The Decision: Where Should A Professional Soccer Player Go To Law School?
Or should he go at all?
Trying to decide which law school to go to when you are making a career transition can be especially daunting. People want to find a way to use their first-career skills in this new endeavor, but sometimes trying to convert past experiences into an approach to law school can be dangerous.
Today, we’ve got a really interesting question from a sportsman who, not surprisingly, wishes to specialize in sports law. But I think the answer is that he needs to specialize in “LSAT Prep” first.
Let’s hear from Jürgen Klinsmann (not his real name, but also another soccer professional who might want to think about a different career path).
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I am from Wisconsin. I went to an out-of-state college solely for athletics, playing Division I men’s soccer at one of the top mid-major soccer programs in the country. Now, I have always wanted to go to law school; however, my knowledge of how to get into law school was very limited until after my first year of college. When I started to look into schools I realized that I had a desire to go to one of the top law schools in the country. Schools such as NYU, Harvard, Northwestern, Duke, etc. I then began to realize that since my undergraduate school was not considered an “elite school,” I was already at a disadvantage. Thus, I did everything I could during undergrad to get the most out of my education to best separate myself on my law school application…
I graduated in May of 2016. I had opportunities to pursue my soccer career further and pounced on those opportunities, thus pushing my law career to the future. Before I left for New Zealand I studied for about 2 months for the LSAT with a goal of getting in the low 160’s. Right before the test day I was testing in the 155-158 range. I unfortunately only got a 153, which diminished the chance of me getting into the most elite schools…
I am currently living in New Zealand playing soccer professionally in their 2nd division. Additionally, I’m also interning at New Zealand’s top youth soccer academy where I’m working with their lawyers in regards to the area of research I studied and wrote on for my undergraduate honors thesis. I decided to do the internship to help boost my resume and gain invaluable experience in the sports law field.
I am currently deciding if I should attend law school this upcoming Fall. I have gotten into Miami, Marquette ($12K Scholarship per year), and UCONN. I am waiting to hear back from Tulane, Fordham, Notre Dame, Wisconsin, and Boston College. I applied to all of these schools in the middle of February, so I’m hoping to hear back from the higher ranked schools soon.
My concerns: I love soccer but am ready to move on to the next chapter of my life and challenge myself in my other passions (which is law school, sports law, and ultimately becoming a sports agent). However, I did not get the LSAT score that I desired before I left for NZ, which left me to possibly settle with schools that I don’t feel are giving me enough value for the price. If I get into Notre Dame, Wisconsin, or BC, that would change the equation completely.
First of all, I love this guy. Jürgen is more self-aware than most prospective law students.
But the clear and overwhelming answer is that this guy needs to take the LSAT again. He’s rolling around with a 153. For the schools he wants to get into, that’s like getting a yellow card in the first minute of the game. For the “elite” schools, it’s a red card. His application has already been sent off to the showers.
Given that he seemed to prepare for the LSAT in a rushed and distracted way, there’s every reason to believe that with dedicated and serious study, and a good prep course, he could add ten points to his LSAT score. A 163 would make him way more competitive at schools like Notre Dame and B.C.
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(For the truly “elite” schools, he probably needs to add 20 points, which is a lift, unless he took his first LSAT while rolling on the ground pretending to be injured.)
The good news is that with a lot more preparation and a little luck, he should be able to raise himself to the level of the schools he wants.
The bad news is that “sports law” does not really exist, at least not in a way that his desire should influence his choice in any meaningful way. We run into this all the time; somebody says “I want to be a sports lawyer,” or “I want to be an entertainment lawyer.” No you don’t. You’re saying “I want to be a contracts lawyer, and I hope to have cool clients.”
A good agent is a fantastic contracts attorney who knows a fantastic criminal defense attorney to call when his or her clients, inevitably, need one. The distinguishing factors between a sports contracts lawyer and a corporate contracts lawyer are not taught in law school. They’re taught on the job.
If you take your contracts knowledge and go work for Drew Rosenhaus, you might end up being an agent. If you take those skills and go work for Bioware, you might get a call from me demanding my money back for Mass Effect: Andromeda. Your law school is agnostic about how you use the basic 1L skills of issue spotting a breach.
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The law schools that really tout their “sports law” programs know that, but also know that you, the prospective student, don’t know that but think Jerry Maguire had a cool job.
Which isn’t to say that your choice of law school doesn’t matter at all in your ability to land one of the coveted, entry-level, “get me some coffee and make sure the quarterback has enough crab legs” job. The major agencies are basically run out of L.A., New York, and Miami. Going to law school in one of those places probably gives you a leg up on someone trying to make it happen from Wisconsin.
Then again, you only have to convince one future star to hire you in order to start your career, and so if you’re the Wisconsin law guy who is scouring the intramural volleyball teams looking for talent, that could also be a way in.
Of the choices presented that Jürgen actually got into, I’d probably take Miami over UCONN or Marquette without enough money. But the real answer is “take the LSAT, again.” A draw does nothing for you, this is a game where you are going to need to score to advance.
DAVID LAT
Lat here. I typically play “devil’s advocate” in The Decision and take whatever side Elie or Joe does not. But in this case, given Jürgen’s interests and stated reasons for going to law school, I feel bad telling him to take any of these options. The End.
Readers, what do you think? Take our poll below.
And if you’d like to submit a scenario for consideration in “The Decision,” feel free to send our way by email (subject line: “The Decision”). We will keep you anonymous but might reprint all of part of your message if we use your question, so include only those details you’d be okay with seeing on ATL. We look forward to your queries (and regret not being able to answer all of them). Thanks.
Where should this aspiring law student enroll?
Loading ...Elie Mystal is an editor of Above the Law and the Legal Editor for More Perfect. He can be reached @ElieNYC on Twitter, or at elie@abovethelaw.com. He will resist.
