How hard is it to become a lawyer? How difficult is law school?

Matthew L

Law school will require a lot of time outside of class and is not easy. The hardest thing to adjust to is the amount of reading you will need to do. You can figure on at least 20-30 pages of reading a week for each credit hour you are taking. If you take a standard 15 hour load, that will be anywhere from 300 - 450 pages per week. The font is small and there are no pictures. You'll need to be able to organize everything you read so that you can answer questions in class. Most classes use a type of Socratic method where the professor will call on people at random and say, "Ms. Smith, what can you tell me about the Rule Against Perpetuities?" and you'll need to be able to answer that. Most law school class grades are based on a single 3 or 4 hour final exam.

Once you graduate you will need to pass the state's bar exam, which is usually a 2 or 3 day test that covers 12 - 24 subjects, some of which you may not have taken in law school.

That said, if you are a disciplined student and are willing to put in the time, you should be able to do it. Just make sure that is what you really, really want to do because it is a lot of time, effort, and money to put in only to realize later that you don't really like it, which actually happens a lot.

Ver Hard and very expensive that why Lawyers charge so much.

Shibi

I agree with all of your answers. Law school is very challenging -- probably the most difficult thing that you would have done, to date. Then, once you have completed law school, passing the bar exam can be extremely difficult as well. Some people who go to law school are never able to pass the bar exam. If you don't pass the bar exam, you can't practice law.

daaaave

Mattew L is right on. I would disagree with perfectv that law school requires a lot of memerazation. Exams require you to think like a lawyer. Many profs let you bring your outline. You have to be able to apply the law you learned to factual situations, which is what you will do when you become a lawyer.

perfectvelvet

Law school is a lot of work and a lot of memorization. You have to be completely dedicated and disciplined to get through it. And passing the bar is hard; my boyfriend failed it twice and finally got it on the third try. He says he's never moving out of this state because he doesn't want to have to pass another one, lol.

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