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Occasionally I meet folks who want to know if they should go to law school or not. Of course, if it is something you really want in life, go for it! But, if you are trying to choose between two career choices it is a tough decision.

Before I start this story, I enjoy what I do. I don’t regret the choice to practice law. There have been some very bad times as far as a career goes, but I’m better off for having decided to become a lawyer.

When I graduated from college, I was quite torn. I wanted to be a history professor, but I had curious inclinations about practicing law. I had a long visit with my favorite history professor, Dr. Kyle ( http://www.uta.edu/ra/real/editprofile.php?pid=1529 ). He was great in helping me analyze the decision. He told me teaching in the university setting was a lot of fun, and very rewarding. He told me that the pay was not the best, and that there was always paperwork to grade and papers to write. I can't recall if he said this next part or not though, but it was how I made my decision. If, I taught history, and never tried to go through law school, I might regret having never tried. If, for example, one day I was looking at getting a second mortgage to pay for braces on a daughter I hadn't had yet, I might wonder if things would have been different had I became a lawyer.

So, I decided to apply to law school. I got accepted and nearly quit in the first year. I hated the first semester of law school. Then I can remember the day as finals approached, that I decided I wasn't going to let "them" (them was never defined) stop me. I threw myself into school and graduated. I passed the bar exam on the first try. It was then that the realities of starting a legal career hit me.

My roommate had better grades than me, he had several years of paralegal experience, he was on law review. He sent out four hundred resumes, and didn't get a single offer for an interview. I was sending out three to five resumes a week, and having no lock either. Some six months after being licensed, I was still looking for my first attorney position. I started answering ads for paralegals. Fortunately for me, James Stanley and Alfred Pandolfi ( http://www.law-jms.com/ )interviewed me for a paralegal position. They were stunned I was a licensed lawyer looking for work as a paralegal and hired me as a lawyer. I will always think of James Stanley as my dad in the legal profession. He taught me a lot. Unfortunately the position ended in a year.

Since that ignoble start, I have worked at several firms, there have been long periods of non-employment. I call it non-employment because I was working, but not for a firm. It wasn't until the tenth year of practicing law that I really liked the practice. At that time I was finally in a firm I loved. I thought it would be the last place I ever worked. I had hopes to become a owner. Then, one day the firm decided I would not have a salary, I would be straight commission only.

With, at that point fifteen years of experience, I could fulfill my desire to own a firm, keep 100% of the profits and not be paid a commission. I decided to open a solo practice.

So, do I think you should go to law school? Short answer, sure. Long answer, only if you really want it, you know people who will employ you and keep you, and if you are ready for a lot of heart aches.

Would I want my kids to go to law school?

NO!

Not unless they really wanted it and I could hand them a fully functioning firm that would be theirs to own.

A few final thoughts, if you have a scientific degree in engineering, biomedicine or such, you might do well. A patent office license to practice patent law is very lucrative, and those types of lawyers are not as common as most.