What can you do with a JD?

[TyroneK(prettypretty)]

Well, law school's not working out too well for me. I'm alienated, unhappy and I'm not doing that well. I won't fail out, but I won't be fighting off offers come graduation time.

So what can I do with a JD besides practice law after graduation? Any ideas? A lot of the other options hinge on doing firm practice for several years, which for me probably means working in Montana or doing hack personal injury work in Tulsa. I'm getting worried. My second year recruiting grind, much like my prom, didn't come out anywhere close to what was supposed to happen. Even my career services dean is despondent.

Man, I can't believe three years of studying something I'm really beginning to hate at a place I really loathe will have gone by just like that with no overworked, well paid and unhappy lifestyle to show for it. I really don't want to be unemployed. I just want to be useful. Maybe I should just join the military and find some way to die for Uncle Sam.

Sorry to bitch. I just wish I was somewhere else.

[kasia]

no prob. what was your initial reason for going to law school?

[Craig]

Originally posted by VBKao@Nov 25 2002, 12:33 AM
I really don't want to be unemployed. I just want to be useful. Maybe I should just join the military and find some way to die for Uncle Sam.
Dude, I see where you are coming from. However, I don't think what you mentioned above is the answer. There are other options that doing involve war, maybe the Peace Corps, or Teach For America or something ? I don't know for sure, but I remember when I contacted the Peace Corps in 1997 they told me "they didn't take Computer Science majors".

[TyroneK(prettypretty)]

I guess I was a little too naive. I really wanted to learn how to be an advocate and represent people's interests when they got into trouble. But law school doesn't do that. The jobs you get during the summers and after graduation do. Plus, I'm growing way too cynical now though. Half of the time, my misanthropy is out of control and the other half the time people don't want to be helped. It doesn't help that I go to one of the most firm-focused schools in the country and make fun of people who think about more than themselves.

Another reason for going to law school that I can't ignore was the income potential. My mom is going to need some financial support soon. I can't let my sisters do all the work.

I don't have much of a problem doing public interest work, but with the way precedent and politics in our country is going, I'm not sure if that kind of pain and frustration's going to be worth it. Once Bush railroads the federal judiciary with a bunch of Scalia-wannabes, being a pro-bono lawyer isn't going to reap too many results. It's incredibly frustrating to do legal work when the law's dead set against you and you have to depend on someone's compassion and reasonableness to get things done.

That's why I'm in a bit of a bind and want to know what other options are out there.

[iris]

I don't know if this is your thing, but agenting agencies are always looking for people with law degrees. You can always represent people in music/movie/books. I interned for William Morris at one point in NYC and it's a lot of fun. Very low stress too if you work in the literary department.

You can do it right out of law school and though the pay is not great the first year, if you stick with it, eventually you make really good money.

[MellowDrama]

Originally posted by VBKao@Nov 25 2002, 12:11 AM
I guess I was a little too naive. I really wanted to learn how to be an advocate and represent people's interests when they got into trouble. But law school doesn't do that. The jobs you get during the summers and after graduation do. Plus, I'm growing way too cynical now though. Half of the time, my misanthropy is out of control and the other half the time people don't want to be helped. It doesn't help that I go to one of the most firm-focused schools in the country and make fun of people who think about more than themselves.

Another reason for going to law school that I can't ignore was the income potential. My mom is going to need some financial support soon. I can't let my sisters do all the work.

I don't have much of a problem doing public interest work, but with the way precedent and politics in our country is going, I'm not sure if that kind of pain and frustration's going to be worth it. Once Bush railroads the federal judiciary with a bunch of Scalia-wannabes, being a pro-bono lawyer isn't going to reap too many results. It's incredibly frustrating to do legal work when the law's dead set against you and you have to depend on someone's compassion and reasonableness to get things done.

That's why I'm in a bit of a bind and want to know what other options are out there.
Even if you disagree with the Fed's politics, there's always a lot of cities and states that need PDs and Asst. DAs. Also, ever think about clerking? They moved back recruiting for Fed. clerkships to the 3rd year, so there's still time.

[TyroneK(prettypretty)]

I've thought about clerking. Then I take another look at my grades. <shudder>

I just don't know if practicing law is for me at all. I'm trying to think a bit more outside the box.

[Chris]

maybe go into working into nonprofit or go into consulting. That what some of my friends have gone into.

[TyroneK(prettypretty)]

Any other suggestions?

It seems like such a waste that my JD might just be a BA squared. I always hoped law school would be worth more than just an extra degree.

Well, I'm more at peace now with not working at a firm like I'm supposed to for this 2L summer. I just wish I really believed in the law the way I'm supposed to. All my education and job experiences have shown me is that it's naked political force graced with a semblance of higher legitimacy due to the intricacy of legal terminology and logic. In the end, all the concepts get bent or betrayed and the people with the power get their way. Good sense and overwhelming social changes sometimes lead to the right decisions, but in the end it's money and influence that rule everything.

That's why I don't think I can be a lawyer after graduation. I'll probably end up taking the bar just to prove to myself that I'm not a complete washout, but Idon't want to keep living my life at the mercy of other people while perpetuating a system that sacrifices the interests of the many for the interests of the rich and powerful. I guess I'll end up living my life fighting a losing battle in some pissant backwater hoping for some major historical, political change to occur or something along those lines.