I have been a practicing attorney for over 30 years and I certainly don’t spend any amount of time reviewing tax codes. I read contracts as a peripheral aspect of some cases but not all. If reading tax codes and other regulations was what being a lawyer was all about, I would pursue another line of work. I do read medical records a lot and I enjoy that, even though medical school was something that only briefly crossed my mind as a career option.
techmom no most lawyers do not do taxation law that is true (that was an example of a fairly common area of practice)…but those who do taxation law that is what they do.
perhaps reviewing boilerplate contracts and endless real estate contracts is fun for some but no thank you. my point is that most lawyers do not live the life of rushing with new secret evidence they found from an abandoned CIA office in prague which will exonerate their client and they need to make it to the judge in NYC rush hour traffic and burst into the court room at the last minute to save the day(that is in the movies) or for that matter come up with some brilliant idea that changes the judges mind…judge has an opinion(or likes one lawyer over the other or perhaps the plaintiff or defendant) and acts accordingly. my favorite law conversation I heard was between two attorneys(I assume divorce attorneys) talking about how they can stretch a fight between a divorcing couple over $100.00 dollars in forks and spoons into $1000.00 in legal fees.
“my favorite law conversation I heard was between two attorneys(I assume divorce attorneys) talking about how they can stretch a fight between a divorcing couple over $100.00 dollars in forks and spoons into $1000.00 in legal fees.”
The punch line is that attorneys don’t need to “stretch” the fight…the participants do that quite willingly!
D1 has a lot of charisma (no idea where it came from, neither her dad nor I nor D2 have it 
). When she was a senior in HS, she volunteered for one of the major parties as her senior project. She went to multiple district conventions, and met quite a few state and national politicians from our region. Some of them made a point to introduce her to key players in the state party. I am pretty sure that they saw someone who might make a fantastic future candidate – the head of the state party even said as much to her. She is articulate, personable, loves politics, and is fairly attractive. She has ended up on a different path in life, but I could see it coming back around at some point. Not sure I personally wish for that life for her, but collectively I think it would be great for all of us.
I think my DD is similar to intparent’s. She was student body president in HS, a student body senator her first year at her LAC, and president of her fraternity another year when she made it into the most successful student organization on campus. She seems to be able to read and inspire people and is a big picture kind of gal. Law is not her path, and I would actively discourage her from it. (I am an attorney btw.) I could see her starting with being on the school board. . .
" Law is not her path, and I would actively discourage her from it."
Not too fast if she really is interested.
My son wasn’t interested in law either until after an internship in DC. He realized that the people really making change and held the most interesting positions (to him) were all lawyers.
One of our City Councilpersons stepped down and they held interviews to appoint an interim to fill out the term. Many qualified people who would be unwilling to run a four month campaign were willing to spend a day in competitive interviews. It is a roughly 20 hour/week job for $9000 per year.
My kids, no way, despite their relative social ease. I could see them with a spot on the (volunteer) planning commission. Peacocking for the public would drive them nuts.