Law Students Have Flawed Perceptions About What It's Like To Practice Law

The actual practice of law is a lot different -- and a lot less intriguing -- than most law students might believe.

‘We’re doing lawyer stuff, bro!’

This column has already discussed how numerous individuals have flawed perceptions about the legal profession.  Many people probably think that practicing law is like what attorneys do on television and in the movies, and that all lawyers spend their time in the courtroom and making unbelievable sums of money.  As many readers of this column are likely already aware, practicing law is a lot less glamorous than people might think.

From my own personal experiences, some law students also have flawed perceptions about what it’s like to be a lawyer.  Although many might expect that law students would know what attorneys do for a living, many law students have no prior experiences with the legal arena.  Some law students who worked as paralegals or in other similar roles might have a better understanding of what it’s like to practice law, but many law students have flawed perceptions about what it’s like to be an attorney.

Several years ago, I was in court for a simple discovery conference, and I was approached by two law students who wanted to observe what it was like to be a litigator.  They asked me if I knew where they could see a trial or where they could witness a motion being argued.  I told these law students that litigators spend very little time arguing motions or trying cases, and that if they wanted to know what it was really like to practice law, they should shadow me at my discovery conference.

For the next hour, the two law students attended my discovery conference, and I could tell they were shocked at what litigators spend much of their time in court doing.  As many attorneys in the New York City area know, discovery conferences for most lawsuits are typically like the DMV, and you spend a lot of time waiting around and doing nothing.  The law students I interacted with in court asked me if we would be seeing a judge, and they were shocked to discover that most of the time, a court attorney exclusively handles the entire conference.

After about an hour of witnessing the discovery conference, the law students politely decided to find more interesting matters to observe.  I was still happy to let these law students witness what litigators spend the vast majority of their time in court doing.

As a law student, I, too, thought that most litigators spent their days in court arguing motions and trying cases.  I remember one time, I was interviewing for a job at a Biglaw firm, and I related that I wanted to be a litigation associate so I could spend my days in court.  The attorneys I was interviewing with were extremely polite when they burst my bubble and told me that junior associates rarely head to court.  Indeed, they wisely suggested that I consider a clerkship if I wanted to get experience in a courtroom, since junior attorneys can wait years before they appear in court for even menial matters.  In any case, law students (and probably most other people) seem to have flawed perceptions of how much time lawyers spend in court and what they actually do inside a courthouse.

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Law students are also typically not aware of the types of law attorneys usually practice during the course of their careers.  For instance, when I was in law school, I thought that I would routinely be handling criminal matters and civil cases as part of the same practice.  As many practicing attorneys know firsthand, very few lawyers are actually able to pull off working on both civil and criminal matters as part of the same practice.

In addition, over the years, numerous law students have told me that they want to work at a big firm and focus on immigration law.  Other law students have also conveyed that they want to enter Biglaw and work on criminal matters.  I guess these law students are attracted to the prestige of working at a large firm, but at the same time want to spend their efforts working on matters that truly interest them.

As many of us know, the reality is that immigration matters, criminal law cases, family law issues, and a number of other types of matters are almost exclusively handled by smaller firms.  This is because individuals and not corporations are the clients in these matters, and most people cannot afford the insane rates charged by large law firms.  In any case, law students don’t really understand how the legal industry is structured and how attorneys tend to focus on specialized matters.

In the end, I can understand why law students have flawed perceptions about what it’s actually like to practice law.  Although some law students might have lawyers in their families, or might have worked as paralegals before attending law school, most law students do not have any prior experience with the legal profession.  In addition, law school doesn’t really teach you to practice law, and most law professors only spent brief amounts of time practicing law (or no time at all).

In any case, the practice of law is a lot different than most law students might believe, and far less time is spent trying cases or working on intriguing matters.  And it is important that law students understand the realities of practicing law so that they can get a better understanding of what they want to do with their careers after graduating from law school.

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Jordan Rothman is the founder of Student Debt Diaries, a personal finance website discussing how he paid off all $197,890.20 of his college and law school student loans over 46 months of his late 20s. You can reach him at Jordan@studentdebtdiaries.com.