, thanks for the info!

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

I am a lawyer.

 

First, with your GPA and LSAT score, you probably would not get into a top law school unless you have some other appeal (minority, unique background, etc.) Just sayin'.

 

Why do you want to go into law? There are a lot of things about the field that SUCK so don't do it unless there is something about advocacy you will absolutely love.

 

If you want to go into public interest work, you are better off going to a less expensive school in the general geographic area where you want to work that has good alumni networks. During law school, spend as much time as you can getting practical experience through work and internships. Live frugally and borrow only as much as you must to get through school.

 

Look at your expected starting salary for the job you want and the cost of school. If you cannot finish law school with approximately the same amount of debt as your first year income (if you make 40k you borrowed no more than 40-50k...), you need to adjust either the educational expense or your employment plans. There are tons of lawyers out there right now who can't find jobs. The market is tough and it's not as financially lucrative as it once was.

 

That said, I went to law school, have some debt (although not nearly 150k....geez!) and work in public interest law. And aside from some of the horrific people I work with (lawyers are generally miserable people....) I have the best job in the world.

 

ETA: Maybe you should try to get a part time job or internship with a personal injury firm now. Your medical knowledge might be useful to them and you could see if you actually want to do that kind of work.

Edited by chryssy83
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So I'll be graduating in December (B.S. in Legal Studies), and I'm actually taking my LSAT this Saturday.

I've heard quite a few people say that I should pretty much avoid law school like the plague right now.

 

While I do want to be a lawyer, I'm not so keen on taking on 150k worth of debt with no chance to find a job.

 

Then again I'm not particularly interested in a biglaw job anyway. I'm looking more for public service/interest/advocacy type thing.

Are these jobs pretty much available more?

 

My cousin said with me being a paramedic getting a job at a personal injury firm later should be pretty easy. Is this really true?

That could be that you would have a better chance of getting a job as a personal injury attorney because of your background as a paramedic. Although I think law firms consider more your academic standing and your personality and demeanor when considering candidates. A personal injury attorney needs to be very assertive, very convincing, very sharp and quick on his feet in order to prosecute a case in court. They, of course, have doctors and experts to back up their case, but I'll bet they consider your background to be an advantage. I worked in a law firm for 8 years, and some of the attorneys were personal injury attorneys. The hiring was good in those days. I would think it still is for personal injury attorneys, since there will always be those types of cases to prosecute. I imagine real estate and estate planning attorneys might be feeling the crunch and law firms are not hiring those types too much in this economy, but I would doubt there's a fall off for personal injury attorneys. They are usually hired by clients on a contingent fee basis anyway (the firm only gets paid if they win the case), so I doubt the public is deterred about hiring them. As far as advocacy, I doubt you'd be finding much in that field. I have a Bachelor's Degree in legal advocacy and legal assisting, and all the jobs I've seen have been volunteer jobs, so I wouldn't plan on that. And, of course, with state governments having all these budget crises, there may not be a lot of hiring in the public sector either. Becoming a personal injury attorney would probably net you more money, but then you'd have to have the dynamic personality to go with that. Otherwise, you'd be dead meat in that field.

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