Lawyer / Paralegal question

[samssugarmomma]

I know that we have a couple of lawyers on this site and I was wondering if I could ask you for your opinions.

I’ve always wanted to go to law school but since having our DD, I’ve come to realize that while I think that I still want to be a lawyer, I don’t want to work full time any longer than I need to (aka after training is finished and I don’t have to be the breadwinner anymore). After we get the kids off to school, I think I might want to go back to work full time, but since our first is only 15 months and that time is quite a ways off, I’m not 100% sure that I will. I’m worried that the extra stress and debt that we will accumulate for me to go to school won’t be worth it if I can’t find a family friendly job. My question is – how family friendly is the field? Are their part-time jobs for lawyers? I think that I want to do either patent law or estate planning.

I’ve also considered going to school to be a paralegal. I think that since I already have a BS degree in engineering, I could do the BS in paralegal in 2 years since I will only have to take the paralegal classes and not all of the extras (science, math, English, etc). But, I haven’t been able to find any info on if it is an option to work part time as a paralegal. I’m still just getting started on my research though…..Do you know if it is possible to work part time as a paralegal?

Since I wouldn’t be able to start school for either until fall of 2007, I’ve been thinking about trying to get a job at a law firm as a secretary or something to see if I even like it. Do you think that is a good route or is there something else I could do? Since either option will involve accumulating more debt, I want to have a better idea on what they do day to day to see if it is something that I might like.

Thanks for any opinions and advice!
Kate

Well, as a legal secretary (and someone with a law degree who is currently studying for the bar exam), I thought I'd be a good person to try to answer some of your questions.

Personally, I think the law is very boring. Law school was boring, my current job as a legal secretary is horribly boring (I am truly bored out of my mind--I think waitressing would have been a better use of my time and skills, quite frankly).

Law is a good match for people who are very nit-picky and detail-oriented, who enjoy reading extremely dry material, who are very type-A, and who enjoy an adversarial environment. I am more of a creative type, the type of person who prefers to color outside the lines instead of within them, and lawyers are very much a "color within the lines" bunch. I also don't like reading dry material. Pretty much everything that has come across my desk as a legal secretary has been incredibly boring to read. I don't think I'd be able to fulfill my need for creative expression in any area of the law.

There are two aspects of law: litigation and transactional. Litigation involves preparing for trial, doing document production, examining witnesses, appearing in court (sometimes), giving oral arguments, and doing legal research and writing. Transactional law involves more counseling and reading contracts and analyzing them, as well as being more involved in the agreement making side of things.

Lawyers are often workaholics (especially in medium size to large firms though I think even in small firms they're workaholics). That's partly because you have to be available for your clients at all times (like working late at night and on weekends). I personally don't know what is available to lawyers who want to work part-time but I would think government jobs would be good for that (I've heard you can work up to 40% of the time at home at government jobs).

Overall, the salaries for most lawyers aren't very good. As a first year lawyer, I'll probably make less than I'm making now as a legal secretary. That's pretty depressing. It's only a small number of people who work in the large firms, where new lawyers can start at $125,000. But you have to go to a top law school or be at the very top of your class in order to get these positions. Small firms, which may have a better quality of life, don't pay very well. Government and non-profit jobs also don't pay very well, though these may offer better part-time options and overall quality of life. I plan to look for a government or non-profit job--I personally would not enjoy working in a firm environment. Competition for law jobs is also very fierce. There are too many law school graduates and not enough jobs, especially in the large cities. Having geographical flexibility would probably be important in landing a preferred job.

However....if you have a degree in engineering, and want to do patent law, you will be HIGHLY in demand. Salaries for patent lawyers are among the highest in law, and I was talking to a couple of patent lawyers a few weeks ago who seemed very happy.

Overall, it's very important that you figure out if the return on investment in law school will be worth it. For me, it definitely wasn't. I went to law school because of parental pressure and because at age 22 I didn't really have a better plan of what to do with myself. I didn't enjoy law school and never found an area of law I enjoyed. After law school, I attempted to find a non-legal job but encountered incredible resistance from pretty much every employer I interviewed with. No one would hire me for a non-legal job (such as at a non-profit) because it seems that employers view JD's and lawyers who are looking to enter a non-legal field with suspicion. They think you're just going to work for them for a short time until you find something legal or more lucrative. I was grilled at every interview on why I didn't want to be a lawyer and I was repeatedly told, "you're going to get bored after a month and leave." I was constantly put on the defensive when I was interviewing, and this really bothered me, and I ended up looking for a job for a long time (around 6 months) while I worked at the mall. Not very fun. Everyone always says that a law degree is "such a flexible degree." In my experience, that is definitely not true, and I'm not sure when it would be true--maybe only if you're transitioning to a close field to law, such as from law to investment banking or from law to management consulting, etc.

I would recommend that you talk to several lawyers (especially female ones), and especially some patent lawyers, and especially lawyers in the areas you're interested in. Then I would either get a legal secretary position in a firm (though it will be really boring) or volunteer in a legal non-profit (like a legal clinic). But be sure to do the volunteering for a good amount of time (like 2 or 3 months), just to make sure you really get a good feel for the profession. I think the legal secretary job would be better because you'll be exposed to more of the boring side of law, and will see more than if you were working at a non-profit. If I had done any of these things, I would have realized law was not a good fit for my personality.

As for the paralegal option, personally, I wouldn't recommend it. As a paralegal, you do all the most boring grunt work for the lawyer, without getting any of the prestige. The pay isn't very good either, from what I've heard. Paralegals do legal research for the lawyers (what I think is the most boring and grunt-work aspect of being a lawyer). I am doing a lot of paralegal work in my job as a legal secretary and it bores me to tears. I think the extra year of schooling would totally be worth it to get the JD degree. I always though paralegal was a master's program, but I don't really know. I think if you already have the engineering degree, and want to be a patent lawyer, you should go to law school and get the JD. It will be a much better return on investment than paralegal.

If you have any other questions, feel free to PM me.

Cheers!

Re: Lawyer / Paralegal question

I was a paralegal at one of the biggest firms in the nation. I'll save you the spell since previous post has basically covered it all. It sucks. Don't do it. It was probably one of the worst/miserable jobs I have ever had.

[GrayMatterWife]

Re: Lawyer / Paralegal question

I know that we have a couple of lawyers on this site and I was wondering if I could ask you for your opinions.

I’ve always wanted to go to law school but since having our DD, I’ve come to realize that while I think that I still want to be a lawyer, I don’t want to work full time any longer than I need to (aka after training is finished and I don’t have to be the breadwinner anymore). After we get the kids off to school, I think I might want to go back to work full time, but since our first is only 15 months and that time is quite a ways off, I’m not 100% sure that I will. I’m worried that the extra stress and debt that we will accumulate for me to go to school won’t be worth it if I can’t find a family friendly job. My question is – how family friendly is the field? Are their part-time jobs for lawyers? I think that I want to do either patent law or estate planning.

I’ve also considered going to school to be a paralegal. I think that since I already have a BS degree in engineering, I could do the BS in paralegal in 2 years since I will only have to take the paralegal classes and not all of the extras (science, math, English, etc). But, I haven’t been able to find any info on if it is an option to work part time as a paralegal. I’m still just getting started on my research though…..Do you know if it is possible to work part time as a paralegal?

Since I wouldn’t be able to start school for either until fall of 2007, I’ve been thinking about trying to get a job at a law firm as a secretary or something to see if I even like it. Do you think that is a good route or is there something else I could do? Since either option will involve accumulating more debt, I want to have a better idea on what they do day to day to see if it is something that I might like.

Thanks for any opinions and advice!
Kate

I know a lot of people who feel as the two previous response-posters do. However, I am a lawyer and love it. I was licensed about eight years ago. I've been a federal law clerk at the bankruptcy, district, and appellate court levels and also was in private practice at a large law firm doing corporate insolvency law. I know many attorneys who are part-timers. Yeah, you can't become a power partner at a Big Firm going that route, but that is only one of many, many options. I have friends with flexible schedules who are part-timer prosecutors, nonprofit attorneys, corporate in-house counsel, law school professors, law clerks, etc. I work full-time, but my current job (career federal law clerk) is very reasonable and flexible. I leave around 8:45 AM and get home around 5:15 PM. Pretty much no travel.

The first year of law school is miserable, but after that, it's a lot better. Going was a great decision for me.

That being said, I would NOT want to be a paralegal. Most paralegals I know work incredibly hard, but there is necessarily a built-in ceiling. You're not a lawyer, so ultimately, all the public credit for a successful case goes to the lawyer. Plus, EVIL lawyers blame their paralegals for THEIR mistakes (the kind of creeps that take all the credit for the good, but place all of the blame for the bad...!!). Plus, a lot of lawyers get frustrated when they wait until the last minute to do something, then discover that the second they are ready to file the pleading, their paralegal is heading out the door for the day. Well, IDIOT, many paralegals are paralegals (and not attorneys) because they want a 9-5 job...so BE FAIR and expect them to leave at 5!

I am not sure if this is helpful, but it's my take. BTW, most patent attorneys I know really enjoy their work (either prosecution or litigation, but most seem to like litigation better). And they make good money, too.

[MrsK]

Re: Lawyer / Paralegal question

I'm a FL licensed attorney and a Partner in a national law firm. So I guess that would qualify as the difficult route. The private pratice of law is inherently NOT family friendly. (In fact, my firm just formed a sub-committee to research balanced hours policies after noticing that talented women are leaving the pratice in droves.)

Also, something to consider if your DH is not finished with his medical training. . . attorneys are licensed state by state. It is very difficult to move a law pratice to a new state as you have to apply for a new license. Even states that allow admission on waiver will take a long time to review your application and your career can be interrupted for several months.

That said, if you love the pratice of law (as I do), it is a very rewarding profession. But if you don't absolutely love it, you will work too hard for too little.

As for law school, the first semester is murder. You'll feel like your brain is being melted down and reshaped into a different organ. But after that, attending class is just an inconvenience.