Whether to Go to Law School

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Law School Admissions
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Working for nonprofits can boost your resume, expose you to different types of law, and help you meet people:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:N ... ngton,_D.C.
think tanks i might be interested in applying to intern for: CEI, International Intellectual Property Institute, Scientists and Engineers for America, Washington Legal Foundation, Council on Competitiveness, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Center for American Progress, Cato Institute, Brookings Institution, American Enterprise Institute, Constitution Project

Q: Why does being a lawyer have cachet?
A: Not sure yet. My initial guess is that the career is strongly-associated in people's minds with higher pay and being well-groomed (nice suits, etc.), whereas if you say you're a businessman there may be more variation in pay/dress, so the association in people's minds may not be as strong.

Q: Is law school a good investment?
A: I'm not sure yet; I've heard from people who are very happy they went and from people who are very unhappy they went. It seems like it's very much what you make of it. I guess one thing I can say with confidence is, "Law school is not a riskless investment; it isn't a guaranteed profit for everyone."

- you can make very good contacts while in law school. jim cramer (of mad money) is worth hundreds of millions of dollars b/c he was able to game the stock market. his first clients were his co-students and professors from HLS; they had enough money for him to play around with and start to get serious returns.
- you don't necessarily need to go to law school for well-thought-out reasons for it to be a profitable route for you. supreme court justice kagan seems pleased with her path but admits that she went to HLS because she didn't know what else she should do.

- Even if you have a full ride, you still need to take loans for living expenses. Even if ALL money-costs are taken care of (scholarship + your parents are covering all your living expenses), you're still giving up three years of your life (the opportunity cost). And your quality of life in law school will not be like undergrad.

from someone who seems to be a HLS grad (not sure about that though):
"Are they kidding? If only they knew how many of us are currently jobless, with dreams of big firm jobs or clerkships dashed. People don’t create jobs for you just because you have an HLS degree, and firms are more focused on taking qualified people from any school than an HLS student a a pulse. The legal economy is never going to go back to the good old days, and an HLS degree will put you at an advantage, but it’s far from the golden ticket. It’s a great school, buthe legal profession has some serious problems. Taking time off is a great way to get some actual experience and stand out as someone who knows how to do something other than school. Please, think about this carefully. Only go if you want to practice law or do something where a JD is a serious credential, not just because it’s “a good door to everything.” It’s not. Tuition is $45,000 a year and 6-figure debt is no fun, so unless your parents are paying for it, take this decision really seriously. E[ve]ryone thinks they’ll be the exception and most of them aren’t.”

Q: What do people mean when they say, "Do it if you love it"?
A: Not sure. If I had to guess, I'd say this may mean, "Do it if you want to be part of a social world in which being a lawyer confers advantages worth the cost of being a lawyer (including debt and work load)."
Ex: One young professor at HLS has a dad who was an expert in some esoteric branch of law; if that guy grew up in a social world in which everyone was a lawyer, and if that guy wants to continue to spend his life in that world, and if he can make a living off his degree, then it may be a good idea for him to get that degree. I watched him give a lecture and could see the joy in his eyes as he talked and joked about his field, so it seems like he made a pretty good decision.

Articles:

On Being a Happy, Healthy, and Ethical Member of an Unhappy, Unhealthy, and Unethical Profession
http://www.averyindex.com/happy_healthy_ethical.php

Article: Clerkship applications piling up on federal judges’ desks
http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/st ... ory13.html

How Law Students Lose the Grant Game, and How Law Schools Win
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/01/busin ... ntemail1=y