3 ms·

Indeed. I did the traditional path -- Ivy League undergrad, Top 10 law school -- with the expectation of the traditional big firm job outcome. Got shut out fro

Indeed. I did the traditional path -- Ivy League undergrad, Top 10 law school -- with the expectation of the traditional big firm job outcome. Got shut out from the big firm jobs due to a below median 1L year performance (I put in lots of effort, but it wasn't good enough). Just graduated. Hugely massive debt. Grades improved second and third years but only first year grades seem to matter very much. Law school was an epic mistake. It's also a very tracked profession -- once you're not on the BigLaw track its very difficult to ever get back on. Now the likely best-case for me in terms of my legal career is that after 10 years of working 40k-a-year public interest, i'll no longer have six figures in debt. So after 7 years of very "prestigious", expensive, and time-consuming education, and 10 years of hard work, I'll have finally broken even, and be looking forward to a flat and low income potential. That sure wasn't in the brochure.

gritzko 14y ago
You'd better become a carpenter! Then, there is always a chance your son will become a prophet.
- gritzko 14y ago
  No, guys, why do you despise manual work so much?
  - anonlaw123 14y ago
    What's really funny is if i'd just worked any random job -- food service, shelf-stocker -- instead of getting all this "elite" education, my financial situation would be way better than it is now right now. And if I, say, decided I wanted to go to school, then, knowing what I know now, I could major in something serious like computer science or one of the engineering disciplines. I'm too lazy to look for a cite, but I think Peter Thiel has commented on part of the problem of the legal market being the "prestige" that is associated with being a lawyer vs other jobs, and how people are willing to make flawed financial decisions in part due to this perceived prestige.
mayukh 14y ago
I don't know your situation, but have you considered going to one of the developing markets in Asia? One: there's a lot of legal work flowing to that part of the world Two: As those economies grow and mature there's more room for businesses (and individuals) to need legal assistance
- anonlaw123 14y ago
  The legal work I've seen in Asia tends to 1) involve getting a big firm job and then you can perhaps rotate into their Asia office, and 2) tends to want you have some language fluency. I'd love to go to Asia, and I'm footloose and fancy free -- nothing tying me to the States. Maybe you know something I don't -- did you have a particular market or type of position in mind? Lemme know.

gritzko 14y ago

You'd better become a carpenter! Then, there is always a chance your son will become a prophet.

gritzko 14y ago
No, guys, why do you despise manual work so much?
- anonlaw123 14y ago
  What's really funny is if i'd just worked any random job -- food service, shelf-stocker -- instead of getting all this "elite" education, my financial situation would be way better than it is now right now. And if I, say, decided I wanted to go to school, then, knowing what I know now, I could major in something serious like computer science or one of the engineering disciplines. I'm too lazy to look for a cite, but I think Peter Thiel has commented on part of the problem of the legal market being the "prestige" that is associated with being a lawyer vs other jobs, and how people are willing to make flawed financial decisions in part due to this perceived prestige.

mayukh 14y ago

I don't know your situation, but have you considered going to one of the developing markets in Asia? One: there's a lot of legal work flowing to that part of the world Two: As those economies grow and mature there's more room for businesses (and individuals) to need legal assistance

anonlaw123 14y ago
The legal work I've seen in Asia tends to 1) involve getting a big firm job and then you can perhaps rotate into their Asia office, and 2) tends to want you have some language fluency. I'd love to go to Asia, and I'm footloose and fancy free -- nothing tying me to the States. Maybe you know something I don't -- did you have a particular market or type of position in mind? Lemme know.