Dear bcs,
You are to be commended for considering such a career change. I did
the same thing, in fact, entering law school at age 49 at a “Big Ten”
school. It was a fantastic experience and I loved every moment of it.
More importantly, I have found that I LOVE the Law and wished that I
had done this earlier in my life.
Just a couple of thoughts.
1) Night school is a popular though difficult road, even where it is
available. As they say, there are lots of exams in law school, but the
ONLY one that counts is the Bar Exam – and everything they say about
the Bar is true. It is easily the toughest exam out there. Think about
the national pass rate (something like 70%) and the base are ALL law
school graduates. It is very competitive, very difficult. Not all
schools offer night alternatives, and even if they do, at some point
it is (usually) very necessary to transition over to the day program
just to pick up the course offerings that you are interested in, or
required to take prior to graduation.
2) When you talk to the school, get their statistics on bar passage
(day vs. night) and the evening course offerings. Compare the evening
course offerings to the required curriculum.
3) The LSAT is KEY! I frankly took it for granted thinking that my
“life experiences” would carry the day for me since my resume was in
great shape. Nope. All the schools seemed to care about on their
screens was LSAT / GPA. Spending some money on LSAT review courses
will be money well spent. By the way, scholarships are based on LSAT /
GPA as well.
4) The average age of your classmates will be something like 25. The
good news is that I never felt like “the old man” and found I had a
large number of friendships with kids younger than my son.
5) The law is a different business. I thought that I would be
instantly productive as an attorney, what after having paid hundreds
of thousands of dollars in legal fees during my life. No again. Be
prepared to get out of school (or while working at a firm during law
school) and have little idea of what to do. Remember that they don’t
you how to be a lawyer in law school. Think like one, yes. Do it, no.
6. For better or worse, the U.S. News and World Report ranking of law
schools is the most comprehensive guide. Administrators hate it,
students hate it, but everyone reads it. See here:
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/grad/rankings/law/lawindex.htm
7. When you visit the schools, ask tough questions of the career
placement folks: How many older students did they place in the larger
firms (assuming that you WANT to work in a larger firm where the bucks
are also bigger). Some firms only want the young person who they can
work to death and train from the ground up.
8. Talk to attorneys that you know about the idea of going back to
school. I think you will be impressed with how forthcoming they are.
They attorney community is actually, I have found, very congenial and
most willing to help each other. Reach out.
9. I don’t think that distance education is available except from
some of the California schools that are not accredited by the American
Bar Association. Education in the law does not lend itself well to
distance learning – at least that is the position of the ABA.
10. When I saw your question, I smiled. I hope you go for it. It is a
totally cool experience and very challenging intellectually. I am
certain that if you did it, you would never regret it.
BEST OF LUCK
weisstho-ga
For a list of all ABA approved law schools, see the following list,
which contains links to all of the schools:
http://www.abanet.org/legaled/approvedlawschools/state.html
Here are some specific links to schools in your area:
University of Idaho: http://www.uidaho.edu/law/
Gonzaga University: http://law.gonzaga.edu/
University of Montana: http://www.umt.edu/law/default.htm
BYU: http://www.law2.byu.edu/Law_School/
University of Utah: http://www.law.utah.edu/ |
