Guest Blogger #3: Potential Counselor Stucky
Today’s Guest Blogger is my dear friend Potential Counselor Laurel Stucky.
Yes, her name’s Laurel Stucky—pretty cool, no?
Well, Potential Counselor Stucky writes….
“I´ve wanted to be a guest LSB blogger for a while now, but I never really had anything pertinent to write, so I held out…until now.
One night last week I watched A Few Good Men—one of my favorite movies—and then the following night I caught tail end of 12 Angry Men. It got me thinking…
Does EVERYBODY want to be a lawyer after they watch these movies or is it just me? I’m seriously considering law school now, only I can’t tell if I want to be a lawyer because I want to bring justice to the world and win big important trials or if I’m just temporarily dazzled
by the fancy TV and movie lawyers.
Pretty sure I better figure that out before I really take the plunge.
Any thoughts/advice?
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November 14th, 2007 at 1:29 am
Laurel, I’m not sure if you can be a lawyer if you didn’t know that it’s Law and Order that makes everyone want to be a lawyer. Are you sure you’re cut out for this? (But, actually, good luck.
November 14th, 2007 at 10:45 am
Counselor Stucky,
I think everybody does want to be a lawyer after watching those movies.
Watch The Firm and then Liar Liar and then The Devil’s Advocate and then see how you feel.
November 14th, 2007 at 1:37 pm
The Practice was responsible for my political science major.
November 14th, 2007 at 2:22 pm
Strange Bird is right about L&O.
To Kill a Mockingbird really did it for me, though. Ironic, since I work for the prosecution.
November 14th, 2007 at 8:07 pm
you shouldn’t go to law school because you want to be a lawyer, you should go because you want to study law, if that makes any sense. if you don’t like the material, i imagine you would be in hell for three years. also, if you haven’t already, take time off after undergrad and, if possible, get some kind of substantial professional experience in another field. that’s not a necessity, but i think it helps a lot.
November 15th, 2007 at 9:25 am
Hmmm if I may give the future counselor a compliment… I think you + me = fantastic power couple
November 15th, 2007 at 10:55 am
Do yourself a favor and sit down and read 30 or so pages in one of Counselor Lax’s casebooks and then think about whether you want to go to law school and do that every night for the next 3 years. Did I mention the pressure and stress that comes with a hard curve, knowing that no matter how well you do on the one test at the end of the semester that makes up your grade that if half of the class does even better than you, you’re probably looking at a C+ grade? Or did I mention how competitive it gets to be in the top 10%/ top 25%/ top half of the class when you’re laying out about $30,000 a year and your grades are the single most important factor in landing a legal position after graduation?
In other words, before getting swept away by the glamour of what you see on TV and in the movies, talk to some people in law school to find out what it’s really like. THEN you can begin to make an informed decision about whether you want to go seriously consider law school. Just bear in mind that you can’t just ’slide through’ law school the way people can do with undergrad… there’s too much on the line for less than 100% effort.
Rob
November 15th, 2007 at 11:28 am
Counselor NY,
You may be right…but I’m not sure if that’s a compliment so much as it is an online pickup attempt…
November 15th, 2007 at 2:45 pm
You sound way too stressed, Rob. Maybe you should try Law School in Canada. We’re a bit more laid back up here, eh?
Laurel - Law School, go for it! Yeah, its a lot of work. An awful lot of reading. Much more so than undergrad. Although I’ve seen a fair bit of people party through it, I wouldn’t recommend it. But the single best thing about a law degree, IMHO, is that you can use it to be Arnie on LA Law, protect the poor at a Legal Aid clinic, take the corporate world by storn simply by starting as in house counsel… chuck practice completely and work on law reform … well, I shouldn’t take up all of Rick’s bandwidth, but the thing is, even if you decide never to practice law or only do it for a year or two (which I would recommend you do try practice for at least a couple of years), no matter what you decide to do, it gives you near-instant credibility. Of course, whether or not you keep that credibility, will depend on how hard you work.
So Rick, are you offering a matchmaking service or is this actually a bar? I thought it got a little smokey in here sometimes…
November 15th, 2007 at 3:13 pm
Wow. That is all very good, sound advice. I read what all of you had to write, and I appreciate the time you took to do it. Thank you guys for responding. I value your opinions-especially from those of you in law school! Thanks again, you’ve really helped me out.
Laurel
November 15th, 2007 at 4:09 pm
I am in complete agreement with Michelle. Good reasons for attending law school include the ability to practice on your own or with a firm, the ability to conduct a business of your own with a solid understanding of the legalities involved and, as Michelle noted, an opportunity to help those in need. If you are willing to sacrifice the time and effort for a few years, you’ll reap the rewards. I’ve never really heard anyone tell me they regret going to law school. I even know physicians who subsequently went to law school. That’s an interesting idea, seeing as medicine is often a “business” these days. I’m not suggesting medical school to you, merely pointing out that other professionals see the need for this knowledge.
November 15th, 2007 at 4:56 pm
It’s too bad almost everyone mistook Laurel’s attempt at discussing movies as a serious question about law school. If you knew her as well as Rick and I do, you’d know that there’s no way she would drop out of her current line of education to pursue law, ESPECIALLY when she’s only one year from graduating astronaut school.
Here’s some real advice, Laurel:
My Cousin Vinny.
November 19th, 2007 at 12:54 pm
I think the glamour of lawyers in hollywood make it a “sexy” idea for people to want to attend law school…..but trust me…there is nothing sexy about civil procedure..
December 6th, 2007 at 1:41 pm
mm.. thank you man
February 10th, 2008 at 11:15 pm
I think those movies should have disclaimers on them– you know, the way those weight-loss ads need to have “Results not typical” in fine print at the bottom…. Something along the lines of “Warning: You will not sound as dazzling as this TV lawyer until at least five years out of law school” or “Warning: You won’t be able to work on any case even 1/15 as interesting as the one featured in this show for approximately 7 years out of law school, depending on GPA and your ability to network”
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