AMA! Finished first year as an attorney - 7Sage all the way.

TheDeterminedC

Just finished my first year of attorney life (I'm licensed in CA). Open for any burning questions!

I previously posted my imperfect LSAT journey on my profile, so I'll spare you the background info again here. (See https://7sage.com/discussion/#/discussion/21896/my-lsat-journey-is-over-144-166-rough-road-inspiration-top-3-tips)

I graduated from USC Gould.

I will quickly note that, regardless what you intend to use your law school degree to achieve, the doors a Juris Doctor will open for you will be incredible.

AMA!

laboy.davidjr

First of all, congrats! Here are my few questions
- What would be your top tip for the beginning (starting), middle (about to or in the process of testing), and ending (applying to schools) stages?
- What discipline/type of law did you choose to practice?
- What are some examples of "the doors" that opened for you?

Thanks in advance, and congrats again!

TheDeterminedC

Thanks.
ONE. This ONE relates to law school applications/schools. My general top tips for LSAT taking is in the link in the OP and comments to questions there. If you have specifics, feel free to ask.

Beginning. Law school applications are heavy weighted on LSAT/GPA, as law school rankings are weighted the same. So, my starting tips relate to the applicant. Get those numbers as high as possible, even if that means setting ego aside and delaying a year to retake an LSAT. If you are still in school and it makes sense, think about taking more credits than needed to graduate, provided you anticipate As or A+s. Otherwise, it's a drop in the cumulative GPA bucket and not worth the added time/expense. Once that is done, I suggest thinking about a decently concrete idea of your application and cohesive story to sell yourself. In the meantime, I suggest contemplating whether taking a gap year to work on a passion unrelated to law or work in a different country just for the experience might suit you personally in your own growth and development.

Middle. My middle advice is to get interested in each particular school. Look at the substance of each school and how that relates to/can serve you. What are you interested in? Is it big law and $, autonomy/resources to run your own practice, what about owning a business unrelated to law, or maybe a law professor path? Answers to these will help guide you. It's fine to not know these answers. This part is difficult to know at the start of law school and is more on the uncommon side to be dead set on prior to applying. The gist is finding a place that you think would best suit the idea of the attorney you in the future. Then, see how each school does to suit what you think would be best for you. Additionally, location and school rank is critical as well. The "middle" part is more about finding out schools that you personally would not fit well with or do not wish to attend. Sometimes the best approach to finding what you want is picking out what you don't.

Applying. While you may have preferences, you should be realistic in them. I was not when I applied. My suggestion when applying is to have one or two applications at each of the following levels: safely assume acceptance, coin flip or target, and a reach. I would suggest using numbers only to determine what level the school is for you, then maybe tweak depending on strong soft factors. I recall using a website that applicants can self report their numbers and results to assist with this. My "safety" school was USC (I was at medians for it), and I was waitlisted at almost all T14s I applied to (Harvard excluded - rejected). That was stressful. I would not do that again.

Also, apply EARLY. I am a serial procrastinator and sent all my apps in the last week of open admissions, most of which were rolling admissions. You already did 70% of the work with the numbers, so don't shoot yourself in the foot like I did and reduce admissions changes because of poor timing.

Finally, for a school that is realistically within acceptance range and one you can see yourself attending, start reaching out on LinkedIn and even show up to the school to meet staff/students in person if within your means. It's a bit forward, especially as an introvert myself, but merely showing up may lead to an opportunity/interaction that will change your path for the better. A casual, brief and respectful handshake introduction can make all the difference. It's also one more item to write about to the school when tailoring your application. Reaching out to schedule a meeting for a date/time with a student via LinkedIn when you visit would seem fairly easy to do. A coffee bribe is the trick! Students I went to school with generally seem open to those interactions. If invited for tour, it's great to attend. If you do, I suggest having some sort of interaction with each of the aids there. Just enough for them to recall you, but even better if you truly connect.

One small aside that most don't talk about is to figure out what each school is looking to do to increase its rank. Deans of law schools are under rank pressure, which I imagine increases exponentially as rank increases. I heard through the grape vine that SC was looking to increase its clerkship placements, as that would significantly help in its rankings. So, a personal statement that genuinely hints at a goal for a clerkship placement would probably be seen more favorably, for instance. Just an example. Each school will probably have its own goals for the cycle.

TWO. Trust and estate planning/administration. It's quite niche. I believe I was among 3/4 individuals in my class practicing it. Hopefully no regular court appearances for me!

THREE. Regarding "doors" opening for me personally, I'd say there are two kinds--law related and those not.

The law related open doors are interesting. Insurance defense pays decently (at the small price of your soul), but it's there and hiring like crazy. I can hop ship and find a job whenever in an area of law that is not necessarily related to mine, including general litigation, and still be a strong applicant and financially okay because of the inherent value of the license. That to me is awesome. It's having a license to practice and ability to work hard that, when combined, provide value that other's want/need and at decent salaries. Of course, there's always the opportunity to also stick to a particular path and form my own practice. I simply feel free and financially the same even if I choose to work in a radically different practice. I do feel less stress because of these open doors as well.

What is even better are the unrelated law opportunities. I did not fully appreciate the "glow" that a Juris Doctor brings with it. It's absolutely clout! Many of my classmates have gone on to successfully create or manage business. The law degree and the knowledge that comes with it is inherent value that is relatively scarce. If you choose to never practice law again, there's a certain and distinctive wow factor to a Juris Doctor applying for a job or seeking to join a team to form a company. You will get looks or opportunities far more than others. It's simply unique. While I haven't tested these unrelated law opportunities, I am confident of the doors a Juris Doctor opens.