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I'm still debating if to apply this cycle or wait for next, as I'm currently straight out of undergrad and am starting an awesome new job!
How old will you be when starting law school? How many years of work experience will you have by then? :)
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I will be starting next cycle 29 turning 30. I thought I would of started this cycle (28 turning 29) but unfortunately need to improve a little bit more to get to my goal score.
@marine4life6798246 said:
After seeing so many comments of people who have been working in the legal field for many years already without a JD, I am genuinely curious as what advantages (i.e. salary difference, promotions, nature of work) there will be of going to law school?
Would anyone like to shed some light for me? I am a little confused. Pardon me if this is a dumb question and comes across as nosy, too.
Money. I don’t think any paralegal is going to make more than $100k and that’s with like a decade+ of experience working for a big firm in a big city + luck. After taxes that really doesn’t go too far when you’re paying $2k+/monthly just for a one bedroom apt in said big city. Or one could just do a few years of school and have endless salary potential as an attorney and have the option to be a professor or get into politics. There’s a lot of things one can do with a JD and you can get into any field of law you want.
In the area I live all the paralegal job postings expect at minimum 3+ years of experience in a specific field and the max pay I’ve seen was $60k. I have years of law firm experience but most of those years were in a boutique firm which didn’t really focus on any one particular field so I don’t have a deep experience of any one field. After a few months of my new/recent job working in one field as a legal assistant, I got pretty much stuck in this field and I don’t particularly enjoy it. When I interviewed around for firms that just generally wanted 3+ year of experience, they weren’t too pleased that I didn’t have experience in their particular field. The only job offers I got for a better paralegal position were in the field I worked a few months in as an assistant. If I stay in this field until I’m 40 maybe I’ll make like $75k. Maybe more if I move to a bigger city (where there’s more competition for jobs) and get lucky with a big law firm.
Well, my legal experience is in CA worker's comp. In CA, you practice law without going to law school if you study under an attorney for a number of years. RN, my job would earn about $50,000 without school. I know a second year attorney making $110,000. He didn't go to a top 14 school. He had no legal experience. He's just good with schmoozing and works hard. He also took a job in a crummy city in California. His buddies who wanted to stay in LA are making $50-60 ish.
28 hopefully (if I can get a score I want in November), with 4 years of work experience and a master degree in engineering, I wish I had any law background.
After seeing so many comments of people who have been working in the legal field for many years already without a JD, I am genuinely curious as what advantages (i.e. salary difference, promotions, nature of work) there will be of going to law school?
Would anyone like to shed some light for me? I am a little confused. Pardon me if this is a dumb question and comes across as nosy, too.
48 possibly 49 depending on how the LSAT goes. :) I worked as a paralegal for about 10 years in law firms and with the US Attorney's Office. I'm excited I'm finally doing what I've always wanted to do. Cheers and well wishes to everyone on your pursuit to becoming a successful lawyer.
41 with experience in medical billing and doing expert witness/lien litigation for the last eight years. But, I've been working since I could get a job.
26 with 3 (soon to be 4) years of experience working in private practice (Real Estate Law).
I thought I was the only one!
As far as I'm concerned, the older the better. I'm actually thankful I'm going in with a more mature mindset, especially having some work related experience under my belt. Weird...I'm actually excited for school haha.
I will be 45 years old, and as all granddads say. "I forgot more than all the young people know"
I spoke with a lawyer and he says that he wished that he worked as something else before going straight to law school. It helps mitigate that "greener grass on the other side" feeling, or that, "what if I worked as this," thought. That doesn't apply for people who definitely want to be a lawyer, though.
32 with 10 yrs of experience as a foreign lawyer.
It's good to see so many of you starting young! I will be 38 with 19 years of HR experience- closely related as I handle Labor and Employment. I also will have 2 kids in college and a graduate degree!
31 when starting next fall, 9 years out of undergrad.
Assuming this next cycle goes well, I’ll be starting in the Fall of 2020 one month before my 34th b-day.
26, with 3 years of work experience as a Financial Analyst, also a Master's Degree in Finance. Glad to see older people. I thought I would feel out of place with a lot of 22 year olds around.
28, unless my score isn't where I would like it to be then I will push it back a year.
29! Graduated at 23 with a Masters, I’ve been a bilingual teacher since then!
I’ll miss my kids, the summers and all the weekends and holidays off. I’ve even contemplated doing law since the pay system in Dallas is actually really good and almost comparable to a starting salary out of law school (minus t15 schools) if you perform well.
But I’d hate myself for giving up on law school and not doing what I’m most passionate about.
Also, I’m honestly really eager to learn and gain new knowledge this time. My attitude was much different in undergrad and grad school.
29! With ten years of work experience. My only legal experience was an internship a few summers ago
49 with 8 years of corporate experience followed by 20 years of running my own business and 2 years of grad school. Variety is the spice of life!!
50, 23 years running my own company and years of volunteer work.
I am soooo glad to see some older students here. I will be 41 when I start law school and it is comforting to know that others will be older students. I spent 10 years in the military and the last 5 working as a volunteer teacher in the Dominican Republic. I always wanted to law school but I felt I wasn't ready...that I needed to do other things first. I am very grateful that I had that time, it has really given me a broader perspective and understanding of the world and people.
But I am also grateful to the younger students who can offer a perspective of a generation I am not as connected to...the broader the perspective the better we all learn and the better prepared for real world law practice we will be.
64 with careers in Engineering and medicine as a trauma surgeon.
24 with 9 years work experience. My only legal experience was an internship last fall.
Hopefully i’ll be just about to turn 24 and i’ll have...6 years of work experience
26/27 with 3 years work exp.