College & Careers (Law)?

Andre

If you were a history major, you will be disappointed with how little history is taught in law school. Almost 90 percent of classes are taught via the caselaw method aka Socratic method. All arguments are condensed into a brief and there is rarely room to leave those parameters. It's a very intellectually dishonest profession if you ask me.

Law schools do not prescribe a pre-law curriculum. I'm sure that these "prelaw" programs include political science and possibly a rhetoric class.

The majority of lawyers you will find are people who work desk jobs with little or no public exposure. The ones you see romanticized in the media, such as Cochrane are in elite minority. Many go to law school based on this notion, but in reality, many lawyers are trying to eek out a living.

You'd be better served saving the 3 and a half years of your life doing what you really love - not chasing an flawed media perception of the jetsetting lifestyle.

http://informeddecisionmaking.blogspot.com/

http://www.calicocat.com/2004/08/law-school-big-lie.html

http://barelylegalblog.blogspot.com/

http://justiceforlawyers2007.blogspot.com/

[BUMP] Coming July '09

Contact the law school you are interested in and see what their admission requirements are. Many do not require a specific "pre-law" undergraduate degree. You could take pre-law courses if you want to get an idea of what is to come.

I am not an attorney, I am a paralegal but I work with 20+ attorneys so I will answer your next question vicariously through them. It is a lot of "paperwork and reading". The paralegals in my office do the majority of the researching but the attorneys still have an endless (it seems) amount of reading, sorting, and sifting through information. They are always on the phone, in meetings, writing pleadings, or in court. To tell you the truth, I would NOT want their job! It is a thankless job.

Spike

My number one piece of advice is to work on your writing. Sorry, but it was fairly difficult to determine what you are trying to say... Writing and communicating is essential in both getting into law school and being an attorney.

It doesn't matter what you major in before law school. I know law students who majored in Theatre.

Pre-Law classes probably won't do much. They will teach you what you need to know in law school. However, if these classes consist of advanced writing courses, logic or critical reasoning, those would be worthwhile to take.

C'mon, what do you think? It would be nice if it were like a movie, but unfortunately yes, there is a ton of paperwork and reading. Some people do really enjoy it though. One thing is for certain, it is a very challenging educational and career path.

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