1. Welcome to SportsJournalists.com, a friendly forum for discussing all things sports and journalism.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register for a free account to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Access to private conversations with other members.
    • Fewer ads.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

The (perhaps running) quitting journalism and going to law school thread

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by Clever username, Jun 23, 2007.

  1. FileNotFound

    FileNotFound Well-Known Member

    In college, I dated a woman whose mother went to law school in her late 40s. Mom was poor enough those first few years after graduation to have to trade legal services for other forms of service (for instance, she handled speeding tickets for the guy who fixed her air conditioning, and a real estate dispute for her car mechanic.) When she ran out of money, she opened credit cards in her daughter's name and proceeded to drag the kid's credit rating down with her own. She fixed a couple of traffic tickets for me, too, for which I'm eternally grateful (she saved my from an inevitable suspension of my driver's license.) But watching her struggle eliminated any urges I had to consider law as a career.
     
  2. PeteyPirate

    PeteyPirate Guest

    Consider an MBA as well. It's not as difficult, takes less time and is more versatile. And don't think your writing background won't give you an advantage. I quit sportswriting to do that a couple of years ago, and two weeks ago officially began my career as a banker. I won't see the inside of an office past 6 p.m. on a weekday. But like I said, there are a lot of directions you can go with an MBA.
     
  3. Mmac

    Mmac Guest

    There's undoubtedly truth here and I've heard the same from lawyers about the options for young members of their profession: for most it offers a choice between a miserable lifestyle making good money or a better lifestyle making average to little money.

    But let's be honest, most people considering quitting a career in Journalism to go to law school are doing so with the idea of making a lot more money some day than they are now. Which you can hardly blame them for when consider the 6-figured debt most would have to borrow and the years of their prime they'd have to give up to get there. Unless you REALLY feel the calling for that kind of public service, it hardly makes it worth the debt and opportunity cost if the pot of gold at the other end of that rainbow is a public defender or deputy prosecutor's paycheck.
     
  4. Jersey_Guy

    Jersey_Guy Active Member

    I have a friend who was a mid-level editor at a bad NYC-area mid-sized daily. He was a very good editor. He wanted to work for one of the top NY papers, but couldn't get a sniff. So he went to law school with absolutely no intention of practicing law. Within a few months of graduation, he was hired for a very good editing gig at a top 10 paper. My guess is, he doubled his salary or close to it. More importantly, he got the job he wanted, one that made him very happy.

    He took and passed the bar, incidentally. When I asked him why, he said because he didn't want anyone to think he couldn't.

    My local U has a program that allows you to get teacher certified if you already have a BA. I'm going to take the first two classes in the program this fall, just to see if I like it. Between my paper's tuition subsidy (nice, huh?) and the tax credit, it won't cost me a thing. I have no intention of leaving the business, but why not cover your bases a little?

    I looked at law school, incidentally. One of the local universities has a third-tier law school with a very affordable part-time program. I could do it in 4 years without taking on any debt. Still might do it if the education classes don't light my fire, but it's a big commitment.
     
  5. Clever username

    Clever username Active Member

    I was hoping someone would share something like this. Big-time corporate law is not what I would want to do and making crazy money, while I'm sure it would be nice, is not what interests me either. Doing something that makes a difference is what interests me, as misguided an idealistic notion that might be.
     
  6. Clever username

    Clever username Active Member

    I can't speak for anyone else, but the reason law is my "out" is because I have a genuine interest in it, especially anything Constitutional. I can't think of anyone else that I knew in j-school that enjoyed our media law class. I loved it and wished there was a second one to take. I even took an intro to law class that didn't meet any requirements and meant taking six classes because I was interested in it. I suppose it all goes back to my fascination with the formation of the country and where the founding fathers got their ideas for the Declaration of Independence and Constitution.

    The same skills apply to both journalism and law as well. Lawyers might call reporting research and interviews depositions, but you still need to know how to do both and do both well. And good writing, of course, is good writing, even if you (shudder) have more than three sentences per paragraph. That's a skill I would definitely have to re-learn.
     
  7. Clever username

    Clever username Active Member

    Old numbers, but here you go:

    Position  Avg. Salary 2003* 2003 Change  Avg. Salary 2002 2002 Change  Avg. Salary 2001
    Partner  $593,758** +4.1% $569,825** +1.8% $559,750**
    Eighth-Year Associate N/A N/A $127,500 -0.2% $127,755
    Fifth-Year Associate $126,270 +4.0%  $115,000 +1.1% $113,745
    First-Year Associate $97,830 +4.0%  $90,000 -5.3% $95,040
    Legal Assistant $45,797 +4.0%  $43,002 N/A N/A
     
  8. Mystery_Meat

    Mystery_Meat Guest

    I think the main reason newspaper reporters think about law school more than, say, business or architecture school is that law's skill set is pretty close to ours. Ask hard questions, condense a lot of facts into something more easily digestable, that sort of thing. Except you get a shitload more money.

    If any of us could seriously consider going to medical school, for example, chances are we'd already be there, or at least we wouldn't be here. Obviously medical journalists exist (sup DocTalk), but you'll find a lot more prospective lawyers in your newsrooms than doctors or vetenarians or math professors.
     
  9. qtlaw

    qtlaw Well-Known Member

    As my name suggests, I am a member of the bar. And guess what? I actually enjoy what I do every day. I'm not a partner at a huge firm billing outrageous hours every day/week/year, nor am I a personal injury lawyer making huge money. I went to a upper tier law school then found a job after I got out with a small firm that worked in an interesting field, commercial construction law (large public works projects). After leaving twice to pursue other jobs, I have been with them for the past 15 years and was asked to be a partner 5 years ago. I worked pretty hard, but I have enough time to make it home most nights to put my boys in the tub, read to them, and put them to bed, then spend most weekends with them. I'm able to pay for a nice house in a great neighborhood and give my boys a stay at home mom.

    Law school? What I tell everyone who asks is "don't do it as a means to an end." You'll end up miserable. Do it because you enjoy studying and because you think that fact finding is interesting, and that working with people in other fields who need your guidance and counsel and and presenting your position to other for evaluation is challenging and stimulating. Otherwise, find something else. To me, the fundamental root of law is counseling others because you have specialized knowledge that they need and value. Did I know that when I went to law school? No. I went because I enjoyed studying and found the law interesting. When I got there, I really enjoyed the challenge of studying with people of very high intellect, peer pressure that made me want to challenge myself and excel.

    I've had many friends who got chewed up and spit out by the big firms. they do not pay the huge $$ for 9-5 jobs. I want you to know that you do not have to work at a big firm to be successful. The salary scale posted earlier is only for the top 10% of the attorneys, maybe even 5%, the rest of us earn much less but do okay.

    Choose wisely and if you choose law, good luck and enjoy.
     
  10. Clever username

    Clever username Active Member

    Again, that's what I was hoping to hear from somebody. Renewed my faith a little. Thanks, QT.

    By upper tier, do you mean one of the top 14 or somewhere before it drops off into the lower tiers?
     
  11. three_bags_full

    three_bags_full Well-Known Member

    IMMEDIATELY upon completion of flight school, I will begin an MBA program somewhere.
     
  12. Webster

    Webster Well-Known Member

    I agree, for the most part. I think that, in order to do the job well and make a decent living, you are going to have to work very hard or be very efficient (or some combo of both).

    And the numbers posted earlier are probably only 60% of what big firm NYC lawyers currently make and maybe 70% for big firm lawyers in most larger cities.
     
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page