Law School Advice
Via email:
I've recently gotten serious about attending law school and started studying for the LSAT last week.
I have been speaking with as many lawyers I can in order to get a realistic outlook on law, however I have not spoken to any criminal defense attorneys.
If I could ask you a few questions about 1.) Law School 2.) Your career 3.) any thoughts/opinions on the profession, I'd greatly appreciate it.
My response:
1) Law School is mostly boring. Don’t go unless #2 applies to you.
2) I love being a criminal defense lawyer. That’s what I wanted to be when I went to law school.
If you want to be a [fill-in-the-blank-type-of] lawyer, then obviously law school is a necessity, and you’ll just have to put up with the boring parts. After you suffer through all the mandatory stuff during first year – where you have little or no control over what classes you must take – then concentrate on taking the classes that will actually apply to your future career.
Try to find a law school that has clinics that allow you to practice as a third year student while supervised by lawyers that know what they are doing. For me, the criminal defense clinic at UT Law was invaluable. Best course I took.
3) I have no experience with non-criminal defense parts of the profession. Therefore I have few thoughts and no opinions about that. I’m just one of the lucky people that gets to enjoy what he does for a living.
