Law Schools

Top Law School Grad Struggles With Moral Aspects Of Practicing Law

Unfortunately, you may not know that being a lawyer isn't for you until after you try.

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Welcome to the latest installment of The Struggle, a series where we examine the mental-health and social issues that students and recent graduates encounter during the oftentimes grueling law school experience. We are posting these stories because sometimes what law students and recent graduates need is to know that they’re not alone in their pain. Sometimes what law students and recent graduates need is to know that they’ve got a friend who is willing to share not just in their triumphs, but also in their struggles. These are real messages from real readers.

If these issues resonate with you, please reach out to us. Your stories need to be heard. You can email us, text us at (646) 820-8477, or tweet us @atlblog. We will share your stories anonymously. You may be able to help a law student or recent law school graduate who needs to know that someone else has been there before and survived.

I’m not really struggling, not now.

I did well on the LSAT. I got a 171. That score convinced me to go to law school.

I graduated from a fantastic law school, one I would recommend. I was on law review. I graduated cum laude. I was a great law student.

I was also a great law student intern. I worked 1L and 2L summers with Government jobs. I loved it. I loved that my client was ultimately the US taxpayer, my parents, my family, my friends. My job was to save money and stop companies from exploiting Government contracts. I did well. I saved you, me, a bunch of people you know from spending money on an Army contact for foreign-sourced construction materials when the contract called for AMERICAN-sourced construction materials! Really guys, this was a big find after reviewing dozens of binders of paperwork. This little intern saved you real money, and felt so good about this career path.

But I didn’t want to go JAG. But Government jobs with the big G are hard to get without military service of some kind. So I took what I got, and what I was lucky to get: a small regional law firm job.

I had no idea how to bill tenths of an hour to clients. How I was supposed to dictate everything when I could type as fast as my professors could speak (the only way I passed my 3L Corporations class). How to dress with the richness of country clubs I couldn’t afford to join for several years.

Or, how to accept a job so antethical to what I did in law school. I was defending coal companies against the workers compensation claims of their miners, arguing that a man died from raising chickens instead of from the coal dust he breathed for 30 years.

None of this could work for me. Now I’m working in a job completely outside the requirement of a JD. My degree helps me very often… Understanding how to analyze a problem. Knowing whether FMLA protects a pregnant co-worker. Problem solving, research, and logical reasoning are useful tools for almost any career.

The education I received in law school was valuable. But did that education bring me fortune? No. I transitioned that education into another field. I’m moderately successful because of networking and convincing employers that my JD brings useful skills to their company, even without me being their attorney.

I was great at the LSAT, great at law school, but I struggled to practice law.

Most law schools have counseling and psychological services resources that students and graduates can turn to if they are in crisis or would like counseling, even after hours. If these services are not available at your school, and if you or someone you know is depressed and in need help, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-8255) or a lawyer assistance program in your state (don’t be fooled by the name; these programs also provide services to law students). Remember that you are loved, so please reach out if you need assistance, before it’s too late.

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Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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