Hattip to Instapundit. To all would be attorneys who read TAC, I have warned you about the law as a profession on several occasions, here, here, and here. You have been adequately warned! For those of you who ignore my advice and are jobless on graduation, you can always sue your law school. (Of course my first born is planning on following me in the law, so my warnings must be inadequate!) Now this post will have to be brief, because I have 10 calls to return, three bankruptcies to prepare, 2 trials to get ready for, and all the other charming events that the day will bring me in the law mines!
Pro Bono Publico
Donald R. McClarey
Cradle Catholic. Active in the pro-life movement since 1973. Father of three, one in Heaven, and happily married for 41 years. Small town lawyer and amateur historian. Former president of the board of directors of the local crisis pregnancy center for a decade.
Our attorneys at work are all outstanding people – no reservation.
Two more I need to pray for! The wife’s brother-in-law and a nephew are (GASP!) lawyers.
“Pray for the living and the dead.”
This is very funny. I actually clean the classrooms and offices of Saint Louis University Law School.
Oh My! That was very funny. I laughed out loud several times.
“Pray for the living and the dead.”
By praying for lawyers, you can do both at once.
“Pray for the living and the dead.”
“By praying for lawyers, you can do both at once.”
Ah, that one is a keeper Michael.
Nate, lawyers are a sloppy bunch, or so I’ve been told by numerous secretaries over the years.
There must be a special talent to writing dialog which sounds hilarious when delivered in the halting monotone of this movie generation software. Love it…
Funny and sad and accurate all at the same time. Well done. I recently had a conversation with friends and co-workers and none of them thought, in retrospect, that going to law school was a great decision – even with low-to-non-existent levels of debt. At the same time, some people really enjoy law practice – they are just a minority of the people who hold law degrees in my (necessarily limited) experience.
I loved law school. Let me re-phrase that: I loved going to UVA Law School, which, at least when I attended had a reputation for being a much more laid back and enjoyable atmosphere than other law schools.
We referred to it as “Withers High” – the name of the building in which the Law School was located was Withers Hall – because it was so much like high school.
John Henry, I don’t know whether your experience some 15-20 years later was similar, but that’s how it used to be, at least. So, it’s hard for me to say I regret going to law school – even though I HATED practicing law – because the experience for me was such a good one.
But I would not encourage others to do it. I would NEVER encourage anyone to go into law.
Yeah, let me clarify. I loved law school too – UVA was and is a great school in a great location. I could not have been more impressed with most of the faculty. The conversation was more about going to law school to become a lawyer (which all of us currently are). I would not recommend that to pretty much anyone, unless they have spent significant time in the legal industry (or, like Don’s son, are very familiar with the work).
I hated my first year of law school at the U of I. The second was tolerable and the third was a breeze.
9 out of 10 of the poli-sci post-grads at my school were on their way to law school.
By the way, having this video pop up while I’m scrambling to finish my submission I’m required to do for law review was perfect timing.
“By the way, having this video pop up while I’m scrambling to finish my submission I’m required to do for law review was perfect timing.”
Ah that reminds me of the case note I did 31 years ago. I think I had done 31 drafts on a manual typewriter by the time that wretched thing was in print.
My younger daughter was not selected for a jury this week, largely on the grounds that she is related to too many attorneys. Both grandfathers, two uncles, a great uncle and she has a brother and a cousin in law school.
When my father’s law school retroactively changed his LLB into a JD, he began making restaurant reservations as “Doctor Duffy,” in the belief that doctors got better reservations.
Of course poli sci grads want to go to law school. Isn’t that the logical next career step in their plan to become President? Follow with a few years doing poverty law or something similar, polishing your credentials as a protector of the working man, and then you run for office… Oh, wait. I’ve already seen this movie.
I can’t help but to watch it over and over – The blackberry line was classic 🙂 I am going to use it at work… (no I am not and never have desired to be a lawyer – I am in aviation and there are plenty of nutty things in this profession as well LOL)
“I am not and never have desired to be a lawyer”
Just one of your many good qualities I am sure Robert.
🙂
[…] week Donald posted a funny and all-to-true video jab at the the naivete of potential law school applicants. Well this video hits close to home for […]
I ended up getting a job as a paralegal because that is the only thing I could get in this economy. I do a lot of complex cases in immigration law, and even though I feel pretty low on the totem pole, it pays the bills and whatnot (barely). Six figures of debt and three years gone in my life are not things that I want to do at this point in my life, all for a job that may or may not be there.
My question, then, is this, if anyone is game: if you have paralegal experience, and there is a temptation to go to law school since you know that you are smarter than the lawyers you are working for, what other options does one have? I am just brainstorming ideas, because I don’t want to do this job forever.
Join the military cassianus. I assume you have your undergrad degree. The military has programs to pay for law school while you are in if you qualify:
http://www.veteransbenefitsgibill.com/2010/07/16/law-school-assistance-for-veterans/