When I was an undergraduate I knew this one girl-a family friend-who was planning on starting college. Of all things imaginable she wanted to be a lawyer. Imagine that huh? Well, I was considering going to law school to supplement my impending Bachelor of Arts degree and thought it would be interesting to see who would end up where. Now, I did not have much respect for this girl at the time. In fact, I doubted she would even go to college. However, she liked to talk big and oooh and awe everyone with her plans of being an attorney.
Well, one day when I was about to take the LSAT she informed me that she was no longer interested in being a lawyer.
"Why not?" I asked, confused at this change in events.
"Well, there are too many in the phone book," she said.
Of course, at the time I was floored by this comment. Like most things this woman said, I could not take it seriously. I wanted to roll around laughing at her. Furthermore, she was obsessed with CSI and like shows and informed me that she was going into "forensics" instead.
Fast forward a few years later. She dropped out of college after half a semester and just married a truck driver. The man owns his own business. She sets up his routes and he goes back and forth delivering vehicles cross country. They just bought a house together. He claims to make over $100,000 a year.
Where am I? 2L. And yes, she was right. There are way too many lawyers in the phone book.
Back in the day my family wanted to set me up to be a plumber's apprentice. I did not want to do such 'dirty work' and scowled at this. I wanted to be looked up to by society, not clean their toilets. However, one is not looked up to when they are unemployed. Plumbers make good money, and such a job is one I would have been smart to take. I could have still went to college had I the desire. I must say I am proud of the things I know due to college. My critical thinking skills are far beyond what they were out of high school. I even enjoy the thinking that I am forced to do with law school. However, there is thinking and there is doing. And I feel that I am in a scary place when it comes to the doing part.
Jobs like being a plumber or a truck driver have serious job security. The rich looks at them as 'jobs of the poor'. There is no elite plumber or truck driving schools. No billionaire brags that his son got into the Harvard of truck driving schools or the Princeton of plumbing. However, when it comes to law, the playing field is the field of the rich. If you are a poor student with no connections you are going to have a hell of a time getting into the legal profession. It's not an easy thing to break into. You may be intelligent with stellar grades, but you are still competing with little Henry, son of a Supreme Court Justice. You are competing with little Marsha, whose daddy paid for her LSAT tutoring course to get her into Columbia. You are competing with Ronald, whose lower Manhattan apartment is paid for by daddy. Father will also make sure Ronald has a job lined up afterwards, because he's either a partner at a huge firm, or his company has connections.
There will always be a need for plumbers as long as people poop. There will always be a need for deliveries. These jobs have security that the law does not have for the average person. Sure, there are slumps. However, if you are smart enough to get into law school, you can probably find your way into a good plumbing or truck driving gig. If you are devoted enough to jump through the law school hoops, I am sure you can get a good apprenticeship and eventually start your own business.
Truck driving and plumbing, like other similar fields, are not to be scowled at. There are many individuals making great money in these fields. Hell, you have a better chance of making good money if you go into either. Good luck with that sports law career or those space law jobs.
I wish I would have thought hard when she said "there's too many lawyers in the phone book." I should have picked one up and flipped through it. Hell, there's one on the cover, one on the spine, 2 on the inside flap, one on the rear cover. There's even an insert that pops out that has an attorney ad. She was right. There's way too many lawyers in the phone book.
Well, one day when I was about to take the LSAT she informed me that she was no longer interested in being a lawyer.
"Why not?" I asked, confused at this change in events.
"Well, there are too many in the phone book," she said.
Of course, at the time I was floored by this comment. Like most things this woman said, I could not take it seriously. I wanted to roll around laughing at her. Furthermore, she was obsessed with CSI and like shows and informed me that she was going into "forensics" instead.
Fast forward a few years later. She dropped out of college after half a semester and just married a truck driver. The man owns his own business. She sets up his routes and he goes back and forth delivering vehicles cross country. They just bought a house together. He claims to make over $100,000 a year.
Where am I? 2L. And yes, she was right. There are way too many lawyers in the phone book.
Back in the day my family wanted to set me up to be a plumber's apprentice. I did not want to do such 'dirty work' and scowled at this. I wanted to be looked up to by society, not clean their toilets. However, one is not looked up to when they are unemployed. Plumbers make good money, and such a job is one I would have been smart to take. I could have still went to college had I the desire. I must say I am proud of the things I know due to college. My critical thinking skills are far beyond what they were out of high school. I even enjoy the thinking that I am forced to do with law school. However, there is thinking and there is doing. And I feel that I am in a scary place when it comes to the doing part.
Jobs like being a plumber or a truck driver have serious job security. The rich looks at them as 'jobs of the poor'. There is no elite plumber or truck driving schools. No billionaire brags that his son got into the Harvard of truck driving schools or the Princeton of plumbing. However, when it comes to law, the playing field is the field of the rich. If you are a poor student with no connections you are going to have a hell of a time getting into the legal profession. It's not an easy thing to break into. You may be intelligent with stellar grades, but you are still competing with little Henry, son of a Supreme Court Justice. You are competing with little Marsha, whose daddy paid for her LSAT tutoring course to get her into Columbia. You are competing with Ronald, whose lower Manhattan apartment is paid for by daddy. Father will also make sure Ronald has a job lined up afterwards, because he's either a partner at a huge firm, or his company has connections.
There will always be a need for plumbers as long as people poop. There will always be a need for deliveries. These jobs have security that the law does not have for the average person. Sure, there are slumps. However, if you are smart enough to get into law school, you can probably find your way into a good plumbing or truck driving gig. If you are devoted enough to jump through the law school hoops, I am sure you can get a good apprenticeship and eventually start your own business.
Truck driving and plumbing, like other similar fields, are not to be scowled at. There are many individuals making great money in these fields. Hell, you have a better chance of making good money if you go into either. Good luck with that sports law career or those space law jobs.
I wish I would have thought hard when she said "there's too many lawyers in the phone book." I should have picked one up and flipped through it. Hell, there's one on the cover, one on the spine, 2 on the inside flap, one on the rear cover. There's even an insert that pops out that has an attorney ad. She was right. There's way too many lawyers in the phone book.
No comments:
Post a Comment