If you are wondering whether to get a PhD or a Masters degree, or be an evaluator, this blog has some advice for you. When it comes to law school… not so much.
I defer, therefore, to Amanda:
When I ask them why they would got to law school if they certainly-or-probably do not want to practice law, they always give the same response: “Well, it’s such a great, all-purpose professional degree.”
Memo to all of the people out there who might be thinking the same thing: do not go to law school. Seriously. I know that you have heard that a J.D. is a “great all-purpose degree,” but it isn’t. That’s a lie put about by parents who are trying to trick you into middle-class professionaldom and law schools who are trying to take your money. A J.D. is not an all-purpose degree, it is a law degree. It does not qualify you to become a diplomat, a “senior policy advisor” to anything, a politician, a banker, an aid worker, a political operative, or any of those other jobs that seem like they might be a fun way to satisfy your West Wing fantasies. It qualifies you to be a lawyer, and it doesn’t really even do that -there’s still the pesky matter of the bar exam.
…There may be J.D.s in every walk of life in this country, but lawyers’ dirty secret is that their proliferation is due less to that degree’s versatility than it is to the fact that thousands of lawyers flee the profession every year.
You need to help me out here and go read the full post. Why? Last month they wrote to thank me for a link to their blog:
We’ve been getting a lot of traffic from your link to the charity porn post, so thanks for that too. Apparently your readers really like porn.
You readers really need to raise your reputation here.
6 Responses
I had fantastic time in my law school.
A law degree is only as good as you make it. Only you can decide if you will have a west wing experience. If you want to go to law school check out:
http://www.HowToPickALawSchool.com
It may be a little different as in the U.S. it is necessary to complete university and then return for an additional 3 years. I do not know about the Aussie system but if it is like the U.K. where your undergrad degree is in the that is where the difference lies.
Maybe it’s different in Australia, or maybe I’m just confused about what she means by wanting to be a ‘lawyer’, but this hasn’t been my experience at all.
Lots of people studying law with me aren’t going to be ‘lawyers’ (as in practicing law in a law firm), and have taken primarily international law/humanitarian law/human rights/legal theory subjects to be able to understand how the law works in those areas. Lots of law graduates here go to work in government, the department of foreign affairs and trade, AusAID, government solicitors, etc, or for NGOs – and value their legal education while there.
My meagre experience indicates that understanding international law is becoming more and more relevant for ‘non-on-the-ground’ development issues. Whether it’s conflict resolution, trade, climate change – there are areas with hard legal cores to them, and where a legal education can do a world of good.
Of course the HECS system in Australia means we don’t really have to care too much about our ‘student loans’ so maybe that changes things somewhat. But I think a legal education does have a wide variety of applications beyond just “being a lawyer”. If you don’t love law, understanding it, reading it, writing it, applying it, then there’s no point in doing a law degree – given that’s what you’ll be doing for three years. But the law is more then just litigation/contracts/corps, and you learn more then just the content of the law.
But I’m probably just biased being in my sixth and final year.
Best all purpose degree? IMHO get an Architecture degree–if architecture doesn’t work out, there’s always fashion design, product design, graphic design. And if none of those choices work out, remember Thomas Jefferson, and go into politics…
…Really wish this advice got to me earlier…I’m already 1.2 semesters into law school. Good and accurate advice, though.