Would you go to law school again if given a second chance?

[Sarah Mahoney]

That's the questions posed this week from the ABA Journal. The chain of responses is very interesting and there seems to be a majority of nos. What do you think?

[Ms Kranzler]

I just completed my first year and while law school provided great challenges and humbled me it was worth it. I know that I am in the right place. Therefore, my answer is Yes. I would, certainly, do it all over again.

[Mandy.Sheridan]

I'm not sure if I would - or at least, not when I did. I took a year between undergrad and law school, but I wish I hadn't gone to law school so quickly and had taken more 'real-world' time beforehand, to get more familiar with the fields in which I want to work.

[kmcnelis]

I wish I could have just stayed in law school. I'm a nerd!

[dlynncoates]

I agree with Mandy. I wish I had taken a little bit of time to think about what jobs were in demand and where I would need to live in order to accomplish my goals. I went to law school in Florida because that's where I grew up, but it's not where I want to settle down. If I had taken some time to think about my desires for my life, I might have planned out my course of action a little better.

Law school in general I think is a good thing. I know there are so many things that someone with a JD is able to do, so your choice of fields is fairly broad. I think my biggest regret is not planning it so that I could attend a state school and have lower student loans to deal with now!

[davidmiclon]

I would not do it again. I had an unenjoyable career before I went to law school at age 30, and made $60k a year, had decent benefits, and no debt. I decided to go to law school, after which I am $200k in the hole, I make $65k a year doing doc reviews, have no benefits, work twice as much and can’t stand what I do. Between the $400k the loans will eventually cost me, and the $180k I didn’t make during law school, I’m out $580k, and with 30 years of work remaining, I would have to make about $20k a year more than I would have without law school just to break even. Since all my money goes to loans, I will not be able to buy property or save much money, I probably won’t be able to retire until I’m 75, if I live that long.

[samruban]

I'm not sure if I would - or at least, not when I did. I took a year between undergrad and law school, but I wish I hadn't gone to law school so quickly and had taken more 'real-world' time beforehand, to get more familiar with the fields in which I want to work.

[legaljeff]

Great question.....

I graduated with a degree in accountancy, and never pursued law (although I am intimately familiar with private placement memorandums as my main line of work). Given that, I would have loved to pair the law degree with the degree in accountancy, had I to do it over again.

I'm not sure that I would have done it otherwise, however. I see so much student loan debt in my profession. It cripples and steals so much joy from any success that may (or may not be) earned from one's career.

For many, I sometimes wonder if a lesser degree would fulfill just as much.