Should I look into law school?

Dustyfeathers
Thu, 07 Jul 2016 11:12:56 +0000

Taking your questions in order:

-“Could you please elaborate a little more on patent law? I’ve heard that many STEM majors who go into law, take up patent law, but I’m not really sure what it is.”

Try google for this because there are so many different areas of law. It might be worth a little googling just to figure out if law is the right direction for you. You may find another area of law that intrigues you. If you find a public interest / government area (courts, DA’s office, advocacy for gender rights, human rights, global warming, the arts) a top law school often will have debt forgiveness. Be sure to check your law school of choice for their terms on debt forgiveness.

"I'm a little worried that interning in law-related areas may affect the time I have to do premed related stuff (which is a lot)" Absolutely. You are busy if you're doing pre-med and clinical work / research for premed would probably take precedence in this case. If you're not going into medicine, but still doing biomedical research, then you may have more time to intern in law to see if that is what you want to do.

"Also, if it helps any, I am thinking of majoring in something engineering (materials or ChemE), and plan on working a few years before heading off to grad school. So I have a little more time than just 4 years- or is that not a good idea?" Sure! There's no rush. This isn't a race. The most important thing is if you're passionate about what you want to do. Passion will carry you through the difficult parts of any field you choose. The best way to discover your passion is to try things out. That takes time, usually.

-“Lawyers are creative?? Wow, I’d always heard the exact opposite” Lawyers are people and some are more creative than others. Law is a craft and an art like others. Virtually all careers that look glamorous on the outside, on the inside have their daily grinds and non-creative moments. Law is no different.

"Also, I keep hearing really bad stuff about the job market Read in a lot of places on CC that unless you go to a top law school, no chances of actually practising law?" Well no chance is probably an exaggeration. Absolutes are hard to pull off! However! Law as with any other profession is competitive. Thriving in any competitive marketplace takes someone who is willing to focus and hone their craft. Premed, anyone?? The top law schools collect people like that. In more simple terms, if you plan to attend law school: Yes, go to a top law school. Plan on doing so. The LSAT is a manageable skill set. Start practicing and don't be satisfied until you score in the top 2%. Then attend a top-5 school. With biomedical research degree and a good gpa, plus a 2% (estimated range) LSAT score, I'd be shocked if you weren't admitted to one of the top schools. The ABA publishes the employment statistics for ABA-accredited law schools. Be sure to find a school where at least the top graduates are getting great jobs, the sort that will pay off debt. Law careers are bimodal. There's a cluster at the about $70K pay range (if they get law-related jobs) and the other clusters in the $150K-$180K starting salary range. Partners of big firms, make a lot (a lot) more than that. Be forewarned: the Big Law career is tough. Some people start at Big Law just to pay off their school debt and then strike out on their own or do something else. Again, if this is your passion, then, well, it's your passion! If not, then you know to choose something else. Top law schools (some more than others) tend to place in Big Law, allowing people to pay off loans, make connections to step into in-house counsel positions, or into the public sector, academia, etc. and back and forth among these sectors.