Posted by Championship_Vinyl at l1.wpalaw.org on January 21, 2004 at 10:32:17:
In Reply to: I'm going to law school in the fall... posted by The Cam on January 21, 2004 at 01:57:42:
It depends on why you want to go.
Snikles already told you many of the negative aspects of it. It's just another bunch of jumps through a bunch of hoops, only they're much bigger hoops than in undergrad.
But furthermore, law school teaches you esentially nothing practical. The first three or four semesters are used chiefly for thinning the herd. It's torts and caselaw and random acts of professors picking on you to see what you're made of. If you make it through your first few semesters, the professors lighten up and allow you to learn at your own pace and start to aim toward an area of interest and specialization.
Honestly, I learned more in my first week of practicing than I learned in the whole of law school. Few judges want to hear about caselaw. Opposing counsel doesn't care that you know every Amendment to the Constitution by heart. Not a single professor ever mentioned what the Prothonotary was, even though you'll go there almost every day once you're practicing.
Up until you get into Practicals and/or internships where you're able to be certified to practice under supervision, law school teaches you "everything you need to know"... but really don't.
If you want to be a lawyer to make big bucks, you can. However, you'd better ace everything and look forward to putting in 60 hours a week at a firm that will drop you in a heartbeat to grab another recent graduate who had better LSAT and Bar scores than you.
If you want to be a lawyer because some area of law interests you, you can. I've wanted to be a lawyer since I was 16, and it was worth every penny of that 130 grand I still owe.