Most parents want their children to be lawyers when they grow up

Should your child become a lawyer?  A recent article states that many parents hope that their children become lawyers.  Is this a good thing now that many are arguing that the legal economy is weak?

It is no secret that most parents hope that their children become either doctors or lawyers.  Why should that change now?  While some people argue strongly that there are too many lawyers, the truth is that the population in the United States is rising and more lawyers will be needed in the future.  Law Professor Theodore Seto of Loyola Law School in Los Angeles states:

“Unless something truly extraordinary has happened to non-cyclical demand, a degrees-awarded-per-capita analysis suggests that beginning in fall 2015 and intensifying into 2016 employers are likely to experience an undersupply of law grads, provided that the economic recovery continues. To some extent, this will be buffered by recent oversupply. If matriculations remain at projected 2013 levels, however, once the market has absorbed the recent oversupply, a degrees-awarded-per-capita analysis suggests that long-term demand for law grads will outstrip long-term supply into the indefinite future.”

Anyway, getting to the meat of this post, most parents want their children to become lawyers.

"According to the survey, 64 percent of parents hope their children will grow up to pursue legal careers."

"“Being a lawyer means being a respected professional, and that’s something that parents want for their children,” said Larry Bodine, Esq., editor-in-chief of Lawyers.com."

"And even though the legal job market is still recovering, the demand for legal services remains strong. A 2012 survey from LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell found that 110 million U.S. consumers sought an attorney at least once in their lives, and 58 million sought one within the last year."

http://blogs.lawyers.com/2013/05/two-thirds-of-parents-want-kids-to-be-lawyers/

In short, law is and has for a long time been a respectable career.  That is not going to change in the foreseeable future.  Perhaps now is the time to go to law school as the legal market is starting to turn around and there are opportunities out there for grads who are willing to put in the work that is needed to succeed in law and serving the rising population that needs attorneys.

Should You Skip Law School Class?

Sometimes I find myself becoming depressed about law school and figuring "what's the point?"  The jobs are barely existent, the economy is in shambles, and law school testing falls short of actually gauging a person's skill in legal knowledge (more on this in a future post).  Last semester I found myself missing a lot of classes, and I noticed my grades took a dive because of it.  Thus I realized, even though law school can be hell at times, I should not skip class.

Back when I used to go to top-law-schools.com I read divided posts saying either, do not skip class, or don't worry about going to class.  You can pass if you don't go to any class and study the book.  While that is true, you can pass, I think going to class and at least listening to the professor's long winded rants count for something in terms of grades.  I am not saying that listening to the professor's talk is worthwhile for anything else, but, hearing what they lecture on will give you an edge on finding out what you should be focusing on when it comes to reading.

Let's face it, by 2L year nobody really wants to go to class.  Anything else sounds funner.  Well, almost anything else (scrubbing walls for experience in a legal internship is not as fun as listening to a professor's antiquated jokes).  Law school is in many ways like a prison, and as I have signed up for my sentence by choice, I should be willing to do my time, lest I drop out.  Paying money to not go to class doesn't hurt the schools at all.  Sure, if you don't get a job it might hurt them, that is, only if you would have gotten a job the other way around.  There are chances you won't get a legal job of any kind whether or not you skip class, but skipping class only hurts your grade, and makes you feel like more of a douche during the end.  And let me say, when it comes to law school and looking back on your experience, one of the most important things is minimizing that feeling like a douche. 


By your second year, most of your highlighters have dried up and you have no motivation to buy more.  The classes don't seem as important.  The big theory courses have already been taught to you, and the competition has simmered down some.  Many people are in a state of absolute depression because they are now fully aware of their job prospects.  They have their first year grades, which has set the tone of where they expect to place when it comes time to graduation.  Many say that these first year grades are the most important, and I will say that I agree.  It is very hard to reestablish your GPA when 1/3rd of your grades are set, and it's very hard to do that first OCI unless you invent a time machine.  And if you can do that, you may be like me and wish you could travel further back and do something else with your life.

This is not my first post about skipping class, and for some reason, that post is quite popular.  In fact, many people search "law school skipping class" or "skipping class 2L" on Google and reach my blog.  But, like I said, skipping class may hurt only you and not the law school.  Also, once you miss a few classes, it's too easy to not go back, or to be scared to go back.  I fell victim of being scared that the professor would say "you've missed way too many courses," or that when I reappeared my cohorts would think "where has this loser been?"  Perhaps that would have happened, but it looks a lot better than a C or worse on your transcript (depending on where your school grades). 

The Law School industry, in my view, is quite broken.  However, there is no reason to make your life there a bigger hell than it already is.  You might as well at least try to make it to class, lest you're sure of dropping out. 

Unless, of course, enough students would be willing to 'walk out' and show the system that they need to change.  In fact, a law school walkout is something worth talking about in a future post as well...