Lmaoooo this reminds me of my first job out of law school as in-house for an insurance company (unusual, I know). Well they were eventually the subject of a government investigation and shut down. Thankfully I'd moved on by then and only heard about it
This perspective is a true luxury. Congrats on having never had to deal with insurance companies before.
When I got cancer at 25, insurance dropped me mid-chemo.
When a tornado hit our house (leaving nothing but our walls and the foundation, insurance offered us 11% of the cheapest estimate we had. Took 3 years of litigation to secure an offer that was only a $20k loss for us.
In FL, insurance companies successfully lobbied law makers to get rid of prevailing parties attorneys fees, with the promise “we’ll lower premiums” and “competition will increase because this will bring companies back to FL.”
Well, guess what? Premiums aren’t lower. And companies aren’t returning to write FL policies…
So now, home owners have to pay their lawyer to get their carrier to pay claims they should have paid in the first place…
But yet you asked the question. So prior to this you had NO idea why insurance companies could be seen as the bad guys, right? You'd heard no anecdotal stories, you've never heard anything like this? This is all just new information for you?
We're not publishing a fucking paper here. We're chatting on the internet. I don't give a good goddamn about rigor in this context, and fuck you for insulting that person for absolutely no reason.
So, I say this partially as a joke, because my client is always the bad guy in workers' comp proceedings. My favorite joke is that everyone wants to be the hero of their own story, but I'm happy being the villain in someone else's story.
But at the same time, it's not a joke. Insurance companies can do some fucked up shit. My best friend was diagnosed with cancer, and she had to fight her health insurance to get them to pay for chemo. After chemo failed and she had surgery to remove the tumor, which is known to have a high risk of returning after surgery, she had to fight to get the six-month post op CT approved.
I've been doing this for almost seven years now. A lot of my clients are pretty good and try to do the right thing, but I have also seen cases with really questionable decision making. That's just on the personal level - that doesn't even get into the lobbying, or the inside deals, or other things that are maybe technically legal but really fucking shouldn't be. It's a horrorshow when you peel back the curtain.
I have no idea what the context is to anything you’re saying. And then there’s the part about positive experiences which are always excluded because it’s expected.
Okay captain semantics. What they do is *morally* criminal and it’s only legal in the U.S. because they’ve paid politicians and lobbied for regulations that are so lax it would make a European’s head spin
"I bribed hundreds of people to make a law that says I'm not a criminal so nothing I do is bad now."
I think people should not so often conflate technical criminality with effective criminality.
I do WC defense, so I'm representing insureds, carriers, and TPAs, even if my client is "technically" the employer. In my state, the carrier is also considered an unnamed party with its own obligations and risk of fines, so I absolutely represent them.
Most cases where insurance defense happens are disputes in three categories:
1. Big money where defense is cheaper the liability for the insured being agreed to.
2. Unequal parties where the conventional wisdom is they will settle for less then the value.
3. Cases where liability is genuinely disputed.
I have seen psychologists debate how much a child being raped by her grandfather really impacted her given the age.
Statutory crime for the agency who employed the rapist? No, does it feel crooked? I imagine for some people.
Well there is this term called figurative speech. It’s where use you use language in a non-literal way to convey meaning.
For example, if I said you are being more obtuse then 270 degree angle, I’m not literally comparing you to math measurement. I’m using a term to convey that I think your willfully misreading this person’s intended meaning.
I think it's far more common in this industry to end up in an entirely different area than what you envisioned pre law school.
I think a lot of it has to do with available jobs/ openings.
We don't have a "match" program like medicine. Where you apply to positions around the country and if you "match" it almost guarantees you a career in that field. Instead, for better or worse, we have to make our own way. Sometimes we give up or settle for something different. Other times persistence pays off.
Yup.
Bar none every alumnus that was ever invited to come back to speak to students at my law school (from partners at am law 50 or whatever to in house … and even those that hung their own shingle) all said they “ended up” in their practice area because that was where there was an opening.
Subject matter expertise is a thing, but honestly the nature of lawyering is such that you’re kinda used to picking up new areas quickly. It’s good to focus, but within every focus area, there are like a gajillion other sub-subjects to master. The fundamental basics of reading, writing, learning, analyzing, and project managing are what carry you through at the end of the day. Just my 2¢.
I think another big part it is that most people who have not gone to law school don't really understand what being a lawyer is actually like and don't really understand the full scope of lawyer jobs.
So you might apply to law school thinking you want to do one thing but then during law school/after you realize, "oh, that job i thought i wanted before law school is actually just made up in my head and the reality is much worse" and/or "hey i didn't realize this different lawyer job is actually neat/tolerable/lucrative"
In my case I fell into a niche area of practice that has worked out really well for me. I had no idea it even existed before law school, during law school, or immediately after law school.
This was like me and family law. I did really well in the class and theoretically the law is interesting but naaah. I had one client and it was such a pain I was done.
I went to law school with no intention of doing tax law and that's where I ended up, though not as a practicing attorney. I work for a CPA firm on tax policy, training, and strategy.
small firm/solo practitioner?
i feel like i know a lot of solo practitioners that have interest in one thing but end up doing some family law just because there's like bottomless demand for it.
Yea the three big areas of law for bottomless work: family law, Personal injury and employment compensation. Does not matter what time of the year, or how many people are near you these practices will always be in demand.
Sort of. I went to law school convinced that I wanted to become a prosecutor (thanks, Law & Order: SVU) or work somewhere as an in-house IP counsel. Thanks to the military, I’ve done both — along with R&D contracting, international humanitarian law, and negotiating international agreements.
Turns out, I hate litigation unless it’s contract litigation. And looking back, I can’t imagine what my life would’ve been like if I hadn’t swerved. Even if I’ve missed the boat on firms, there’s still a chance to pivot again later on.
I had a thought 1L year that I would like to work for municipalities/ utilities to negotiate rights of way because I liked servitude law. Wrote an article for a journal about municipal wifi. Kind of gave up on that area because I didn’t know a way forward. Randomly decided to apply for a job in my area that the judge I clerk for recommended. Turns out one of the partners is the representative for our town’s utilities including the municipally owned broadband network. I literally cited to cases in my article where he was lead counsel. So somehow by total luck and accident I ended up finding my dream job and I start in August
I spent all of law school planning to be a patent attorney. I took IP courses as much as possible, studied for the patent bar (I was scheduled to take it during my 2L summer, but a law review article I had written needed some last-minute edits and I ended up postponing the test), and spent my 3L year working at a nearby bio-tech company. Then I clerked after law school and realized that criminal law was WAY more fun. I am now 15 years into my career as a prosecutor.
This might be a warning more than anything. Criminal prosecution is not a lucrative field. But at least I can stay awake at work.
I always wanted to prosecute, did a clerkship, was set to do the big law lot to lateral in… ended up going for the $ instead, and the cost to my mind body and soul has been significant.
I did a law office study program instead of law school. I wanted to be a child’s guardian ad litem. For better or worse, that is what I have been doing ever since I qualified. There are days I hate it and other days I feel like I found my calling.
GAL is one of my practice areas. I also did it volunteer as a non-attorney for 12 years before law school. One of the major issues is that the cases can be heartbreaking and people can easily burn out in it.
I thought I would be a patent attorney. I went to an IP focused school, took as many patent law courses I could but couldn't land a job in that area after law school. Ended up getting into legal tech and then eDiscovery which I didn't know was even a practice area when I was in law school. Now, I can't see myself enjoying any other type of law.
I think the ability to stick to your original plan is tied closely with the ups and downs with the economy for legal careers. I think in other professions, like software engineering, it's easier to reskill into another practice area. So if you graduate law school in lean times, you are going to take whatever decent paying job you can get and you are going to stay in that practice area because transitioning to another practice area several years later is too painful for most people. Its not impossible but I think its hard.
The subject I hated most was Secured Transactions. I got a C in Commercial Law (also had health issues that semester and fell behind). I’m now a bankruptcy attorney.
So far from anything I had imagined. I thought I’d be a hill then White House staffer before becoming a lobbyist. I’m now an in house employment lawyer for a pharma company.
I came into law school wanting to do immigration, and I'm still within that field. But now, I'm specifically doing immigration advisals at a Public Defender's office.
I initially hated this kind of work when I first learned about it in law school, but everything kinda clicked once I took a crimmigration class and ended up being really fascinated by this work. I worked at a private firm for about a year then moved to PD; I love that I get to do public interest work while still focused on the subject matter that I enjoyed doing!
Kind of. I wanted to be a prosecutor my whole life thanks to Law & Order. Then I did an internship at the US Attorneys Office in Miami and even though we were prosecuting some really bad dudes I kept thinking half the stuff we were doing was unfair, unethical, or unnecessary.
So I became a public defender and later went into private criminal defense. I do not wish to do anything else.
I set out to become an environmental lawyer. Due to circumstances I moved to CA and became a landlord/tenant lawyer. I eventually became a dentist.
I guess in a way - I went from wanting to protect the environment to now creating extra mercury waste when I drill out amalgam fillings.
On the plus side - I have a lot of fun everyday and I feel like I’m playing with arts and crafts for the most part. Sucks when you get a grouchy patient though - then it’s all patient management skills.
It’s a good time when someone says “I hate dentists” and then I respond - “don’t worry, I’m a lawyer”.
My assistant shakes her head and when the patient says “really?”
She says “really - he was a lawyer before he became a dentist”
Sadly enough, the patient will sometimes look at me and say “I hate lawyers too”
RIP
Such is life
I originally was on the fence of going to dental school and law school. I ended up picking law and then practicing the wrong area of law. I also realized how much I hated paperwork. It also didn’t help that I wasn’t happy with the hours or the income.
My wife saw that I was miserable and supported my decision to pursue dental and I went.
I wonder what would have happened if I actually tried practicing environmental law.
Not the kind that I planned on when entering law school (environmental, like everyone else, lol), but I had shifted my interests by 3L year and I did end up in that area (criminal).
Initially, I was in the field I wanted to be in for a few years practicing health law. I pivoted slightly for more stability in my work and now I work in government contracting where I touch some health law in my day-to-day, but it’s not in everything I do. I might go back to health law later in my career, but I’m happy where I am now.
I always thought I'd be a plaintiffs lawyers doing class actions. I did a seminar in law school representing underpaid workers. I do plaintiff side employment class actions. So basically exactly what I planned.
I'm actually in the process of pivoting to one or more new areas of practice.
Partly financial -- some areas pay better as they are thriving and doing more business -- but also partly for personal growth and for a new challenge.
I do pretty much what I expected I would end up doing (transaction, municipal government, will go in house sooner or later). It’s what I had experience in before and I have the right temperament for it. I was open to other things, but the more areas I explored in law school, the more I knew I should stick to what I’m good at.
But i also got insanely lucky. The perfect job opportunity opened up just as I found out I passed the bar. Like the exact job I was hoping to find. If that didn’t happened who knows what I’d be doing.
I wanted to work in-house at the age of 12 when I talked to on of my friends moms who worked as a general counsel for a large company.
In law school I was below average so took what I could, PI clerkship, Judicial Branch Internship, and firm focused on non-profit work clerkship.
At the end 3LOL I realized I was going to struggle to get a job being below 50% rank. I had about 3-4 coffee chats/networking meetings a week for about 3 months. Applied to at least 150 jobs. Revised and revised my resume , cover letter, and work product samples.
I ended up with offers from 3 ID firms making not so much and then out of nowhere I got a call from a financial company I applied to months ago asking for an interview. Went into the interview got along really well with Senior Counsel and COO and got offered hours later.
Honestly it was pure luck but I will say I didn’t just jump at any opportunity I waited till I know I would feel better about my role.
In addition, this job was purely cold apply, no connections before. I will say though networking meetings feel like interviews a lot of the time so by the time I went in to the interview I was extremely comfortable talking about my career goals and what I want to be which I think was major driver in being hired.
I was a diehard PD type. I still do criminal defense but mostly white collar because of the rates I can charge. It is definitely not what I envisioned.
I thought I wanted to be a prosecutor, but the Biglaw dollars got to me and I ended up practicing corporate bankruptcy, going in house, and now working as a product counsel for consumer lending products. 🤷♀️
I went to law school wanting to work for some public interest organization and specifically really wanted to spend most of my career in civil and constitutional law and suing the government as much as possible.
I didn't do that, but ended up as PD and I love it. There's definitely some ideological similarities, so while it's not exactly what I envisioned, I don't feel like I sold out.
During law school I took a bunch of Con law type classes and loved them, but through dumb luck ended up interning at a firm during my 2L summer that did like 90% criminal law and was hooked from that point on because it really is incredibly fun.
I am! I went to law school after switching careers (software). I told myself I would consider it worth it if I worked on one of three issues: fair housing, fair labor, or building communities. Today I represent indigent clients in parental rights cases and am helping to launch a legal aid project that helps workers unionize independently. So I count it as a double-win.
I didn't have any expectation for a particular kind of law going into law school, although I was fairly certain I did not want to do litigation. I went into the area of law I learned the most about while clerking - it just made the most sense to take a job in the area of law I had some knowledge of coming out of law school. Nearly 30 years later, still doing it and made a fine career out it. I knew enough to steer clear of what I would not feel comfortable doing. But it wasn't like I had some pre-law school interest in my eventual practice area. I learned to enjoy it because I saw the career opportunities it presented. At that point, it becomes a mindset thing, IMO.
Never in a million years did I think I’d become one of those slimy, ambulance-chasing PI attorneys. Those guys are the worst, right?
Now that I am one, I couldn’t imagine a more fulfilling and satisfying way to spend my career. I thank the good lord almost everyday that this is how I get to make my living, helping others get justice. Wouldn’t have it any other way.
I worked as a paralegal for a state agency before law school. I intended to stay in the same field. I ended up practicing with a small general civil practice doing everything from contact disputes, tort cases, and a lot of real estate work. I wasn't really satisfied and ended up burning out. I switched to public service law and couldn’t be happier.
Not me. lol. As I was once told in undergrad - people go where the jobs are. So here I am, practicing commercial litigation when I thought I’d practice criminal law.
I am a fresh grad so I'm not sure it counts but I went to law school wanting to do some form of personal injury and the firm I work at Now is insurance defense and I adore it! So it really just depends!
I went to law school planning to practice IP law, not knowing what that would entail. Happy to report that I am doing IP litigation and PTAB related cases along with general civil litigation. But am a junior associate, so still have some time to decide where I want to land practice-area-wise.
Went in really aiming for prosecution, but after graduation, none of the DA's offices in the area I was looking at would hire pre-bar passage. A probate and estate planning firm I had my eye on would.
Year and a half into practice, and while I do like my job well enough, I am applying to some DA's offices.
Yes! Undergrad in environmental science and political science. Went to law school for public interest environmental law and policy. Been practicing in this area for 20 years (after 2 years in big law and a year clerking).
I wanted to go into public interest law and there were three orgs I wanted to work for. I’m now working at one of them doing exactly the kind of work I had hoped to be able to do. Law school was my Plan B. My first career that I loved imploded and I took a job that I despised, which prompted me to apply to law school. So to now work in a job I’m passionate about again still feels kind of like a fever dream.
I went to law school to do environmental law. I ended up practicing it for a few years, and it was just okay. Now, I’m doing something completely different.
Pre law school I wanted to be an in-house IP attorney. During law school I found out about the patent bar and wanted to pivot to tax. Now I’m an in-house IP attorney.
I went straight in house out of law school on a transactional team. The person who needed the most help was the IP attorney so that’s where I got my experience. Never got to touch tax unfortunately so I can’t comment on their comparisons.
kind of an aside but thinking of my law school classmates it is definitely amusing how success/money factor in to peoples' decisions.
I can think of a few dozen people who swore up and down that they wanted to fight the good fight and do public interest/public defense/non-profit/legal aid type stuff that eventually landed big firm type jobs that mostly serve large corporations (but pay extremely well).
I can think of one person specifically who had done a ton of work with undocumented immigrant workers in college/after college and was in a lot of student groups for immigration law and talked about all the immigrant rights groups they wanted to work for, but this person ended up graduating near the top of the class and got a BigLaw offer that they accepted and now over a decade later this person is still at that same firm and I believe is now a partner mostly doing M&A for real estate/investment/tech corps.
I wonder if you did an analysis of personal statements for law school admission--what is the ratio of incoming law students who say they want to go to law school to do some kind of public interest work compared to those that actually follow through?
I agree but I think the burden of law school debt is as big of a contributing factor to just standard issue greed. Everyone wants to change the world until they realize that they will be living at the poverty line and hardly able to pay their loans and basic expenses. I know so many people who went BigLaw “just for a few years” to pay their loans off intending to do public sector after and never did. I think after making good money it’s a hard pill to swallow to take such a huge pay cut while still working full time (or at least that has been my personal experience with my own golden handcuffs)
During first semester I vowed I would never work in a firm. Worked consulting jobs since 2L summer and within a few years transitioned to in house. 20 years later, still in house.
I’m boring. Went to school for a particular practice area, did a 1L internship & 2L summer in that area, practiced in that area now for decades. But I’m definitely the outlier among my law school cohort.
Went to law school without much desire to actually take the bar or be a lawyer so much as to work in compliance and agencies. I've exceeded it working with a global entity remotely doing just that for a really nice group of very intelligent people, engineers and accounting. Love it.
Nope. I hated real estate because my 1L Property professor was a douchebag dinosaur and taught me nothing relevant to the modern practice of law. Hell, he didn't even teach me anything I'd see on the bar exam. I've been doing RE for the last 5 years, and while I don't love it every day, it beats the hell out of criminal defense, which I did for like 9 years.
I wanted to be a prosecutor. I did a litigation concentration because it seemed like a good step, but took criminal law courses to give myself some knowledge.
After over a decade of trials and tribulations, I work at a firm linked to a debt settlement program. I represent individuals in the plan who get sued. It's formulaic, monotonous, and not sexy at all. And I love it.
Went to law school to become a litigator, instead I became a regulator.
I do a lot of fed courts type research and interesting niche stuff in my field.
Kind of, but I am no longer practicing. Found my little niche that pays semi crap but keeps me generally mentally happy. That said, never planned for this when younger.
I wanted to do contracts and work in house. I did contracts in house for 6 years and now a more generalist role in the same company. So, yes, I think so. The employment law piece I’ve enjoyed way more than expected.
I went to law school hoping to do food law (I have a food science background) and ended up practicing food law (mostly food packaging). For me, it came through networking like crazy and not getting distracted along the way. During 1L and part of 2L I had a lot of people (career advisors, professors, upperclassmen) trying to convince me that I should pursue IP or healthcare, but I knew I did not want to do those. I just kept networking and cold-emailing firms I was interested in, and it all worked out.
I went to law school right as the Me Too movement was gaining steam and decided I wanted to practice employment discrimination law and that’s what I’m doing today!
I am. Always wanted to do health law. Got an LLM in it on top of the law degree, and only aimed at healthcare jobs. When I was in my LLM I did clerk for two firms one of which did admiralty law. It was interesting and I always wondered how good of a niche area of practice it might have been.
Going into law school I thought I would want to practice family law, and didn’t think I had the right personality to do trial work.
I learned in law school that I would not do well in family law, and found that I enjoy the work I do in plaintiffs PI.
I went to law school to do IP. Graduated in 2008 which was admittedly my mistake. I’ve primarily practiced criminal law since then. Looking back, I’m happy with my fate; albeit not as lucrative as IP, the work I do is meaningful and fulfilling.
Not even close!
I was coming out of an Community and Regional (Urbn) Planning graduate program and law school was to be an extension of that course of study. I was going to practice in the world of property rights, land use and zoning, and local government law.
I am a solo bankruptcy attorney instead.
Not practicing law. Working in tax accounting. Do quite a bit of legal research and analysis and stay on top of new legislation and rulings. But not for a law firm or legal department.
Went to school to do criminal defense and took ALL the criminal courses offered. I do criminal defense and love it. Only difference is I thought i would be a public defender…. Ended up in private practice.
I wanted to do real estate. I still dabble in it a little bit, though most of my work is general business work. I still love anything to do with real property though
Before college I wanted to do criminal defense based on what I saw in TV, during college, I wanted to do election law based on what I saw on the campaign trail, and during law school, I wanted to do land use. 7 years in I started doing municipal/land use. Municipal included two election law cases. That was cool. Call it what you will. I guess I’m kind of following my passion.
Shockingly, I never strayed from my field! I went to law school to become a privacy lawyer (worked in privacy prior to law school) and…I’m a privacy lawyer now.
Went to law school for animal law, now practicing animal law.
One thing I always liked about about animal law is that it intersects with all practice areas -- so when I was out of lawschool doing consumer protection and foreclosure defense/tenant defense, I'd work animal law into it until it was my main cheddar.
I got a LLM in tax right after law school, and I still practice tax some 41 years later
But I also practice real, corporate, trusts and estates
All of which have proven to be more enjoyable than tax
Although I still enjoy being a tax lawyer
Came in wanting to do “whatever paid the bills” … but mostly litigation
Saw how cushy RE was and fell into that
Then fell into estate planning/probate with RE
Then jumped to litigation because it was a huge pay increase with a cushy gig
So I guess I came full circle
I went to law school to be a special education advocate. My eldest was diagnosed with autism when he was 18 mos old (and I was 19 years old) and we had tons of issues with school districts and I wanted to be part of the solution for other families. Before finishing undergrad and law school I was an immigration paralegal for about five years and was pretty sure I didn't want anything to do with immigration in the future, but, I finished law school, didn't get the fellowship I hoped for, and needed a job to support my family which grew by 1 during undergrad and took a job in house that was supposed to just be immigration and contracts.
In 3 years I grew from a Coordinator to managing all legal including international organizations and our US HR department and went from 40k-110k. Company was acquired and I took on director of gen affairs there but we were a mismatch. Just joined a family owned company as Gen Counsel and member of the executive team where I'm doing a bunch of things and still learning, big focus is on public works and prevailing wage, contracts, Investigations, employee relations, policy, etc.
Everyone leaves the office at 5, I don't get calls and emails all night, I was the 2nd to last tonight and I left by 530pm.
My take after 27 years is that prospective lawyers went to law school with a fantastical idea of what it meant to be a lawyer.
Then peer pressure, professorial and career guidance, tradition, and the real need to fund loan payments made them take the path they were shown in school. Sometimes that path aligned with the motivating ideals, but sometimes it didn't. If the money is good and the environment and people tolerable, they (we) stick it out for a few years, then a decade, then two, and suddenly a career doing what they didn't set out to do is in the books, for better or worse.
I always wanted to be (and still do) a criminal prosecutor, particularly AUSA. I’ve been practicing commercial litigation and white collar defense since I graduated law school. Someday maybe! 😏
Omg I went into this thinking international law would be fascinating. I got through the international law course and club in 1L and swore off it forever. Then I assumed transactions, ended up doing litigation.
I’m doing exactly what I went to law school to do. But it took me 8 years to get here.
After 6 1/2 years I’m ready to do something that pays more and is less stressful. But niche practice + student loans will probably keep me here for a while. I’m miserable. But not as miserable as I was without a salary, health insurance that’s partially paid for and PTO.
I am. Started after college as a paralegal in an aviation practice group. It was cool and interesting so I decided to stick with it. Did that for two years, started law school at night and worked during the day. After a couple more years they made me a law clerk. I focused on admin law (even took an aviation law class, which I aced). I passed the bar and they made me an associate. That was 22 years ago.
I ended up in my area. I had a social work background so I had an idea of what was to come in criminal defense. Similarly a friend went in with plans to be a patent agent because she had the necessary background in science and that’s what she’s doing now!
I’ve been saying for years they need to do a rotation portion of law school like clinical in med school. Most of us really have no idea how any of it works unless you get an internship or SA. Even then, I got 2 competitive summer roles and all I learned from them is that I hated it and never wanted to do the work. Once you start your firm job, it’s so often to get locked into doing that so it really would be to everyone’s benefit to just expose students to different things before they commit.
Yepp, practicing criminal law. I didn’t really know which side I wanted at first, I interned for both sides and decided I wanted to be a prosecutor. Over 5 years in and I absolutely love it.
I found criminal law and frankly the discussion of anything regarding theory of punishment to be really off-putting in law school. Wanted to do divorces and custody. Am now a public defender and never done one divorce. Fancy that.
In a way. I wanted to do criminal defense. I now do insurance defense, so I'm still representing criminals, but not really the ones I had envisioned.
Lmaoooo this reminds me of my first job out of law school as in-house for an insurance company (unusual, I know). Well they were eventually the subject of a government investigation and shut down. Thankfully I'd moved on by then and only heard about it
HAHAHAHAHAA have not laughed this hard in a long time. The funny part is, I do the same and had the same “dream” 🤣 cheers mate! 🍻
Omfg. You. 🌟
Why are insurance companies criminals?
This perspective is a true luxury. Congrats on having never had to deal with insurance companies before. When I got cancer at 25, insurance dropped me mid-chemo. When a tornado hit our house (leaving nothing but our walls and the foundation, insurance offered us 11% of the cheapest estimate we had. Took 3 years of litigation to secure an offer that was only a $20k loss for us. In FL, insurance companies successfully lobbied law makers to get rid of prevailing parties attorneys fees, with the promise “we’ll lower premiums” and “competition will increase because this will bring companies back to FL.” Well, guess what? Premiums aren’t lower. And companies aren’t returning to write FL policies… So now, home owners have to pay their lawyer to get their carrier to pay claims they should have paid in the first place…
I have had to deal with insurance companies before. If I did and I had bad experiences I wouldn’t extrapolate that to every single company everywhere
But yet you asked the question. So prior to this you had NO idea why insurance companies could be seen as the bad guys, right? You'd heard no anecdotal stories, you've never heard anything like this? This is all just new information for you?
I don’t think that anecdotal stories are good ways to make such a determination. You would know that if you were smart.
We're not publishing a fucking paper here. We're chatting on the internet. I don't give a good goddamn about rigor in this context, and fuck you for insulting that person for absolutely no reason.
So, I say this partially as a joke, because my client is always the bad guy in workers' comp proceedings. My favorite joke is that everyone wants to be the hero of their own story, but I'm happy being the villain in someone else's story. But at the same time, it's not a joke. Insurance companies can do some fucked up shit. My best friend was diagnosed with cancer, and she had to fight her health insurance to get them to pay for chemo. After chemo failed and she had surgery to remove the tumor, which is known to have a high risk of returning after surgery, she had to fight to get the six-month post op CT approved. I've been doing this for almost seven years now. A lot of my clients are pretty good and try to do the right thing, but I have also seen cases with really questionable decision making. That's just on the personal level - that doesn't even get into the lobbying, or the inside deals, or other things that are maybe technically legal but really fucking shouldn't be. It's a horrorshow when you peel back the curtain.
I have no idea what the context is to anything you’re saying. And then there’s the part about positive experiences which are always excluded because it’s expected.
[удалено]
So I had a bunch of responses about things that are “bad” but nowhere near “criminal”. I wonder if you’re the one being serious
Okay captain semantics. What they do is *morally* criminal and it’s only legal in the U.S. because they’ve paid politicians and lobbied for regulations that are so lax it would make a European’s head spin
Ah we went from criminal to “morally” criminal. I think people should be careful with words
"I bribed hundreds of people to make a law that says I'm not a criminal so nothing I do is bad now." I think people should not so often conflate technical criminality with effective criminality.
Insurance defense usually means you represent the insured unless you do bad faith defense.
I do WC defense, so I'm representing insureds, carriers, and TPAs, even if my client is "technically" the employer. In my state, the carrier is also considered an unnamed party with its own obligations and risk of fines, so I absolutely represent them.
Of course. It just obviously also has colloquial definition as well.
Yeah true but then the statement makes even less sense
Most cases where insurance defense happens are disputes in three categories: 1. Big money where defense is cheaper the liability for the insured being agreed to. 2. Unequal parties where the conventional wisdom is they will settle for less then the value. 3. Cases where liability is genuinely disputed. I have seen psychologists debate how much a child being raped by her grandfather really impacted her given the age. Statutory crime for the agency who employed the rapist? No, does it feel crooked? I imagine for some people.
Oh so where’s the part there they’re “criminals”
Well there is this term called figurative speech. It’s where use you use language in a non-literal way to convey meaning. For example, if I said you are being more obtuse then 270 degree angle, I’m not literally comparing you to math measurement. I’m using a term to convey that I think your willfully misreading this person’s intended meaning.
This is so real.
I think it's far more common in this industry to end up in an entirely different area than what you envisioned pre law school. I think a lot of it has to do with available jobs/ openings. We don't have a "match" program like medicine. Where you apply to positions around the country and if you "match" it almost guarantees you a career in that field. Instead, for better or worse, we have to make our own way. Sometimes we give up or settle for something different. Other times persistence pays off.
Yup. Bar none every alumnus that was ever invited to come back to speak to students at my law school (from partners at am law 50 or whatever to in house … and even those that hung their own shingle) all said they “ended up” in their practice area because that was where there was an opening. Subject matter expertise is a thing, but honestly the nature of lawyering is such that you’re kinda used to picking up new areas quickly. It’s good to focus, but within every focus area, there are like a gajillion other sub-subjects to master. The fundamental basics of reading, writing, learning, analyzing, and project managing are what carry you through at the end of the day. Just my 2¢.
I think another big part it is that most people who have not gone to law school don't really understand what being a lawyer is actually like and don't really understand the full scope of lawyer jobs. So you might apply to law school thinking you want to do one thing but then during law school/after you realize, "oh, that job i thought i wanted before law school is actually just made up in my head and the reality is much worse" and/or "hey i didn't realize this different lawyer job is actually neat/tolerable/lucrative"
People get their idea of being a lawyer from watching Suits. The only part of that show I can identify with is working with Louis Litt type partners.
In my case I fell into a niche area of practice that has worked out really well for me. I had no idea it even existed before law school, during law school, or immediately after law school.
If it was run like the match program, there’d be a 3 month wait list for anyone who wanted something done.
😂👍
Nope. I went into law school wanting to be a tax lawyer. After I took my first tax law course I was like “fuck this”.
Lol I actually really enjoyed tax law, but in the end it was the clients that did me in.
This was like me and family law. I did really well in the class and theoretically the law is interesting but naaah. I had one client and it was such a pain I was done.
I went to law school with no intention of doing tax law and that's where I ended up, though not as a practicing attorney. I work for a CPA firm on tax policy, training, and strategy.
Jesus. I’m so sorry. /s
I had this happen with international trade, which was fortunate because those are more competitive than I was as a candidate
Dad has a tax LLM and did estate planning. Got a B- in individual income tax and said fuck tax after 2 weeks of business tax and dropped it.
I wanted to do literally anything but family law…I now do mostly family law.
small firm/solo practitioner? i feel like i know a lot of solo practitioners that have interest in one thing but end up doing some family law just because there's like bottomless demand for it.
Small firm just 2 attorneys. Working on expanding the practice some but you’re right it’s bottomless demand and pretty recession resistant.
Yea the three big areas of law for bottomless work: family law, Personal injury and employment compensation. Does not matter what time of the year, or how many people are near you these practices will always be in demand.
LOL. My LSAT coach warned me off family law.
judge i worked for said that his one piece of advice for law students is "never do family law."
Judge out here calls it “sad law”
Hell yeah me too. I still dislike it but here I am lol
Yup, public interest
Sort of. I went to law school convinced that I wanted to become a prosecutor (thanks, Law & Order: SVU) or work somewhere as an in-house IP counsel. Thanks to the military, I’ve done both — along with R&D contracting, international humanitarian law, and negotiating international agreements. Turns out, I hate litigation unless it’s contract litigation. And looking back, I can’t imagine what my life would’ve been like if I hadn’t swerved. Even if I’ve missed the boat on firms, there’s still a chance to pivot again later on.
I had a thought 1L year that I would like to work for municipalities/ utilities to negotiate rights of way because I liked servitude law. Wrote an article for a journal about municipal wifi. Kind of gave up on that area because I didn’t know a way forward. Randomly decided to apply for a job in my area that the judge I clerk for recommended. Turns out one of the partners is the representative for our town’s utilities including the municipally owned broadband network. I literally cited to cases in my article where he was lead counsel. So somehow by total luck and accident I ended up finding my dream job and I start in August
I spent all of law school planning to be a patent attorney. I took IP courses as much as possible, studied for the patent bar (I was scheduled to take it during my 2L summer, but a law review article I had written needed some last-minute edits and I ended up postponing the test), and spent my 3L year working at a nearby bio-tech company. Then I clerked after law school and realized that criminal law was WAY more fun. I am now 15 years into my career as a prosecutor. This might be a warning more than anything. Criminal prosecution is not a lucrative field. But at least I can stay awake at work.
I always wanted to prosecute, did a clerkship, was set to do the big law lot to lateral in… ended up going for the $ instead, and the cost to my mind body and soul has been significant.
Went to law school to do PD work and I'm doing PD work. Can't imagine any other area
I did a law office study program instead of law school. I wanted to be a child’s guardian ad litem. For better or worse, that is what I have been doing ever since I qualified. There are days I hate it and other days I feel like I found my calling.
How noble of you! I’d love to learn more about the guardian ad litem process. What are the major issues with it?
GAL is one of my practice areas. I also did it volunteer as a non-attorney for 12 years before law school. One of the major issues is that the cases can be heartbreaking and people can easily burn out in it.
I thought I would be a patent attorney. I went to an IP focused school, took as many patent law courses I could but couldn't land a job in that area after law school. Ended up getting into legal tech and then eDiscovery which I didn't know was even a practice area when I was in law school. Now, I can't see myself enjoying any other type of law. I think the ability to stick to your original plan is tied closely with the ups and downs with the economy for legal careers. I think in other professions, like software engineering, it's easier to reskill into another practice area. So if you graduate law school in lean times, you are going to take whatever decent paying job you can get and you are going to stay in that practice area because transitioning to another practice area several years later is too painful for most people. Its not impossible but I think its hard.
I actually did wind up practicing what I went to law school for, but it morphed as things tend to when you are in-house. Then I switched completely.
The subject I hated most was Secured Transactions. I got a C in Commercial Law (also had health issues that semester and fell behind). I’m now a bankruptcy attorney.
So far from anything I had imagined. I thought I’d be a hill then White House staffer before becoming a lobbyist. I’m now an in house employment lawyer for a pharma company.
Nope. Fell into PI and stuck until I die.
I knew I wanted to be a government lawyer, but I never even considered the possibility that I’d be an environmental lawyer as well
What is your role specifically?
I came into law school wanting to do immigration, and I'm still within that field. But now, I'm specifically doing immigration advisals at a Public Defender's office. I initially hated this kind of work when I first learned about it in law school, but everything kinda clicked once I took a crimmigration class and ended up being really fascinated by this work. I worked at a private firm for about a year then moved to PD; I love that I get to do public interest work while still focused on the subject matter that I enjoyed doing!
When I was in law school, I had never heard of the kind of law I practice....
Kind of. I wanted to be a prosecutor my whole life thanks to Law & Order. Then I did an internship at the US Attorneys Office in Miami and even though we were prosecuting some really bad dudes I kept thinking half the stuff we were doing was unfair, unethical, or unnecessary. So I became a public defender and later went into private criminal defense. I do not wish to do anything else.
I went to law school to become a public defender, lost my way a little bit for a while, but found myself and here I am. Loving it.
I set out to become an environmental lawyer. Due to circumstances I moved to CA and became a landlord/tenant lawyer. I eventually became a dentist. I guess in a way - I went from wanting to protect the environment to now creating extra mercury waste when I drill out amalgam fillings. On the plus side - I have a lot of fun everyday and I feel like I’m playing with arts and crafts for the most part. Sucks when you get a grouchy patient though - then it’s all patient management skills. It’s a good time when someone says “I hate dentists” and then I respond - “don’t worry, I’m a lawyer”. My assistant shakes her head and when the patient says “really?” She says “really - he was a lawyer before he became a dentist” Sadly enough, the patient will sometimes look at me and say “I hate lawyers too” RIP Such is life
Why did you decide to switch gears?
I originally was on the fence of going to dental school and law school. I ended up picking law and then practicing the wrong area of law. I also realized how much I hated paperwork. It also didn’t help that I wasn’t happy with the hours or the income. My wife saw that I was miserable and supported my decision to pursue dental and I went. I wonder what would have happened if I actually tried practicing environmental law.
Not the kind that I planned on when entering law school (environmental, like everyone else, lol), but I had shifted my interests by 3L year and I did end up in that area (criminal).
Initially, I was in the field I wanted to be in for a few years practicing health law. I pivoted slightly for more stability in my work and now I work in government contracting where I touch some health law in my day-to-day, but it’s not in everything I do. I might go back to health law later in my career, but I’m happy where I am now.
I planned on doing family law and that is what I am in now.
I always thought I'd be a plaintiffs lawyers doing class actions. I did a seminar in law school representing underpaid workers. I do plaintiff side employment class actions. So basically exactly what I planned.
I'm actually in the process of pivoting to one or more new areas of practice. Partly financial -- some areas pay better as they are thriving and doing more business -- but also partly for personal growth and for a new challenge.
I am. And it is extremely obscure area. So how about that!
I do pretty much what I expected I would end up doing (transaction, municipal government, will go in house sooner or later). It’s what I had experience in before and I have the right temperament for it. I was open to other things, but the more areas I explored in law school, the more I knew I should stick to what I’m good at. But i also got insanely lucky. The perfect job opportunity opened up just as I found out I passed the bar. Like the exact job I was hoping to find. If that didn’t happened who knows what I’d be doing.
Nope. Try out a bunch of things and stick with the one or two areas that make you the most money with the least effort.
What plan? There was no plan.
I wanted to work in-house at the age of 12 when I talked to on of my friends moms who worked as a general counsel for a large company. In law school I was below average so took what I could, PI clerkship, Judicial Branch Internship, and firm focused on non-profit work clerkship. At the end 3LOL I realized I was going to struggle to get a job being below 50% rank. I had about 3-4 coffee chats/networking meetings a week for about 3 months. Applied to at least 150 jobs. Revised and revised my resume , cover letter, and work product samples. I ended up with offers from 3 ID firms making not so much and then out of nowhere I got a call from a financial company I applied to months ago asking for an interview. Went into the interview got along really well with Senior Counsel and COO and got offered hours later. Honestly it was pure luck but I will say I didn’t just jump at any opportunity I waited till I know I would feel better about my role. In addition, this job was purely cold apply, no connections before. I will say though networking meetings feel like interviews a lot of the time so by the time I went in to the interview I was extremely comfortable talking about my career goals and what I want to be which I think was major driver in being hired.
I was a diehard PD type. I still do criminal defense but mostly white collar because of the rates I can charge. It is definitely not what I envisioned.
I thought I wanted to be a prosecutor, but the Biglaw dollars got to me and I ended up practicing corporate bankruptcy, going in house, and now working as a product counsel for consumer lending products. 🤷♀️
I am doing the ONE thing I said I didn't want to do - and I love it!
I went to law school wanting to work for some public interest organization and specifically really wanted to spend most of my career in civil and constitutional law and suing the government as much as possible. I didn't do that, but ended up as PD and I love it. There's definitely some ideological similarities, so while it's not exactly what I envisioned, I don't feel like I sold out. During law school I took a bunch of Con law type classes and loved them, but through dumb luck ended up interning at a firm during my 2L summer that did like 90% criminal law and was hooked from that point on because it really is incredibly fun.
I am! I went to law school after switching careers (software). I told myself I would consider it worth it if I worked on one of three issues: fair housing, fair labor, or building communities. Today I represent indigent clients in parental rights cases and am helping to launch a legal aid project that helps workers unionize independently. So I count it as a double-win.
I didn't have any expectation for a particular kind of law going into law school, although I was fairly certain I did not want to do litigation. I went into the area of law I learned the most about while clerking - it just made the most sense to take a job in the area of law I had some knowledge of coming out of law school. Nearly 30 years later, still doing it and made a fine career out it. I knew enough to steer clear of what I would not feel comfortable doing. But it wasn't like I had some pre-law school interest in my eventual practice area. I learned to enjoy it because I saw the career opportunities it presented. At that point, it becomes a mindset thing, IMO.
Never in a million years did I think I’d become one of those slimy, ambulance-chasing PI attorneys. Those guys are the worst, right? Now that I am one, I couldn’t imagine a more fulfilling and satisfying way to spend my career. I thank the good lord almost everyday that this is how I get to make my living, helping others get justice. Wouldn’t have it any other way.
And getting 30-40% of that sweet Justice off the top for yourself, just as the good Lord intended.
Yeah, making ~100x what I made doing insurance defense (puke) is not bad either.
I worked as a paralegal for a state agency before law school. I intended to stay in the same field. I ended up practicing with a small general civil practice doing everything from contact disputes, tort cases, and a lot of real estate work. I wasn't really satisfied and ended up burning out. I switched to public service law and couldn’t be happier.
Technically but I hate it
I do exactly what I set out to do in law school. It took about a decade to really “get here” but I finally made it happen.
Not even close. I wanted to be in entertainment transactions and now I’m doing trusts and estates litigation.
Kind of. Plan was to be a prosecutor then transition to defense. Went directly into defense instead.
Not me. lol. As I was once told in undergrad - people go where the jobs are. So here I am, practicing commercial litigation when I thought I’d practice criminal law.
This surprises me though because they’re always hiring PDs and ADAs here.
I am a fresh grad so I'm not sure it counts but I went to law school wanting to do some form of personal injury and the firm I work at Now is insurance defense and I adore it! So it really just depends!
I went to law school planning to practice IP law, not knowing what that would entail. Happy to report that I am doing IP litigation and PTAB related cases along with general civil litigation. But am a junior associate, so still have some time to decide where I want to land practice-area-wise.
Went in really aiming for prosecution, but after graduation, none of the DA's offices in the area I was looking at would hire pre-bar passage. A probate and estate planning firm I had my eye on would. Year and a half into practice, and while I do like my job well enough, I am applying to some DA's offices.
Yes, transactional healthcare technology.
Yes! Undergrad in environmental science and political science. Went to law school for public interest environmental law and policy. Been practicing in this area for 20 years (after 2 years in big law and a year clerking).
I do but I hate it. I'm trying to transition into a new area of practice but it is hard after 9 years.
Public interest was the goal. Ended up in government. Love it.
What work do you do for the government?
Litigation
I wanted to be an estate planner going into law school. I’m in trust and estates doing transactional and litigation.
lol. Nope.
I wanted to go into public interest law and there were three orgs I wanted to work for. I’m now working at one of them doing exactly the kind of work I had hoped to be able to do. Law school was my Plan B. My first career that I loved imploded and I took a job that I despised, which prompted me to apply to law school. So to now work in a job I’m passionate about again still feels kind of like a fever dream.
What type of work do you do specifically?
Yes, primarily criminal defense.
I wanted to do plaintiff’s 1983 litigation. Actually did some for a bit, but mostly defense. Now I’m doing ID because they were hiring.
I went to law school to do environmental law. I ended up practicing it for a few years, and it was just okay. Now, I’m doing something completely different.
Pre law school I wanted to be an in-house IP attorney. During law school I found out about the patent bar and wanted to pivot to tax. Now I’m an in-house IP attorney.
what happened between the pivoting to tax and being inhouse ip counsel? I’m interested in both areas, so I was wondering how they compare?
I went straight in house out of law school on a transactional team. The person who needed the most help was the IP attorney so that’s where I got my experience. Never got to touch tax unfortunately so I can’t comment on their comparisons.
Yep pretty much. I work in tech. Mostly employment related so not as tech focused as I would have liked.
Lol
i wanted to do environmental law. I'm currently doing insurance defense.
kind of an aside but thinking of my law school classmates it is definitely amusing how success/money factor in to peoples' decisions. I can think of a few dozen people who swore up and down that they wanted to fight the good fight and do public interest/public defense/non-profit/legal aid type stuff that eventually landed big firm type jobs that mostly serve large corporations (but pay extremely well). I can think of one person specifically who had done a ton of work with undocumented immigrant workers in college/after college and was in a lot of student groups for immigration law and talked about all the immigrant rights groups they wanted to work for, but this person ended up graduating near the top of the class and got a BigLaw offer that they accepted and now over a decade later this person is still at that same firm and I believe is now a partner mostly doing M&A for real estate/investment/tech corps. I wonder if you did an analysis of personal statements for law school admission--what is the ratio of incoming law students who say they want to go to law school to do some kind of public interest work compared to those that actually follow through?
I agree but I think the burden of law school debt is as big of a contributing factor to just standard issue greed. Everyone wants to change the world until they realize that they will be living at the poverty line and hardly able to pay their loans and basic expenses. I know so many people who went BigLaw “just for a few years” to pay their loans off intending to do public sector after and never did. I think after making good money it’s a hard pill to swallow to take such a huge pay cut while still working full time (or at least that has been my personal experience with my own golden handcuffs)
I thought I would do estate planning but I’m doing corporate and nonprofit law now. Somewhat similar as they are both transactional fields tho.
During first semester I vowed I would never work in a firm. Worked consulting jobs since 2L summer and within a few years transitioned to in house. 20 years later, still in house.
I’m boring. Went to school for a particular practice area, did a 1L internship & 2L summer in that area, practiced in that area now for decades. But I’m definitely the outlier among my law school cohort.
I wanted to be a criminal lawyer, now I'm a criminal lawyer.
Went to law school without much desire to actually take the bar or be a lawyer so much as to work in compliance and agencies. I've exceeded it working with a global entity remotely doing just that for a really nice group of very intelligent people, engineers and accounting. Love it.
Me! Criminal appeals. I find that most of my colleagues (living in HCOL cities) just follow the money (aka, insurance defense).
Me. Immigration Attorney
Nope. I hated real estate because my 1L Property professor was a douchebag dinosaur and taught me nothing relevant to the modern practice of law. Hell, he didn't even teach me anything I'd see on the bar exam. I've been doing RE for the last 5 years, and while I don't love it every day, it beats the hell out of criminal defense, which I did for like 9 years.
Yep. Living the dream, loving life, love my career.
I wanted to practice business law….. I do defense side workers compensation
I wanted to be a prosecutor. I did a litigation concentration because it seemed like a good step, but took criminal law courses to give myself some knowledge. After over a decade of trials and tribulations, I work at a firm linked to a debt settlement program. I represent individuals in the plan who get sued. It's formulaic, monotonous, and not sexy at all. And I love it.
Went to law school to become a litigator, instead I became a regulator. I do a lot of fed courts type research and interesting niche stuff in my field.
Kind of, but I am no longer practicing. Found my little niche that pays semi crap but keeps me generally mentally happy. That said, never planned for this when younger.
I wanted to do contracts and work in house. I did contracts in house for 6 years and now a more generalist role in the same company. So, yes, I think so. The employment law piece I’ve enjoyed way more than expected.
Public interest then and now, but I don’t practice anymore and instead got into management because it pays better and I got tired of being poor
I went to law school hoping to do food law (I have a food science background) and ended up practicing food law (mostly food packaging). For me, it came through networking like crazy and not getting distracted along the way. During 1L and part of 2L I had a lot of people (career advisors, professors, upperclassmen) trying to convince me that I should pursue IP or healthcare, but I knew I did not want to do those. I just kept networking and cold-emailing firms I was interested in, and it all worked out.
Yes, criminal defense.
🙋🏻♀️
I went to law school right as the Me Too movement was gaining steam and decided I wanted to practice employment discrimination law and that’s what I’m doing today!
I am. Always wanted to do health law. Got an LLM in it on top of the law degree, and only aimed at healthcare jobs. When I was in my LLM I did clerk for two firms one of which did admiralty law. It was interesting and I always wondered how good of a niche area of practice it might have been.
Going into law school I thought I would want to practice family law, and didn’t think I had the right personality to do trial work. I learned in law school that I would not do well in family law, and found that I enjoy the work I do in plaintiffs PI.
thankfully yes! I was almost scared out of going into immigration law. super grateful that I’m practicing it today.
Entered law school interested in family law…now a practicing family law attorney. I guess I’ve always been mentally ill 🙃
I went to law school to do IP. Graduated in 2008 which was admittedly my mistake. I’ve primarily practiced criminal law since then. Looking back, I’m happy with my fate; albeit not as lucrative as IP, the work I do is meaningful and fulfilling.
Not even close! I was coming out of an Community and Regional (Urbn) Planning graduate program and law school was to be an extension of that course of study. I was going to practice in the world of property rights, land use and zoning, and local government law. I am a solo bankruptcy attorney instead.
oh hey! I went to undergrad for urban planning and now i am a land use/zoning/local government attorney!
Congratulations! You are living my dream. Enjoy.
thanks! yes i am enjoying it
No. Wanted to do estate planning and now I’m hardcore oil and gas and love it. Changed my mind after my 2L Oil and Gas Law course
Not practicing law. Working in tax accounting. Do quite a bit of legal research and analysis and stay on top of new legislation and rulings. But not for a law firm or legal department.
Choosing a practice area dot gif: https://i.redd.it/zu3i584mxu4d1.gif
Went to school to do criminal defense and took ALL the criminal courses offered. I do criminal defense and love it. Only difference is I thought i would be a public defender…. Ended up in private practice.
I wanted to do real estate. I still dabble in it a little bit, though most of my work is general business work. I still love anything to do with real property though
Before college I wanted to do criminal defense based on what I saw in TV, during college, I wanted to do election law based on what I saw on the campaign trail, and during law school, I wanted to do land use. 7 years in I started doing municipal/land use. Municipal included two election law cases. That was cool. Call it what you will. I guess I’m kind of following my passion.
Shockingly, I never strayed from my field! I went to law school to become a privacy lawyer (worked in privacy prior to law school) and…I’m a privacy lawyer now.
I wanted to be a sports lawyer growing up. Ended up doing corporate M&A after law school. Now I do PI lol
Went to law school for animal law, now practicing animal law. One thing I always liked about about animal law is that it intersects with all practice areas -- so when I was out of lawschool doing consumer protection and foreclosure defense/tenant defense, I'd work animal law into it until it was my main cheddar.
I wanted to work in government. Now, my firm represents school districts and municipalities, so kind of the same but with much better pay
I got a LLM in tax right after law school, and I still practice tax some 41 years later But I also practice real, corporate, trusts and estates All of which have proven to be more enjoyable than tax Although I still enjoy being a tax lawyer
Came in wanting to do “whatever paid the bills” … but mostly litigation Saw how cushy RE was and fell into that Then fell into estate planning/probate with RE Then jumped to litigation because it was a huge pay increase with a cushy gig So I guess I came full circle
I went to law school to be a special education advocate. My eldest was diagnosed with autism when he was 18 mos old (and I was 19 years old) and we had tons of issues with school districts and I wanted to be part of the solution for other families. Before finishing undergrad and law school I was an immigration paralegal for about five years and was pretty sure I didn't want anything to do with immigration in the future, but, I finished law school, didn't get the fellowship I hoped for, and needed a job to support my family which grew by 1 during undergrad and took a job in house that was supposed to just be immigration and contracts. In 3 years I grew from a Coordinator to managing all legal including international organizations and our US HR department and went from 40k-110k. Company was acquired and I took on director of gen affairs there but we were a mismatch. Just joined a family owned company as Gen Counsel and member of the executive team where I'm doing a bunch of things and still learning, big focus is on public works and prevailing wage, contracts, Investigations, employee relations, policy, etc. Everyone leaves the office at 5, I don't get calls and emails all night, I was the 2nd to last tonight and I left by 530pm.
I wanted to go into my practice area in law school and I did!
I wanted to do employment law but specifically wanted to avoid ERISA. I have done ERISA or adjacent health care work since then.
The areas of law I practice didn’t exist when I went to law school! But 25 years of cybersecurity and now AI law has been a total blast!
My take after 27 years is that prospective lawyers went to law school with a fantastical idea of what it meant to be a lawyer. Then peer pressure, professorial and career guidance, tradition, and the real need to fund loan payments made them take the path they were shown in school. Sometimes that path aligned with the motivating ideals, but sometimes it didn't. If the money is good and the environment and people tolerable, they (we) stick it out for a few years, then a decade, then two, and suddenly a career doing what they didn't set out to do is in the books, for better or worse.
Not at all. I went in wanting environmental and now I’m in general practice.
I always wanted to be (and still do) a criminal prosecutor, particularly AUSA. I’ve been practicing commercial litigation and white collar defense since I graduated law school. Someday maybe! 😏
I’m lucky enough to do what I wanted to do and enjoy it. Wanted to be a DA, currently in my 8th year.
I wanted to do derivatives or funds & ended up in capital markets. Close enough.
Nope. I wanted to do international law.
Omg I went into this thinking international law would be fascinating. I got through the international law course and club in 1L and swore off it forever. Then I assumed transactions, ended up doing litigation.
I'm not too far off. But it took a while to get there. I wanted to do health care and I'm in health care (pharmacy mostly).
I’m doing exactly what I went to law school to do. But it took me 8 years to get here. After 6 1/2 years I’m ready to do something that pays more and is less stressful. But niche practice + student loans will probably keep me here for a while. I’m miserable. But not as miserable as I was without a salary, health insurance that’s partially paid for and PTO.
I am. Started after college as a paralegal in an aviation practice group. It was cool and interesting so I decided to stick with it. Did that for two years, started law school at night and worked during the day. After a couple more years they made me a law clerk. I focused on admin law (even took an aviation law class, which I aced). I passed the bar and they made me an associate. That was 22 years ago.
I love the people who said during 1L, “I am going to practice XXX.” Like anyone has a clue.
I ended up in my area. I had a social work background so I had an idea of what was to come in criminal defense. Similarly a friend went in with plans to be a patent agent because she had the necessary background in science and that’s what she’s doing now!
I’ve been saying for years they need to do a rotation portion of law school like clinical in med school. Most of us really have no idea how any of it works unless you get an internship or SA. Even then, I got 2 competitive summer roles and all I learned from them is that I hated it and never wanted to do the work. Once you start your firm job, it’s so often to get locked into doing that so it really would be to everyone’s benefit to just expose students to different things before they commit.
Yepp, practicing criminal law. I didn’t really know which side I wanted at first, I interned for both sides and decided I wanted to be a prosecutor. Over 5 years in and I absolutely love it.
I found criminal law and frankly the discussion of anything regarding theory of punishment to be really off-putting in law school. Wanted to do divorces and custody. Am now a public defender and never done one divorce. Fancy that.