I have been lurking for a while, and I thought that it was finally time to ask for some advice. I am finishing up my 2L year, and am pretty sure that I do not want to practice law. I want to just quit, but I keep getting told that doing so would be an extraordinarily stupid move.
Grades haven’t been an issue. I am currently in the top 10 (not %). I just don’t want to do this anymore. I was told that these feelings are normal, and they get better as time goes on. I wanted to leave after my first semester, but after seeing my grades, I stuck it out. At the end of each semester, the desire to quit goes stronger, but I feel trapped as I moved further along, as if I might as well finish out what I started.
I am not paying anything for school (full ride), but it is a TTT.
What should I do? Drop out now? Take the exams at the end of this semester and then drop out? Finish out 3L?
What reasons would you give for whatever suggestion that you offer?
What kind of work did you do for 1L summer? What do you have lined up for 2L summer? 2L summer is your first chance to really experience anything substantial, unless you have been around law firms in the past. My advice: do 2L summer, and if you still hate law, consider the cost/benefit of finishing the degree. If you haven’t experienced the real legal world, don’t think that law school will be as miserable as a law career. But if you have experienced the legal world, and hate it, I see no reason to torture yourself for another year.
The way I see it, you’re getting a free education and getting a graduate degree at the end, and if you maintain your grades, you’ll be top of your class. You don’t need to be a lawyer, you don’t even need to use the legal education you’ve received, however, think about how much of a resume boost you’ll get being top of your class and with a graduate degree. What are you actually interested in then? You can definitely go for an MBA or Masters after and be able to use your legal education alongside after, without having to be an actual lawyer.
My vote’s on staying, you’re over halfway there, might as well make the most of it.
What do you like to do? There’s no profession in the world where your law degree won’t be useful, if not highly desirable. if you go into business, your legal education will add to your promotability. If you’re an entreprenuer, your legal skills will come in handy at tax time, when negotiating contracts with venders, dealing with disgruntled employees who want to sue you, liability issues, fire code violations, food-borne illness, etc. If you’re an actor, singer or porn star, you need to look over contracts and know copywright law. If you’re a writer, you can write stories that deal with legal issues, ala John Grisham. If you’re an elementary school teacher, your knowledge of the law will make you that much better. At this point, quitting school would be a huge mistake, because the degree does translate into other fields. Plus, your feelings might change. You have one more year…finish!!
and OP: literally dude, you are 2/3 of the way there. no matter how much you hate it, IMO you are kinda pot committed. you are still young. one year in the grand scheme of things is nothing. stick it out and then do what you like when you graduate. Personally, I advocate you become a deep-sea Alaska King Crab Fisherman, like on deadliest catch. they make bank and get to be physically active. win-fucking-win.
OP - My fear, if I were in your shoes, is that quitting now would look bad on a resume - even worse than having a degree I didn’t intend to use. Stick it out. You might not want/care about the degree now, but maybe it will be useful later in life.
You need to drop out. You’re the reason why the market is saturated. And why we’re in a budget crisis. And why Japanese children are going to end up with thyroid cancer. Drop out.
Nothing. I got an offer for a policy oriented internship, but I have not accepted it yet.
Have you been able to find a decent job to know what you’d be giving up?
No. Here is the thing. Everyone, and I do mean EVERYONE, tells me that the practice of law is NOTHING like law school. I find myself wondering how this can be the case.
Do lawyers not write contracts, write briefs, argue cases, and analyze legal problems? Can anyone be specific as to how the practice of law differs from law school? If there is truly a difference, then it might be worth it to stick around. I just can’t see it. Admittedly, I have not yet worked in a real legal position in order to judge this for myself.
I think you answered your own question here buddy. You don’t have real world experience yet. sure, lawyers do write contracts, analyze legal problems, etc..but non of that is like writing a bogus brief for LRW or reviewing articles on lawl review. get some real experience over the summer then decide if you want to throw in the towel. I’d say try to find a DA’s office or somewhere where you will get real, hands-on experience. Which would probably not be a policy internship.
Do you have marketable skills? Did you have a prior career you could go back to tomorrow and actually find a job? If so drop out now, don’t even take finals.
But otherwise, you need to stay. People are going to wonder about your two year resume gap. Sure a JD is mostly useless outside of law, but 2/3rd of a JD is actively harmful. Being able to put Rank 3% on your resume might be a good boost too, shows you are smart.
Hell you can probably just take night classes, and easy Black Letter Law classes, work full time and just use someone elses outline on the final. Take your C+'s and end up with a degree without having to really work at it.