Law Schools

Asked And Answered: Advice For Future Lawyers (Part II)

Avoid debt, choose your law school's location carefully, and do everything you can to gain practical experience while in law school.

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In my last column, I asked my colleagues whether attending law school in 2018 made sense. After surveying my online followers and receiving more than 125 responses, I summarized their thoughts on the advisability of seeking a law degree given the state of the legal industry and the rapidly changing legal landscape.

Responses varied, but many lawyers seemed to share the general opinion that the benefits of obtaining a J.D. had declined over time. Even so, some lawyers still recommended law school, but with caveats.

Many of those same lawyers also offered advice to individuals who — despite having a full understanding of the many challenges they’d face upon graduation — were nevertheless intent on pursuing a law degree.

What follows is their advice. Then, in my final column in this series, I’ll share the answers of my colleagues to a final, telling question: whether my fellow lawyers, despite their misgivings about the current state of the legal market, felt that obtaining a law degree had bettered their life. So look for that in my next column.

But first, on to advice for future law school attendees. You’ll notice that a few themes emerge repeatedly: avoid debt, choose your law school’s location carefully, and do everything you can to gain practical experience while in law school.

For starters, Tami Kamin Meyer, Columbus attorney and writer, stressed the importance of your law school’s location and clinical practice opportunities (Facebook):

Try to attend law school in a state, and better yet, city, where you might want to live after law school. Many valuable connections are made during law school, so moving to practice elsewhere impacts networking quite a bit. Second, choose a school with law clinics and other practical opportunities. Those of us who went to law school can vouch for how those opportunities taught us more about practicing law than our knowledge of Con Law does. 

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C. Jane Mayer, a Rochester lawyer, emphasized the value of a cross-disciplinary approach (Facebook):

Go to a school that will allow dual enrollment in another discipline (possibly one with grant potential to offset debt). Get creative about career potentials and make as many potential avenues as possible.

Warren Redlich, a West Boca attorney, also focused on geographical location and the avoidance of debt (LinkedIn):

If you can go to a top school, or somewhere near where you want to be without going deep into debt, then maybe it will be worth it. 

Sarah Coleman, a Colorado attorney, emphasized the importance of carefully managing your finances in order to quickly reduce any law school debt (LinkedIn):

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I strongly recommend that people make financial considerations front and center when selecting a law school. I kept debt load low and had an aggressive plan for loan repayment.  Paying off loans has allowed for flexibility and opportunities in my career that I simply wouldn’t have if I was $150k in debt. Tuition, scholarships, work-study, loan repayments programs, and grad support — all need to be looked at. 

Another way to reduce debt was suggested by Rochester lawyer, Phillip Hurwitz — consider night school (LinkedIn):

If your law school offers a night time option, consider it. I went through a night school program. It added another year (4 as opposed to 3 year program), but I was able to work full time during law school.

A common refrain that popped up again and again was the recommendation that young lawyers-to-be gain life experience bore committing to law school. For example, Matthew Johnston, a Maryland attorney, offered his take on this piece of advice (LinkedIn):

I urge people to take some time, get a job, get a boyfriend/girlfriend, travel (serious travel to a place you have never been and probably wouldn’t otherwise go), and experience life. Law school isn’t going anywhere and too many people go to law school because someone else thinks they should go. 

Other lawyers, like Elliott Katz, a New York attorney, focused on gaining practical experience in the legal field prior to applying to law school (LinkedIn):

I would recommend that anyone interested in going to law school find some way to get an internship or similar experience at a law firm first. Shadowing an attorney can provide valuable insight as to what the day-to-day experience of being a lawyer is like. People sometimes get excited about law school because of the prospect of a high-paying job or because of how lawyers are portrayed on TV and movies, but even before taking the LSATs, someone who’s interested in law school really ought to get a clear sense of what they’re getting themselves into. Given the significant investment of time and money involved here, I would simply tell the recent college grad to make as educated and informed a decision as possible.  

Finally, the value of young graduates filling the access-to-justice gap can’t be overlooked, as Matthew Kerns, Assistant Dean of Admissions, Scholarships, & Enrollment Data at UA Little Rock, William H. Bowen School of Law emphasized in an email to me:

Here in Arkansas, we have the lowest attorney per capita ratio in the country (1/500). In the state’s least populous counties that increases to 1/1,300, and if you only look at legal aid attorneys that ratio jumps to 1/16,204. While there may still be a saturation of attorneys in large cities, there are critically underserved areas of our country that need dedicated lawyers.

So here you have it: lots of great advice and strategies for incoming law students. Consider them carefully and ascertain which ones are most applicable to your situation, and then apply them carefully in order to position yourself for success upon graduation.

And don’t forget to stop back to read my next column for the answers to the final question I posed to my colleagues: “Do you regret attending law school, or are you better off than you would’ve been if you hadn’t attended?”

Sure most lawyers are seemingly pessimistic about current entry-level job opportunities and the lack of potential for career success in the law for new graduates, but what about their own careers? Have they found their law degrees to valuable?

And what about you? Where do you fall on the spectrum? Feel free to weigh in here.

Niki BlackNicole Black is a Rochester, New York attorney and the Legal Technology Evangelist at MyCase, web-based law practice management software. She’s been blogging since 2005, has written a weekly column for the Daily Record since 2007, is the author of Cloud Computing for Lawyers, co-authors Social Media for Lawyers: the Next Frontier, and co-authors Criminal Law in New York. She’s easily distracted by the potential of bright and shiny tech gadgets, along with good food and wine. You can follow her on Twitter @nikiblack and she can be reached at niki.black@mycase.com.

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