Any Law School students/grads here?

[Kristen]

I just graduated and am curious about the number of lawyer people on this forum.

[lethal]

There's more than a handful. Congrats on surviving school and the bar.

[yoMAMA]

yellow world's got an awesome legal team:


lethal
tyroneK
Kasia
Moser (still in law school)

a few i can name....I may have missed some.

[Arex]

Where'd you graduate from? Finished the bar, I assume? Congrats!

[Yeahman]

Originally Posted by yoMAMA

yellow world's got an awesome legal team:


lethal
tyroneK
Kasia
Moser (still in law school)

a few i can name....I may have missed some.

You forgot me though I wouldn't consider myself part of the "awesome" legal team. And snailpoo.

[snailpoo]

Originally Posted by Kristen

I just graduated and am curious about the number of lawyer people on this forum.

Hey, condolences.

So are you going to sell your soul or are you one of the few who actually resist mercenary temptations and toil away for pauper ideals?

[jjlee3dson]

Originally Posted by Kristen

I just graduated and am curious about the number of lawyer people on this forum.

I've been a lawyer for 28 years and still haven't sold my soul! Yes, there is [quality] life after law school. Law school is three years-life is longer!

[Kristen]

Oh wow, I haven't stopped by this forum in a while, but thanks for all the replies. I haven't taken the bar yet, planning to sit for the February bar, so I am clerking and studying right now.

Arex--i graduated from Western State in Fullerton. Where did everyone go/going?

snailpoo--ha, not sure yet. i think i am selling my soul until i pay off my many many loans!

jjlee--what area you practicing? i am clerking for family law at the time and well...........................

it's nice meeting everyone :)

Kris

[jjlee3dson]

To answer your question I've spent the entirety of my career in criminal defense proudly and with some quiet distinction. I have a number of critical, i.e., published cases wherein I was the trial attorney although not the appellate attorney [who gets the kudos or brick bats depending on which side they're on] but it's the trial attorney who makes the record upon which the court will rule and as the case may be make new law. (One US supreme court , One California Supreme court and three State Appellate court opinions, if you'd like to know.)

I still have no regrets in making the choices I have in career or in the monetary rewards I currently reap. I've earned an above average salary although it was a bit lean in the early years. It helped in that my desire to be an attorney was never primarily driven by the prospect of great monetary rewards

A caveat-I believe I achieved the level of satisfaction I have in large part because I was quite hardcore in my choice of area of practice and would make no compromise until I got the position I wanted in the field I desired.

I also realize I was unusually blessed in having much less of a debt burden than many of you youngsters first coming of school and into the field. You should be aware that there are various means whereby you can practice the law you want and have your loans deferred or forgiven in part so be imaginative and brave and think out of the box. As my old clinical prof said , "Your only limitation is your imagination."

Good luck and I hope to see you in court and your soul intact.

[moser]

As you can tell by Yomama's post and in the bitching thread, yes, I'm a law student. Congrats on clerking and graduating law school!

[snailpoo]

Originally Posted by Kristen

snailpoo--ha, not sure yet. i think i am selling my soul until i pay off my many many loans!

Mmmm... Listen to jjlee3dson.

I like what I do, but then again I've had many weeks where I spent less than 40 hours not working.

Originally Posted by jjlee3dson

To answer your question I've spent the entirety of my career in criminal defense proudly and with some quiet distinction. I have a number of critical, i.e., published cases wherein I was the trial attorney although not the appellate attorney [who gets the kudos or brick bats depending on which side they're on] but it's the trial attorney who makes the record upon which the court will rule and as the case may be make new law. (One US supreme court , One California Supreme court and three State Appellate court opinions, if you'd like to know.)

Nice! Did you get a quill? One of my goals from law school was to get a quill, but I always liked transactional law much more litigation. Oh well. No quill for me.

[jjlee3dson]

Nice! Did you get a quill? One of my goals from law school was to get a quill, but I always liked transactional law much more litigation. Oh well. No quill for me.[/quote]

My goal in law school was much more modest...just survive!
I started law school the same year the Bakke decision and the attacks on affirmative action began their final and most earnest offensives. Frankly, it was the most miserable time of my life. Thankfully, the starch I had absorbed from the back room of the family laundry "stiffened" my resolve and I am here to tell the tale.
And my alma mater has itself reformed becoming a much more progressive institution than it appeared to be headed almost 30 years ago. For that I am grateful-who knows I may even give them some money some day...

[sandra]

welcome :)

you know, you can find a job you like and just invest your earnings.

btw: i'm a lawyer, started posting in this forum when i was a 2nd year law student. i've been a PD for years now, in LA county - i don't think i can find a better job. i love my clients, my co-workers, just about every lawyer out of the 500 lawyers that i've encountered in my office, because, honestly, they still are the most driven, dedicated, and compassionate lawyers i've ever met. it also helps that we have much more experienced lawyers in the office who continue to inspire and teach those of us who are just starting. i stress out a lot, and even more so now that i'm starting to deal with felonies - but i'm starting to learn how to manage my stress.

the pay is okay. well, not really. in exchange for not selling my soul, i roam the streets of LA and eat scraps from dumpsters. help me out here(shameless plug).

but really, per 'rich dad, poor dad', you can find a job you enjoy & just learn how to manage your money wisely.

[yoMAMA]

Kasia, just curious, do you ever see yourself working on the other side-be a prosecutor?

[Arex]

^ and turn to the Dark Side? I hope not...