Law School?

[mozzandherb]

Rusty, I know you're going to law school, is there anyone else also at law school? Rusty do you like it? I'm really considering applying here at the University of Ottawa, but I'm not 100% sure yet. I still have about a year and a half to get my bachelors in Criminology and I dont know if I should keep going to get that degree or whether I should apply for law school in the fall
I was wondering Rusty or anyone else how do you like law school? And is there a lot of job opportunities and the end of it?
I know it's a little bit different here in Canada, but overall do you like it?
I think I'll finish my crim degree and then decide after, but that means I will be nearly 35 when I'm finished. Any advice?

[mozzandherb]

any advice bump

[Rusty]

Sorry I just saw the thread now... I was doing HW lol

As sick and Twisted as it sounds.... I love law school.
but is it right for everyone... no way. I think it really depends on what kind of student you are. To be successful in LS you need to be disciplined. I've never done so much reading in my life. Through out my undergrad I never really had to study or do much reading. I pretty much breezed by and graduated with a 3.4 (i think)

In law school its completly different. I read 3 or 4 cases every night and there have been weeks where eric has thought I was having an affair b/c I was in the library till 9 or 10 at night. I never pulled an all nighter until I got to law school Now i pull 1 -2 a semester. But I also work 2 part time jobs (one is only on sat mornings), and I do have some free time on friday and sat nights. I was never much of a wild college student and I don't think anyone would be able to and still pull off good grades.

But the good stuff about LS is that.... I love what i'm learning. I don't have to take any of those stupid science, math or history classes. Its 5 classes a semester of something I find interesting.

I like you have a thing for criminal law and am considering getting a joint degree (my J.D and a masters in justice studies) but Here unless you are the best defense attorney criminal law just doens't make the big bucks. Me personally I am probably going to be a scum of the earth, ambulance chasing, money hungry civil litigator. or i might go into intellectual property (focusing on the internetz) or maybe mediation. lol its too soon to tell.

As for the whole age thing if you do go to LS you'll notice that a lot of them aren't young. I have a guy in my class that is in his mid to late 40's (he's also already an MD with multiple proche's, BMW's, and has a GTR on the way). The rest of the older crowd in my class are in their mid 30's. so don't let the age thing discourage you.

Here there are plenty of jobs for lawyers. If you just stick with the cimrinology degree I"m sure there will some in that field but I think that if you were to go and get your JD there would be a larger variety of job opportunities.

Please go to law school so there can be someone else on this site that knows a thing or two about the law lol

[verothacamaro]

Sorry I just saw the thread now... I was doing HW lol

As sick and Twisted as it sounds.... I love law school.
but is it right for everyone... no way. I think it really depends on what kind of student you are. To be successful in LS you need to be disciplined. I've never done so much reading in my life. Through out my undergrad I never really had to study or do much reading. I pretty much breezed by and graduated with a 3.4 (i think)

In law school its completly different. I read 3 or 4 cases every night and there have been weeks where eric has thought I was having an affair b/c I was in the library till 9 or 10 at night. I never pulled an all nighter until I got to law school Now i pull 1 -2 a semester. But I also work 2 part time jobs (one is only on sat mornings), and I do have some free time on friday and sat nights. I was never much of a wild college student and I don't think anyone would be able to and still pull off good grades.

But the good stuff about LS is that.... I love what i'm learning. I don't have to take any of those stupid science, math or history classes. Its 5 classes a semester of something I find interesting.

I like you have a thing for criminal law and am considering getting a joint degree (my J.D and a masters in justice studies) but Here unless you are the best defense attorney criminal law just doens't make the big bucks. Me personally I am probably going to be a scum of the earth, ambulance chasing, money hungry civil litigator. or i might go into intellectual property (focusing on the internetz) or maybe mediation. lol its too soon to tell.

As for the whole age thing if you do go to LS you'll notice that a lot of them aren't young. I have a guy in my class that is in his mid to late 40's (he's also already an MD with multiple proche's, BMW's, and has a GTR on the way). The rest of the older crowd in my class are in their mid 30's. so don't let the age thing discourage you.

Here there are plenty of jobs for lawyers. If you just stick with the cimrinology degree I"m sure there will some in that field but I think that if you were to go and get your JD there would be a larger variety of job opportunities.

Please go to law school so there can be someone else on this site that knows a thing or two about the law lol

Well put....hopefully you're going on scholarships and grants....


Loans discouraged my completion of school :-(

[Rusty]

Well put....hopefully you're going on scholarships and grants....


Loans discouraged my completion of school :-(

Nope.... Student loans all the way. and Since they put a cap on how many hours we can work I have to borrow an extra $5k a semester just to keep my car and stuff.

I'm not sure how much it is in Canada but her LS cost about $35 a year. Thats added to my almost $80k i racked up in undergrad.

[bresk8r87]

Law School is on the horizon for me... ive got about a semester left here at USF and the LSAT... i still havent even given a thought to where i want to go, theres some pretty decent schools here in FL, but theyre very selective.

[bresk8r87]

Nope.... Student loans all the way. and Since they put a cap on how many hours we can work I have to borrow an extra $5k a semester just to keep my car and stuff.

I'm not sure how much it is in Canada but her LS cost about $35 a year. Thats added to my almost $80k i racked up in undergrad.

Hence the old saying... 'J.D.= Juris Debt'

[lokuputha]

Nope.... Student loans all the way. and Since they put a cap on how many hours we can work I have to borrow an extra $5k a semester just to keep my car and stuff.

I'm not sure how much it is in Canada but her LS cost about $35 a year. Thats added to my almost $80k i racked up in undergrad.

...and here I am complaining about my $16,000 a year...I bet you'll promptly pay off the student loans once you are done.

[mozzandherb]

Thanks for the advice Rusty. I figured that L.S isen't for everybody, but like you said, you're taking 5 classes of interesting material, and that's good. Fortunately, L.S isen't as much here as it is down there, and I'm on student loans as well, and will be for the rest of my studies . But that's how it goes I guess, unless I get a bursary.
But like you I am a dedicated student I maintain good grades, and I really think L.S would be a challenge, I think the challenge is what intrigues me the most, but I know it's a lot of work, and you have confirmed that.....I hate all nighters, but for some reason my brain functions better at night anyway....I think I will finish my degree and then consider the possibility of L.S.

[verothacamaro]

Become a pharmacists........chances are you'll make more and not deal with any of the tedious work an attorney usually goes through.

[Accord R33]

I bet you'll promptly pay off the student loans once you are done.

Nope, I will probably promptly pay them off, and she will pay me back 2 fold in the next 10 years.

I see an NSX Christmas gift in my future.

eh, who am I kidding. She knows I'll still end up making more money than her

[Rusty]

Nope, I will probably promptly pay them off, and she will pay me back 2 fold in the next 10 years.

I see an NSX Christmas gift in my future.

eh, who am I kidding. She knows I'll still end up making more money than her

Don't pull that shit... you don't pay any of my bills now and you probably never will.

and you know the only reason I'm going to buy you an NSX is so that I can tell people that you wouldn't be able to have one without me.

[deevergote]

Val, just buy Eric an NSX... and import and NSX-R for yourself

[Accord R33]

Val, just buy Eric an NSX... and import and NSX-R for yourself

She's a Nissan girl, it would be a Skyline, not an NSX

[doylna]

there's at least one other person here who has also been to law school...

but to the OP - why do you want to go to law school? It's a long, arduous, and expensive endeavor. Unless you can articulate why you want to go (and "it seems like it would be fun" or "something to do after college" are spectacularly bad answers to the question), then you shouldn't go to law school.

Afterwards, (in the US, at least) unless you're in the top 10% of your class, or unless you go to an Ivy, you're not going to come out making the $145K that people like to float as starting salaries. Instead, if you choose to practice you're looking at something in the realm of $40K -$60K, which isn't chump change at all, but, compared to what you spent, you may very well have been able to work those three years, and see the same salary. You could also take a job not in the legal profession and do pretty well, because legal training teaches you to think clearly and articulate yourself - and those are transferable skills.

As to age, there are two kinds of people in law school - those who go right after undergrad, and graduate when they're 25, or those who worked for several years and then went to law school. My experience suggests that those who work first, a) do better (because they're more focused, and really want to be there) and b) have better job prospects, even if they're not in the top 10%, because they have real life experience to draw on when selling themselves for a job.