Legal Studies Student – Aspiring for Lawyer

If your goal is to practice law in the United States, you will need a bachelors that is accredited by the an agency recognized by the United States, meaning one of the regional accreditation agencies. If you are presenting any other equivalent, you should confirm that it will be accepted by discussing it with the Board of Law Examiners in the state you want to practice in, and get them to say so in writing. Note the law schools will often admit a student who they know is ineligible to take the Bar exam (on the theory its the student right to spend their money as they wish, even though the student may be under the erroneous assumption they will be a lawyer after graduation).

To succeed in law school, you should have good English langauge skills, especially in writing, and at least a vague idea of American history and government (otherwise you may make a fool of yourself).

This all assumes you want to be a lawyer because you think its a fun thing to do for a living. If you believe its a sure route to a comfortable economic situation, in spite of it not being what you want to do for living, you are making a whooper of a mistake.

From what I understand law schools look down on Legal Studies degrees as they are considered soft. Top secular majors are Math (analytical skills), Economics and Philosophy. The main thong though is the LSAT and Gemara study along with courses in analytical reasoning would be very good.

I can get all the first and second year associates I want from good law schools for 45k.

Don’t all law firms pay 160? Plus bonus?

Popa……….

Those days ended with the Bush Great Recession of 2007/8

There are very few top tier Wall Street or White Shoe law firms hiring the top 2% of graduates from the top 10 Law schools at 6 figure salaries. This especially goes for frum first year associates who would not slave away and bill thousands of hours because of Shabbos and Yuntif restrictions.

Graduates of second tier and public law schools who have passed the bar are hungry for work and not find much of it. There have been many articles about this in the NY Times in the past couple of years.

Add the fact that government in many jurisdictions has laid off attorneys or has hiring freezes…and there is a bleak outlook for most new members of the bar.

The OP has no name brand college degree, and likely will not have an Ivy League/Stanford/U Michigan law degree….unless he is taken into a family firm his prospects are slim. Even if taken into a family firm, he will not start at top salaries (as earned in the 80s and 90s).

I have a small firm (by choice). I occasionally hire a starting associate (often as a favor for a friend or client). Generally they are not Jewish. This allows coverage on days when I cannot work. Not all judges are good about scheduling motion hearings and other minor appearances around religious schedules.

Today’s clients expect a quick call back when the call or email, not after a 2 day yuntif followed by Shabbos and courts closed on Sunday.

If someone is planning to work for “Big law” and get rich, the right degree from the right school matters. If someone is planning on “hanging out a shingle” serving the local community, all that matters is the persons competence and ability to market themselves, along with admission from the bar (which is most states requires an accredited bachelors degree and a degree from an accredited law school though some states allow “reading law” as an alternative). While “big law” may be increasingly tight since oversupply wipes out the impact of retiring boomers, and they were overpaid as it is with the result that paralegals and “outsourcing” to contract lawyers are replacing overpaid associates – if someone wants to work in a largely frum environment they should plan on being a “small” law pracitioner in which case any law school will be adequate and avoiding crushing debt is important.

Also, if someone is planning to go into “small law” having trained as a paralegal might not be so dumb since they’ll be doing a lot of things that paralegals do in the “big law” world.

CTL, how do you deal with the amirah l’akum and s’char Shabbos issues?

CTLAWYER, not correct. Philosophy is a BA. Math and Eco can be either and the latter can also be a BBA. It depends on which core program one takes.

Popa, people who get that much to start are slaves to the billable hours regime. True, there are frum lawyers in these firms but they work motzaei Shabbat and Sun (in fact, when Nat Lewin told Justice Harlan about Shabbat before clerking him Harlan said “No problem. You’ll come in on Sun”). I knew someone who had a friend who left because he realized that he had no time to enjoy the salary and went to a government job. Much lower salary but 9-5. Today that would be an immense problem for someone who does not come from a well-to-fo family.