A great many years ago at this point I started this ‘gripe’ blog to add my voice to the chorus online of other similarly situated attorneys who couldn’t find work. There were more legal blogs like this in the lean times, and no doubt, there will be more again. The ebb and flow of work in this industry is nearly guaranteed. What I did end up finding out while navigating the legal world is that only half of all people who go to law school actually end up working substantively as attorneys. So the great filter is not law school… it comes after. Most lawyers, never work as a lawyer. Weird.
Once out of law school, I did eventually find career positions. It was not quick, and it was not mentally healthy to continue to bang my head against the same shut door until it finally opened, but it almost seems that is the only way into this profession. I ended up doing substantive legal work and bouncing around this really fucked up industry. For the first few years out of law school, I was of the opinion that going to law school was one of the biggest mistakes I have ever made. Years into actually practicing… I know that to be true.
Don’t get me wrong; Law School was intellectually stimulating, and at times fun, but in terms of a career there really isn’t a worse choice I could have made. I’ll be explaining why thru posts on here. As the title implies, Law Schools are lying to the general populace about the potential for careers and the salary to be expected. For several years now there has been a growing groundswell for the ABA to more thoroughly regulate Law School statistics released to the public. I’d personally like the ABA to actually regulate law schools significantly more than the minimum they do now; and start revoking certification to the well known offenders dragging down legal education (we all know who they are… and more on this later).
Truly this is catharsis. And cheaper than therapy. I will post my stories of meandering through the legal field, and pretty much anything else vaguely related. So until I can figure out what my ESQ is good for, welcome to the blog lonely traveler.