In that bastion of socialism - California education - law school tuition is heading for gigantic increases. For the 2010-11 academic year that could reach 22.2% at Berkeley. Across the nation these kinds of increases are expected to spread like wildfire. Of course, the demand for new legal talent is depressed and will likely continue to undergo downsizing. Clients demand seasoned help on accounts. Techology is eliminating many document-review tasks. And more of legal processes are becoming standardized, as Richard Susskind predicted.
Yes, there is every reason to pull out all stops attempting to get into a law school. In the format of Dave's Top 10, here are the leading ones:
- That's what you parents want. A CBS NEWS Poll found that 63% of parents want their offspring to be lawyers, doctors, bankers or the president of the U.S. [published in the December edition of VANITY FAIR.]
- You'll learn to think like a lawyer, although no one even inside law likes that way of thinking. Watch how that mindset operates on "The Good Wife." And does it tell you something that people tend not to rent to lawyers.
- You will be perceived and see yourself as always less-than. You could have been admitted to a better school with higher LSATs, done better at that school, been hired by a better firm, had access to the underground power structure in that firm, been assigned more important assignments, avoided the first two rounds of layoffs, and shouldn't have cried when terminated.
- Debt grounds one. That's why companies used to hire men with mortgages. You will be well grounded with six-figure debt.
- The game starts Darwinian in pre-school and peaks as summers. You will understand how to cope in life without the milk of human kindness.
- Alcoholics Anonymous aka Friends of Bill is a superior networking tool. Dominick Dunne picked up many sources for his legal writing "in the rooms." You will get the hang of maxing networking opportunities at AA when your supervisor suggests you do 90 meetings in 90 days.
- The suffering endured leads to significant creative output. Dr. Julian Lieb, M.D. documents that in the 1998 book "Manic Depression and Creativity."
- You get it that it isn't worth it to murder the mean layer above you. Many don't. They shoot up the office and spend the rest of their lives in prison. When laid-off, you will take your box and exit w/o drama.
- You could be working on a lawyer series for YouTube or Hulu. It could be titled "Lawyers who wound up in lost and found." Sure you're bone-tired when you get home by 11 P.M. but that's no excuse for not at least trying to make your dream happen. In novel form, this trusty blogger did just that by publishing "The Fat Guy From Greenwich." It is dedicated to those of us who have wound up in lost and found and it takes a comic look at the underbelly of success. You can order it here from amazon.com.
- You can be a game-changer like Dickie Scruggs. Read how in "Kings of Tort" by Alex Lange and Tom Dawson. It's the bible for the hungry and fearless.
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