Why shouldn't I go to law school?

This question is asinine and this kid is a veritable douchebag. Yet somehow, the question has elicited a cornucopia of delightful (and not-so-delightful) answers. And as ridiculous and boorish as this question is, I shall respond nonetheless: First of all, in response to all those folks out there telling you to work hard, I tell you it doesn’t matter as much as you think it does. I was high for the entire four years of my undergrad career and still graduated with grades good enough to get me into a Tier 1 law school. Also, I didn’t study for the LSAT. See, I actually had a job back then and didn’t have the time to study, so I took two practice tests and off I went. And I can tell you that for me, the LSAT was the worse experience ever. Worst. Ever. Worse, even, than the bar. But I digress… At the end of the day, kid, you’re a self-aggrandizing, narcissistic prick. I don’t think that volunteering would help you much, sadly, because you don’t seem to be the type who can even begin to relate to anyone else but your own species of materialistic megalomaniacs. If you want to make money, don’t go to law school. Lawyers actually have a responsibility to the community they serve. There are cannons of ethics and other rules to ensure that not everything you do is driven by money. Finance, on the other hand…. Well, in finance, you’re expected to be a materialistic buffoon. In fact, I implore you now not to go into law. You are the type of person who gives all lawyers a bad name.

I speak as a person who spent sixteen years working not as a lawyer, but working for attorneys and with people who wanted to become attorneys. First, while you may or may not really know what you want to do with your life, having a goal at this early point is a very good thing. Your perspective may change, or it may not. The point is that you have something to work toward, and that's good. Second, attorneys are just people. Often they are driven, type-A people, but people nontheless. I've known attorneys who were fun to be around, played keyboards in a rock band (in their 50s!) and treated their subordinates like real people to be respected and listened to. I've known attorneys who were driven solely by their own bottom line and treated everyone around them like dirt. They were assholes. Third, don't be an asshole. Not just in reference to point two above, but in your whole life. If you do end up making tons of money, do good with some of it. Do good with your time. There's nothing wrong with making tons of money, but don't make it the sole purpose of your life. Fourth, ditch the law school snobbery. I worked in two medium-sized firms in Seattle, but I know very successful attorneys whose diplomas read Gonzaga, Washington, Detroit, Florida. I knew a young, ambitious woman who worked for our firm as a paralegal while putting herself through law school at night through Seattle U. Contrary to the whole history of the firm, she got promoted from paralegal to associate when she passed the bar. When it comes to hiring, it appears the firm I worked for was less interested in the school than in personality, eagerness to be of service to the community in general as well as to the firm, and overall demonstated and potential ability, no matter what law school was on the diploma (criteria not necessarily in the order stated). Fifth, try to find work in a law firm between college and law school. All law firms need clerical help, and almost every office services grunt I knew was planning on going to law school. We tended to grab these people. I'm not aware that any of them ever came to work for us after law school, but that's okay. We showed them what it was like to work in the support end of the legal profession...surely a good thing for someone who wants to work in the practicing end. Good luck. Keep yourself open to possibilities. Be a good person.

I am not a lawyer, but I have been a first-year advisor at an Ivy League college. First of all, you forgot to list the #1 reason people in your position end up in law school: "I am graduating from a prestigious college with good grades and don't particularly know what I want to do with my life, but want to have a career with reasonably high status and pay." And you know what? That's a perfectly legitimate reason; and lots of people like that end up being successful, happy lawyers. So I want to unask your question, if that's all right. You don't need a legitimate reason to want to go to law school, because no decision before you right now depends on whether you want to go to law school or not. Either way, you're going to work hard, get good grades, take interesting courses, maybe do a semester in China, be the kind of student your professors will write letters for... and a couple of years from now you can start deciding whether to take that preparation and apply it to the law, or business, or graduate study, or whatever. And if you're still not sure, you can Ask Metafilter again! P.S. to ScaryNakedMan: Really? You paid five dollars just to call an 18-year-old you don't even know a douchebag and a prick? Aren't there some douchebags where you live that you could insult for free? Give the kid a break; he sounds exactly like a thousand other college freshmen who don't have total control over the tone of their writing.

I've concluded, as others apparently have, that law school is overrated for ensuring a huge income. If you want to get really rich, it's better to be a successful entrepreneur or business owner. However, I think that law school is unmatched in virtually assuring a certain level of prosperity, with little risk. If you go into business hoping to get rich, you could easily crash and burn and be a failure for a long time. There's a huge risk of that in business. Law school, especially a top law school like you aspire to go to, ensures that you can be living in a McMansion relatively soon. You will have plenty of money. You can be making $200,000 not long after graduation --- not a huge salary, but comfortable. From your explanation of your own motives, interests, and abilities, I think you've got a refreshingly clear-eyed view of the reality of law practice.

Don't do medicine, med school sucks (first year) and there's not money in it like most think (plus admissions will turn you down if you say that); you're arrogant, law school will do you right.

From someone with some time out in the field (four years' practice and working in the federal courts). Law schools create too many lawyers. The supply far outstrips the demand, and a lot of lawyers either make small moneys or depart the profession. If you're just finishing law school, there's two ways to get the big moneys. Either graduate from one of the marquee law schools or get very good grades. Those first-year grades count a helluva lot more than you'd think. If you're not going to a marquee school and you don't graduate at least in the top quarter of your class, then the likelihood of big moneys is a lot less. A lot of people burn out of the profession in a couple of years. You will not make big moneys and, at the same time, make the world a better place. You will make the world a more litigious place, so you'd better feel okay about that before going to work for some large firm. And I want to dispel one great myth: A talent or willingness to argue does not a great lawyer make. Sure, sometimes you have to argue a position, either in a motion or at trial. But the ability to negotiate and cooperate, both with co-counsel and opposing counsel, is a huge part of the job. Reputation is a coin you can only spend once, and aside from a small number of hotshot lawyers, bad behavior tends to come around. And sometimes it destroys careers.

My brother's a laywer and he claims to love it. However, every time I see him he looks EXHAUSTED and his eyes are red from lack of sleep. Plus, I think he works fewer hours than he could because he has a family. My friend is also an attorney, but she followed a different path than my brother and she had a very rough time at it. It seems to me that making good money as a lawyer counts on following a pretty specific path...getting into a top school, graduating at the top of your class, getting a good clerkship (is that what it's called?) after you graduate, getting great scores on the bar, making great contacts to help you get a job, etc. My friend didn't go to a top school, didn't graduate at the top of her class and failed the bar a few times. Consequently, she had a very tough time finding a job and the pay for her first few years was abysmal, truly abysmal. Only just recently has she started to make decent money, and in fact she's not practicing as an attorney (although I'm sure her law degree helped her get the job she has)! Keep in mind though, she works crazy hours, weekends, etc., answers email every night from home. If this sort of thing is okay with you law might be a good match, but I know I'd hate it.

I graduated from an Ivy League school with a degree in history, and had my sights set on law school for a while. One of the main reasons I changed was because I realized that (a) the life of a lawyer rarely has anything to do with actually thinking about law, and (b) law school is filled with self-important, materialistic douchebags like you. Fortunately, you're still in your first year, so there's hope for you. I agree with the others here that it's way to early to be making this kind of decision. Have a few drinks, take a few drugs, and get laid while you can. Spend some time with people who can help you remove the figurative pole from your ass. You'll thank them for it later. (BTW, I earn more than most lawyers, don't kowtow any corporate line, and love my job. These things are possible.)

I'd like to second what Saucy Intruder said. I'm not going to judge your goals, wanting to make a bunch of money is fine. But note that getting a clerkship and a job at a big firm is incredibly difficult. I'd say less than 5% of all law students can reasonably attain that goal.