What made you become a lawyer? What do you like best about being a lawyer, and what do you hate? What does a typical week look like? Do you prefer private sector, or local/state/federal government work?
I ask these questions because I am thinking about a change in careers, and litigation has always been of interest to me. I work with Commonwealth Attorney's and the District Attorney's office on some cases and I get a lot of job satisfaction in that area of my job. I don't hate what I do now by any stretch of the imagination, but I know I'm young enough to make a drastic career change, and old enough to know that I have goals in life that I'll never meet if I don't obtain a degree in a field I am truly interested in, and use it.
Maybe set an appointment and talk to the folks at Liberty...
I ALMOST did the JD/MBA thing at Darden years ago... glad I didn't in hindsight.
I've got an appointment with someone I work with regularly in Miyares' office to talk to her about why she decided to do what she does, and what made her pick govt over private.
Liberty is an interesting place to interact with as a non-student. But it's certainly somewhere I'm going to take a look at and talk to for sure.
When my younger brother went to law school, I asked him the same thing.
His answer was "Have you ever seen a broke lawyer?"
LOL.
Soon after, my youngest brother went to law school too. I didn't ask him why, I knew why... Because the other brother did it.
Both practice in different areas of the law. One owns a lawfirm and is a personal injury atty., and the other one practices business law.
Begs the question. Are either broke?
🦫
No. Neither are broke, but the one who owns his own law firm is much more fluid as far as money.
They both tried to get me to go back to school and get a law degree, as I already had a master's in criminal justice, it wouldn't have taken as much to get a JD, as it would starting fresh. I just had had enough school, and being a lawyer never appealed to me.
There's more important things in life than money. Being able to live with how you get it is one of them.
Liberty is an interesting place to interact with as a non-student. But it's certainly somewhere I'm going to take a look at and talk to for sure.
IMHO... Liberty is one of the least "Woke" schools in America... that is why I would suggest it over Darden, Wharton, W&M, U of R et al.
Regent University School of Law is also has a good program if you could stand living in Virginia Beach... My lawyer went there and he is a M***** F*****
Liberty is an interesting place to interact with as a non-student. But it's certainly somewhere I'm going to take a look at and talk to for sure.
IMHO... Liberty is one of the least "Woke" schools in America... that is why I would suggest it over Darden, Wharton, W&M, U of R et al.
Regent University School of Law is also has a good program if you could stand living in Virginia Beach... My lawyer went there and he is a M***** F*****
I completely agree with you on that. It's a great school. But I've got some stories that'd make you blink lol.
Maybe not "you" blink, but some folks anyway haha.
Liberty is an interesting place to interact with as a non-student. But it's certainly somewhere I'm going to take a look at and talk to for sure.
IMHO... Liberty is one of the least "Woke" schools in America... that is why I would suggest it over Darden, Wharton, W&M, U of R et al.
Regent University School of Law is also has a good program if you could stand living in Virginia Beach... My lawyer went there and he is a M***** F*****
I completely agree with you on that. It's a great school. But I've got some stories that'd make you blink lol.
Maybe not "you" blink, but some folks anyway haha.
I thought about being a lawyer once I left the Air Force. I instead opted for a MBA through Liberty University, as I told myself I was tired of lying after being a weather forecaster for 22 years. In all honesty, I’d love to have done it, but was not in a place where I could just up and leave Alaska to attend law school in the lower 48 at the time. I’m happy where I’m at in life and I bet I have a lot less stress than if I had give to law school.
My brother quit a management job with the state after 22 years and, the day after his 46th birthday, took off for law school. Hit it hard for 3 years, opened his own practice and did well, largely because he had a stellar reputation, is honest and works his ass off. He got elected to the bench and recently retired (state requires judges to retire in the year they turn 70.) He now takes legal work that he feels like taking. My son, in December, told the place he'd been working 13 1/2 years, knocking down $150K in rural Missouri, to "take this job and shove it." He'd already done his BS and an MBA and has decided to go to law school. He recently showed me his acceptance letter. He'll start in September...at 46 years old.
PM me VLBs if you want to talk. I'm a 27-yr litigation attorney, much of which was in Virginia. I'm extremely conservative and honest, like many of my colleagues. I don't think it would be efficient to give you substantially-helpful advice other than via a conversation. Too much to consider.
Any professional school is going to have an admission exam.
If your BA is in place, take the test and see how you do, before ya pull any pins.
No college, just trade school. I'd be starting from scratch.
Not ta talk ya out of it, but how ya gonna cover the nut, whilst ya get in position ta start law school?
Finances can be a helluva distraction.
Work and go to school at night, or online. Just like my dad did. He was enrolled in a master's program while he was in Iraq, and did another program again in Afghanistan.
PM me VLBs if you want to talk. I'm a 27-yr litigation attorney, much of which was in Virginia. I'm extremely conservative and honest, like many of my colleagues. I don't think it would be efficient to give you substantially-helpful advice other than via a conversation. Too much to consider.
You won't find many lawyers who are conservative either.
As an attorney, most attorney's are honest. Your professional reputation with Judges and other attorneys depends on it. I will not sacrifice my integrity for any reason. Therefore, Judges, clerks and other attorneys trust me. Once an attorney loses credibility, it's gone forever, and it's a lot tougher to get anything done.
Any professional school is going to have an admission exam.
If your BA is in place, take the test and see how you do, before ya pull any pins.
No college, just trade school. I'd be starting from scratch.
Not ta talk ya out of it, but how ya gonna cover the nut, whilst ya get in position ta start law school?
Finances can be a helluva distraction.
Work and go to school at night, or online. Just like my dad did. He was enrolled in a master's program while he was in Iraq, and did another program again in Afghanistan.
Then go for it.
Ya gotta love it ta get to it, and you'll find out if ya love it on the way, cause it'll be a PITA.
Liberty is an interesting place to interact with as a non-student. But it's certainly somewhere I'm going to take a look at and talk to for sure.
IMHO... Liberty is one of the least "Woke" schools in America... that is why I would suggest it over Darden, Wharton, W&M, U of R et al.
Regent University School of Law is also has a good program if you could stand living in Virginia Beach... My lawyer went there and he is a M***** F*****
Who is your attorney? As a VA attorney, I'd be interested to know. I have been extremely unimpressed with Liberty attorneys as a whole. I know a couple that are OK. Most seem to start of as solos or working for other inexperienced attorneys, and never benefit from good mentorship or training. Beyond that, there admissions test scores are terrible. Their mean LSAT score is a 152. Almost have their students are under a 150. Hard to take that seriously.
Verylargeboots- I went to law school when I was in my late 20s. I had been a Sheriff's deputy for several years when the county lost some federal revenue sharing funds. They laid off the road patrol, so I was suddenly unemployed. They were putting a road patrol millage on the ballot later in the year, but my wife and I decided that I should do law school. Better hours and more money.
Did law school and a couple of months before graduation, the county prosecutor back home gave me a call and asked if I was planning on coming back north after graduation. We were and he offered me a job as assistant prosecutor and a partnership in his private practice. We live in a sparsely populated rural area and the prosecutor's office is part time. We did all of the criminal prosecutions and did civil work on the side. We couldn't take any civil case that might interfere with a prosecution. For instance we couldn't take a divorce if one of the parties had a domestic violence pending against the other. It worked out well, overall.
I much preferred doing criminal work over civil. Hated divorce work. Loved doing motion hearings and trials. Some people like the court room, others don't. I really enjoyed it.
Our judicial district at the time was a two county district, later expanded to four counties. The district judge was from the other county and was appointed by a democrat governor and was not popular with either the attorneys or the general public. Attorneys considered him an aszhole, and he was generally believed to be a womanizer and a drunk by a lot of people in the district(pretty conservative, predominantly farming area). There were only a half dozen or so attorneys in my county and a couple of them approached me in early 1996 and suggested that I might consider running against the current district judge. I did, beat him 57%-43%.
I was district judge for 20 years and retired just before my 56th birthday. Thoroughly enjoyed the bench for most of my time there; but the last few years got progressively worse with regards to what regulations were imposed on us as individual judges by the state supreme court. It was rapidly getting to the point where the "independent" judiciary wasn't independent at all. It was toe the line or be removed from office. Haven't missed that crap at all.
I don't know that I could recommend the law to someone today unless they didn't want to work in the criminal justice system. The criminal side would be really frustrating for a conservative person these days. Things have gotten really bad there. If you want to work on the civil side, go for it. Money can be good. Hours can be what you want them to be if you go into practice for yourself.
Verylargeboots- I went to law school when I was in my late 20s. I had been a Sheriff's deputy for several years when the county lost some federal revenue sharing funds. They laid off the road patrol, so I was suddenly unemployed. They were putting a road patrol millage on the ballot later in the year, but my wife and I decided that I should do law school. Better hours and more money.
Did law school and a couple of months before graduation, the county prosecutor back home gave me a call and asked if I was planning on coming back north after graduation. We were and he offered me a job as assistant prosecutor and a partnership in his private practice. We live in a sparsely populated rural area and the prosecutor's office is part time. We did all of the criminal prosecutions and did civil work on the side. We couldn't take any civil case that might interfere with a prosecution. For instance we couldn't take a divorce if one of the parties had a domestic violence pending against the other. It worked out well, overall.
I much preferred doing criminal work over civil. Hated divorce work. Loved doing motion hearings and trials. Some people like the court room, others don't. I really enjoyed it.
Our judicial district at the time was a two county district, later expanded to four counties. The district judge was from the other county and was appointed by a democrat governor and was not popular with either the attorneys or the general public. Attorneys considered him an aszhole, and he was generally believed to be a womanizer and a drunk by a lot of people in the district(pretty conservative, predominantly farming area). There were only a half dozen or so attorneys in my county and a couple of them approached me in early 1996 and suggested that I might consider running against the current district judge. I did, beat him 57%-43%.
I was district judge for 20 years and retired just before my 56th birthday. Thoroughly enjoyed the bench for most of my time there; but the last few years got progressively worse with regards to what regulations were imposed on us as individual judges by the state supreme court. It was rapidly getting to the point where the "independent" judiciary wasn't independent at all. It was toe the line or be removed from office. Haven't missed that crap at all.
I don't know that I could recommend the law to someone today unless they didn't want to work in the criminal justice system. The criminal side would be really frustrating for a conservative person these days. Things have gotten really bad there. If you want to work on the civil side, go for it. Money can be good. Hours can be what you want them to be if you go into practice for yourself.
One of the most honest men I ever knew was a water rights lawyer here, turned down judge positions right and left, he truly lived for confrontation...the bigger the Goliath the better. He was also a traveller, saw a lot of Europe...in 1944.
I left Army active duty at your age after 10 years because I felt I'd learned about all I could as a pilot and had learned I liked arguing against bullshit. Figured being a trial lawyer could be fun and more lucrative. The hardest thing about law school was learning that there are very few absolute right and wrongs, but lots of shades of gray. I wont do criminal law because I don't want to represent criminals. I went into civil litigation and found there was a niche practice to be had in aviation litigation, which was right up my alley. You can pick the defense side, and work for the insurance companies, or the plaintiff side and work for yourself. I was able to do a little of both, and cherry pick the cases I took. To me, the epitome of being a trial lawyer is cross examining a witness who is full of [bleep]. Sort of like playing a 4 lb trout on a 2 lb tippet, letting him run this way and that, and finally slipping the net under him with a "gotcha!" I had no interest in anything other than trial work, although most cases settle after doing some depositions to pin down the facts. It certainly is a profession that lets you control your own destiny. Lots of different ways to skin the cat, I just happened to find one aspect that I really enjoyed doing. Good luck with your decision.
Grew up in a family of lawyers. Father was a judge. Usually was good for some very interesting and intelligent dinner conversation. I’d planned to do likewise but made a late switch and practice medicine instead. I’ve never regretted the choice but still find the law interesting. Best wishes to the OP.
I actually went to law school because a man I greatly admired was a lawyer. The great thing about being a lawyer are the many paths that can be taken after law school. I was hired as a lobbyist after law school and after four years of that I went another direction. Was self employed for 35 years in a niche specialty. Never had employees, worked really hard, but also had good time flexibility which was very important. Retired from full time work at 53 and then worked another 8 years on a projects that interested me. Hired and managed a number of attorneys at various times. I know lots of honest attorneys - I also know lots of dishonest people.
When my younger brother went to law school, I asked him the same thing.
His answer was "Have you ever seen a broke lawyer?"
LOL.
Soon after, my youngest brother went to law school too. I didn't ask him why, I knew why... Because the other brother did it.
Both practice in different areas of the law. One owns a lawfirm and is a personal injury atty., and the other one practices business law.
Begs the question. Are either broke?
🦫
No. Neither are broke, but the one who owns his own law firm is much more fluid as far as money.
They both tried to get me to go back to school and get a law degree, as I already had a master's in criminal justice, it wouldn't have taken as much to get a JD, as it would starting fresh. I just had had enough school, and being a lawyer never appealed to me.
There's more important things in life than money. Being able to live with how you get it is one of them.
Your comment on "enough school" rings with my five years chasing my ME degree in the early 80's at Cal Poly. Upon graduation, that was not celebrated, I never wanted to see a campus or a book again. My youngest son, now 25, headed off to TAMU for his ME pursuit and I mentioned the same. Upon graduation he fully agreed. Burnt out just as I was.
I had a bachelors degree in education, taught school for a couple of years, didn't like it, and took a job as a ditch digger on a private golf course. Worked there, digging ditches, for seven years when one of the members (not a lawyer) remarked, "You're pretty smart. You should go to law school." I had no particular desire to matriculate in law school but also realized that, physically, I wasn't gonna be able to continue digging ditches the rest of my life. To my knowledge, there were never any lawyers in my family, so I didn't have any role models in that regard. Neither of my parents graduated from high school; my mother only went as far as the eight grade and my father dropped out to join the army during WW II.
To make a long story short, I took the LSAT, applied to law school, was accepted, graduated, passed the bar, and practiced law for the next 30 years. I retired in 1987. I was 30 when I enrolled in law school.
To answer your question directly, I enrolled in law school more-or-less on a lark. I never aspired to be a lawyer and wouldn't have been crushed if I'd blown the LSAT or hadn't been accepted to law school. Basically, it seemed like the thing to do at the time.
I had a bachelors degree in education, taught school for a couple of years, didn't like it, and took a job as a ditch digger on a private golf course. Worked there, digging ditches, for seven years when one of the members (not a lawyer) remarked, "You're pretty smart. You should go to law school." I had no particular desire to matriculate in law school but also realized that, physically, I wasn't gonna be able to continue digging ditches the rest of my life. To my knowledge, there were never any lawyers in my family, so I didn't have any role models in that regard. Neither of my parents graduated from high school; my mother only went as far as the eight grade and my father dropped out to join the army during WW II.
To make a long story short, I took the LSAT, applied to law school, was accepted, graduated, passed the bar, and practiced law for the next 30 years. I retired in 1987. I was 30 when I enrolled in law school.
To answer your question directly, I enrolled in law school more-or-less on a lark. I never aspired to be a lawyer and wouldn't have been crushed if I'd blown the LSAT or hadn't been accepted to law school. Basically, it seemed like the thing to do at the time.
Yes! What I've noticed is a neutral, objective frame of mind in several that is easy to misconstrue as unprincipled. Any good lawyer will be in possession of his opinions and personal values enough to think like the other guy thinks. Some of them are purely amoral, not just rhetorical gymnasts twisting words and meanings. But the ability to make a strong, convincing argument promoting a viewpoint you detest is a challenge and a very powerful skill to understand and motivate people.
I had a bachelors degree in education, taught school for a couple of years, didn't like it, and took a job as a ditch digger on a private golf course. Worked there, digging ditches, for seven years when one of the members (not a lawyer) remarked, "You're pretty smart. You should go to law school." I had no particular desire to matriculate in law school but also realized that, physically, I wasn't gonna be able to continue digging ditches the rest of my life. To my knowledge, there were never any lawyers in my family, so I didn't have any role models in that regard. Neither of my parents graduated from high school; my mother only went as far as the eight grade and my father dropped out to join the army during WW II.
To make a long story short, I took the LSAT, applied to law school, was accepted, graduated, passed the bar, and practiced law for the next 30 years. I retired in 1987. I was 30 when I enrolled in law school.
To answer your question directly, I enrolled in law school more-or-less on a lark. I never aspired to be a lawyer and wouldn't have been crushed if I'd blown the LSAT or hadn't been accepted to law school. Basically, it seemed like the thing to do at the time.
Your timeline puts you and your father at the same age.
PM me VLBs if you want to talk. I'm a 27-yr litigation attorney, much of which was in Virginia. I'm extremely conservative and honest, like many of my colleagues. I don't think it would be efficient to give you substantially-helpful advice other than via a conversation. Too much to consider.
This is spot on. Feel free to PM me as well. I’ve done lots of different things: prosecutor, commercial litigator and now work in the investment world. I think a better way to view a JD is as the ultimate General Education degree….you can do almost anything with it.
I would not wish life in a big firm on anyone I cared for….yet that’s what many do.
I have practiced law since 2006. I spent 12 years at a firm, drafting oil and gas title opinions and representing landowners when and where I could. I’ve been in an in house position with a company since 2019.
A law degree will help open a lot of doors beyond just practicing law.
To those folks saying they’ve never seen an honest lawyer or would rather be poor and feel good about how they made their money, they have watched too much tv and probably waited too long to hire a lawyer when they needed one. As has been mentioned, our business depends in large part on our reputation. What about mechanics, plumbers, doctors etc? I’m pretty sure there are a few that inflate bills.
And anyone who owns a Ranch (with a capital R) will most likely call a lawyer when a common carrier pipeline company comes knocking with a landowner’s bill of rights in hand.
