Is doing paralegal before law school advisable?

Comments

• 2 Likes

  joegotbored-1 Alum Member

  August 2014 802 karma

  Hi JSK,
  
  My two cents: It either won't matter, or it could hurt. The lower ranked schools only care about your grades and LSAT. They're worried about going out of business and since ranking affects their enrollment #s, and thus their cash inflow, they do everything they can to get the best they can get.
  
  Higher ranked schools can afford to be more picky and while I think working as a paralegal may show readers that you're committed to the field, I don't think it would be a deciding factor between you and another equally qualified candidate.
  
  I think you'd be better served by continuing to work in a field you know you love. Give it everything you've got. Look for areas of your field that might benefit from your existing skills, and the skills you'd gain as a lawyer. That's your essay right there.
  
  As for using a PL position to determine whether you want to be a lawyer or not... I wouldn't go down that rabbit hole. With the current legal employment market, if you're not sure you want to be a lawyer, you probably shouldn't train to become one. Exposure to the field is fine, but exposure to a related field could poison your view. Looking in from the outside isn't likely to give you an accurate impression of the lives lawyers live, the work they do, how they feel about it, or whether they really think it's worth it. Instead, you're more likely to see a façade, good or bad, that isn't really representative.
  
  I think you're better off talking to as many lawyers as you can personally, outside the office, to get the feel for it and continuing in your current field until you're sure. I wouldn't do anything to "enhance" your resume. It'll look like that, and that's not likely to help. Just keep working hard and studying hard. If it's meant to be, it's meant to be.
  
  J
• 4 Likes

  Jonathan Wang Yearly Sage ⭐

  August 2014 edited August 2014 6866 karma

  One thing I've learned from a lot of my law school friends is that they rationalize their misery, so you can't really ask what they think about their jobs and expect an honest answer. I recently had two friends move from big law firms - one to an in-house position and one to government - and it's been years since I've seen them this happy with their lives. When they were in the biglaw mix, they said it was fine and good and the work was decent, but literally within two weeks of starting their new jobs they couldn't even imagine going back. I actually was toying with the idea recently of going back, and they were the first in line to actively dissuade me from doing so.
  
  So while I agree that you shouldn't do it for your resume, and it definitely won't get you substantive experience with the work that they do, I think it's actually a fantastic way to get to know the lives of the lawyers you work with. It's easy to go to a cocktail hour full of 1Ls and wax poetic about how it's hard sometimes but nothing happens without some hard work; it's not so easy to send the latest version of whatever you're working on to the paralegal's desk at 11:30pm on a Saturday night and act like either of you is happy to be there.
• 1 Like

  joegotbored-1 Alum Member

  August 2014 802 karma

  Jon,
  Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Mind if I ask why you were considering going back? Presumably you left for a reason. Did you recently miss it or were there other considerations involved in your temptation?
• 6 Likes

  Jonathan Wang Yearly Sage ⭐

  August 2014 6866 karma

  Definitely the money. Eventually, came to the same conclusion that I did the first time around - not worth it. I may not make 160k/yr as a tutor, but I also get to enjoy my life.
• 2 Likes

  smartjoshua90 Alum Member

  August 2014 128 karma

  Thank you so much for your honest, insightful views, joegotbored-1 and Jonathan! For now, I will just keep my eyes on the prize (LSAT)!
• [Deleted User] Free Trial

  August 2014 310 karma

  It's definitly worth it OP. I would advocate trying to obtain some sort of exposure to a law firm before going to law school. If you don't like it, it'll save you a lot of money.
  
  
• 1 Like

  Seamus ODriscoll Member

  February 2015 97 karma

  Yes, you'll get to see first hand how many lawyers hate their jobs and regret going to law school. I'm willing to bet it is far more than half.
  
  Why am I here you ask? I'm in denial just like most others here.
• 1 Like

  harrismegan Member

  February 2015 2074 karma

  I debated this idea too. I think it really depends. For me, I had no aspirations of becoming a lawyer what-so-ever. The summer before my last year of undergrad I applied for a some summer jobs, as I had only 1-2 courses left in my undergrad and could work full time. I ended up getting a job at a small law firm in my city.
  After a year of seeing the work that they do I began to be interested in it. I think seeing them work day-to-day really gave me a sense of what their lives were like, and what mine would be like, if I pursued it. I also asked them what aspects of their job they liked and what they didn't.
• 2 Likes

  dfirwin2 Member

  February 2015 edited February 2015 12 karma

  Absolutely. I am a legal assistant now at a big NYC firm. I was "interested" in law, but didn't want to commit to another 3 years of schooling immediately. If you haven't had much exposure to law and big law it will open your eyes and may give you a leg-up as a first year associate down the road (but I am also biased as the position I accepted entails learning skills I could translate to other fields).
• 1 Like

  ENTJ Alum Inactive ⭐

  February 2015 3658 karma

  As I'm sure you know, there are a multitude of paths taken when it comes to going to law school. I for one have worked at a big law firm and am currently at a smaller boutique law firm. It's a mixed bag (at least for me it is). It's nice to gain some perspective as to how experienced attorneys that have worked for many years either love or hate their job. Some come in with the same enthusiasm you hope to have once you start practicing...others are there begrudgingly and wished they never went to law school. It all depends how you want to "prepare" before starting law school. You're already on the right path asking these questions prior to law school! Good luck.
• tsamvelyan Alum Member

  February 2015 431 karma

  I've been working as a paralegal for a big New York based law firm for almost two years now. It's corporate work. And, before that I worked at a criminal defense firm.
  
  To answer your first point, yes, you definitely see what it's like to be a lawyer and what it's like to be in the legal environment. I've met a lot of people who decided that law school was not for them after starting to work at the law firm, which is great because you don't want to be one of those people who go to law school, spend 3 years studying, go into 250K debt, come out, and absolutely hate their job.
  
  As for an application boost, I can't see it hurting your application in any way. Depending on the type of work you do as a paralegal, it may definitely help your application. For instance, in the criminal defense firm, I used to draft motions, notices and do tasks that was regarded as an attorney work. Also, there are law schools who specifically prefer students with work experience - take Northwestern.
  
  With all of that said, I do believe there is a downside. I think a lot of people who go to law school go with this dream of working in biglaw, making that 160K salary and imagine that once law school is over, they will be set for life and be happy and etc... That idea becomes a motivation to do well. In my case, I know what it's like to work in biglaw and I know what it's like to work in a small law firm environment and I feel like that motivation is not really going to be there.
• 2 Likes

  emli1000 Alum Member Inactive ⭐

  February 2015 3462 karma

  Honestly I can say that working in a law firm before deciding to attend law school is major. You really have to have a passion for it. Because if you don't you will hate your job and be in debt. So then you'll end up like those lawyers who hate their work and are only in it for the money (but sometimes the money isn't really there).
  
  It really depends. I'm glad I worked as a paralegal after undergrad at a small law firm because it taught me so much about the practice of law and how an attorney goes about their day-to-day life. It's not always pretty but you just have to make the best out of it. & basically don't go into anything just because of the money.
• 1 Like

  harrismegan Member

  February 2015 2074 karma

  The one thing I learned from working at a law firm is that it takes quite a while to get that big salary. You have to really really really really want to be a lawyer for a lot of different reasons. I don't know what it's like to work at a big law firm, as mine is really small, but the lawyers here have said that it'll pay off "eventually" and that law school will eat you up if you're not prepared or want it for the right reasons. So it might be eye opening in that sense as well. I don't think it'll hurt your application by any means.