Through the door walked two law students from a local law school. Only in their first year - first semester, in fact - they were already talking about possible exit options. Had they made the wrong choice? Should they drop out now? For both of them, the answer was most certainly yes, drop out now, or at the very least, transfer to a much cheaper school.
Every culture has its own tropes. In America, we no that certain things will never change. Preachers will get caught in sex scandals. Democrats will manage to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. The Celtics will always battle the Lakers. And inevitably, young people will attend law school without any good reason for doing so.
(1) "I didn't know what else to do." Trite but true: If you are a college senior, and you are considering law school because you don't know what else to do, you should reconsider. Maybe you can't see yourself actually getting a job and working. Maybe you want 3 more years of something between college and adult life. Maybe you've convinced yourself that, in the present economy, it is actually the most rational choice to attend law school, thereby allowing yourself to enter the labor market in 3 years--- by which point things will have improved (hopefully).
If these are the only factors weighing in favor of your decision to attend law school, then I urge you not to attend. Even assuming that there is some validity to the notion of waiting for a better economy to enter the labor market, you would still be ill-served by law school. Even assuming you attend law school for free, on a full scholarship, you will still need to have money for living expenses. And that money aside, you will still be spending 3 years of your life in an endeavor that may well prove to be worthless. Yes, worthless. Maybe you'll know how to "think like a [law student]." But if you're not going to use that law degree, then the tiny bit of knowledge you gained in law school is completely worthless.
(2) "A law degree is very versatile." Law schools tell you this so that you will attend law school. Let's be clear: Law schools are not in the business of educating people in the law and helping those people get jobs as practicing lawyers. It would be nice if that were the case, but its simply not. Law schools are, instead, in the business making money for themselves by selling law degrees. That's it.
Example: Ted Brassfield is having an existential crisis because he can't get a job with the Department of Justice, and he's mad as hell. He's demanding answers from everybody: from Indiana University, where he attended law school, and even from the President of the United States. But the problem here is that Ted Brassfield and many others attend law school on the false assumption that the law school (1) owes them something more than a piece of paper and (2) will actually for do work for them; will help them achieve their legal dreams. But that's a fairy tale.
Yes, that fairy tale is sold in the form of glossy pamphlets and catalogs, visiting student days with wine and beer and dinner served, and (often) trumped up or unverifiable statistics about employment outcomes and salaries. But its a fairy tale nonetheless. And everyone entering into this real has a duty to be mindful that his or her interests do not align with the interests of law schools.
So the bit about a law degree being versatile and flexible and opening hundreds of doors--- yes, you get a law degree, and all the sudden you open a wardrobe door and there is Narnia --- that's disingenuous at best.
Maybe if you obtain a law degree from one of the truly elite law schools in the country, that degree can open many doors for you. But if you get your law degree from somewhere further down the line, its not opening doors. Its not giving you more options. Its just saddling you with debt and/or wasting your time.
I have met people who went to law school wanting to be ibankers and thinking "a law degree will make me stand out. It will give me a leg up in the process." Bull. I have met people who went to law school wanting to do international marketing, thinking - somehow - in that fantastical world of the 22 -year-old college senior dreaming about the future - that a law degree could possibly be useful for that. Again, ridiculous. As a rule, unless you attend one of the very best schools in the country, you should only go to law school if you (1) want to be a lawyer and (2) believe that school will give you a reasonable chance of attaining that goal.
(3) "I hate law school and I really can't see myself being a lawyer." A common refrain among people in categories (1) and (2). If you don't want to be a lawyer, and there is not some other, specific job that you _know_ your law degree will help you acquire, don't go. If you're a 1L in these circumstances, drop out.
(4) "I'm going to have $200,000 in debt and I have no idea how I'll ever pay that back." Even if you do want to be a lawyer, and you have been dreaming of being a lawyer since you were six-- yes, one of those people - then consider the economic implications. I feel that so many people from nice, middle class or upper-middle class backgrounds never really concern themselves with money when they're young. Money is always there. The bills are always paid. Often, the parents pay for college. And then these kids go to law school, and take out $150,000 in loans, and initially, that money doesn't seem real. Its like Monopoly money. Its pretend money. Its money they don't have to worry about, because it can wait 3 years, until they graduate law school and get their dream jobs--- then it will all be worth it.
Real talk: That's real money. That $150k you took out in loans--- you'll have to pay that back, with interest. If you're committed to a life of public interest work and abject poverty, and your school will pay those loans back for you, then you're a saint and I commend you for your selflessness and your service to mankind. But if you don't fall into that category, and you viewed a law degree as something that would help you earn a good living, then you need to consider the financial realities. What about ever buying a house? What about marriage and children? What about $1,000+ in loan payments every month for years? Don't ignore these considerations. Address them upfront, before deciding that law school - or a particular law school - is right for you.
Lincoln plans to study modern legal history at Durham University in England for a year, at which point her prospects, she hopes, will be better.Absurd.
