How do you know if you want to be a lawyer?

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   editaposted 12 years ago

   I am not sure if I want to be a lawyer. How can I be sure?

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      paradigmsearchposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      The majority of the population hates lawyers. Even Shakespeare wasn't thrilled with them. You need to delve into the reasons why; and then take it from there.

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         lorlie6posted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Not sure if you had this in mind, ps, but my reply DID sound a tad pompous, didn't it?   I guess it was the wanna-be-a-lawyer speaking...Thanks for reminding me!

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            paradigmsearchposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            To the contrary. I'm actually quite fond of you.

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               lorlie6posted 12 years agoin reply to this

               Oh, my!   Right back at ya...

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         Anti-Valentineposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         "Everyone hates a lawyer until they need one."

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      jomineposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      If you like stealing, and if you want to do it legally, be a lawyer.

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2. 73

   lorlie6posted 12 years ago

   Hi edita, though I'm not an attorney, I come from a family of lawyers.  They practice criminal, corporate, and maritime law-quite the range!  I think if you are questioning yourself regarding such a choice, you should first of all be extremely bright and able to express yourself with self-assuredness.  The ability to think logically-in the literal, philosophical sense-is mandatory in the profession. 
   I was on an educational track that could have led me to become a lawyer; in college and grad school I was a philosophy and sociology double major.  Symbolic logic was the most enlightening of all my courses since it 'dug in to' fallacies of certain arguments, validity of others was also stressed.
   I chose not to take this professional route because I shy away from contention!  It's simply a personality quirk, I suppose-I'm not one to argue and 'wage war' with words.  But that's just me.
   I hope this makes sense, edita, and the best of luck to you-whatever you choose to do!

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   BLACKANDGOLDJACKposted 12 years ago

   Edita, if you and lorlie6 working together can't change a light bulb (I don't really think paradigmsearch is going to help you), you both should be lawyers.
   
   Q: How many lawyers does it take to change a light bulb?
   
   A: Only 3 getting paid $250 per hour each.

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   jwestph2posted 12 years ago

   Why do you want to be a lawyer?
   Answer that question. Whatever you didn't list under that answer, those are the reason you don't want to be a lawyer. A career isn't something you necessarily want to do, but it's something you can do every day for the rest of your life. I'm just saying, research career choices.... It took me eight years to finally figure out psychology was right for me.

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   editaposted 12 years ago

   Thank you for responding. I am debating between a career in copywriting (advertising) and law. I find copywriting fun, but have 0 experience in it, as I also do in law. For some reason, it feels that spending 40,000 in loans on ad school is not as valuable as spending 160K on law school, even though job placement after ad school is about 88%.
   
   For instance, to see if I would be a good copywriter. How would you respond to the following commercial lines for tupperware, Imagine a picture along with each line.
   
   1. Dress your dishes in tupperware and bring fashion  to your fare.
   2. When tupperware reports to duty, mess and odor flee the scenery.

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      jwestph2posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      1. i imagine durable, yet a sense of tupperware "fashion".
      2. I imagine durable tupperware, with a great seal between the lip and the lid. I also imagine stick-free. I hate it when tupperware gets stained from spaghetti/tomato sauce.

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6. 62

   Disturbiaposted 12 years ago

   The below excerpts appeared in the Salt Lake Tribune. They were taken from real court records.
   
   Now doctor, isn't it true that when a person dies in his sleep, in most cases he just passes quietly away and doesn't know anything about it until the next morning?
   
   Q: What happened then?
   A: He told me, he says, "I have to kill you because you can identify me."
   Q: Did he kill you?
   
   Was it you or your brother that was killed in the war?
   
   The youngest son, the 20-year-old, how old is he?
   
   Q: She had three children, right?
   A: Yes.
   Q: How many were boys?
   A: None.
   Q: Were there any girls?
   
   Were you alone or by yourself?
   
   Q: I show you Exhibit 3 and ask you if you recognize that picture?
   A: That's me.
   Q: Were you present when that picture was taken?
   
   Were you present in court this morning when you were sworn in?
   
   Q: You say that the stairs went down to the basement?
   A: Yes.
   Q: And these stairs, did they go up also?
   
   Q: Now then, Mrs. Johnson, how was your first marriage terminated?
   A: By death.
   Q: And by whose death was it terminated?
   
   Q: Do you know how far pregnant you are now?
   A: I'll be three months on March 12th.
   Q: Apparently then, the date of conception was around January 12th?
   A: Yes.
   Q: What were you doing at that time?
   
   Do you have any children or anything of that kind?
   
   Was that the same nose you broke as a child?
   
   Q: Mrs. Jones, do you believe you are emotionally stable?
   A: I used to be.
   Q: How many times have you committed suicide?
   
   So, you were gone until you returned?
   
   You don't know what it was, and you didn't know what it looked like, but can you describe it?
   
   Q: Have you lived in this town all your life?
   A: Not yet.
   
   A Texas attorney, realizing he was on the verge of unleashing a stupid question, interrupted himself and said, "Your Honor, I'd like to strike the next question."
   
   Q: Do you recall approximately the time that you examined that body of Mr. Huntington at St. Mary's Hospital?
   A: It was in the evening. The autopsy started about 5:30 P.M.
   Q: And Mr. Huntington was dead at the time, is that correct?
   A: No, you idiot, he was sitting on the table wondering why I was performing an autopsy on him!

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      EmpressFelicityposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      
      
      And, on a related note:
      
      Q: Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check for a pulse?
      A: No.
      
      Q: Did you check for blood pressure?
      A: No.
      
      Q: Did you check for breathing?
      A: No.
      
      Q: So, then it is possible that the patient was alive when you began the autopsy?
      A: No.
      
      Q: How can you be so sure, Doctor?
      A: Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar.
      
      Q: But could the patient have still been alive nevertheless?
      A: It is possible that he could have been alive and practising law somewhere.
      
      
      I've wondered whether I should go into law - I'd be earning a lot more than I am now, that's for sure. But I'm not sure if I could handle learning all the case studies and dealing with the minutiae.

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         Disturbiaposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         I have a friend who was a lawyer.  We dated briefly, but there was just no chemistry between us.  He went into law because it was expected by his family.  He hated it and is teaching political science and history at a local community college now.  I guess my point is, if you really want to be a lawyer, you probably wouldn't need to question it.

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            EmpressFelicityposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            I would agree with that - funding a law degree isn't exactly cheap and it's a waste of money if your heart's not in it and you end up wanting to do something else anyway!

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   BLACKANDGOLDJACKposted 12 years ago

   Edita, sorry for getting your topic off course by starting the lawyer jokes. But, LOL.
   
   So I will attempt to give you a serious answer.
   
   My brother is an attorney. Left western PA years ago at age 17 for New York City and graduated from Columbia Law School. He worked for a big law firm that had an office in the World Trade Center until it blew up. So that is one disadvantage of being a lawyer. You will be targeted by terrorists. For obvious reasons.
   
   Now for an advantage in becoming a lawyer, especially for you. You are apparently fluent in two languages, Armenian and English, right? I can't even make sense of most legal documents in English. Especially my divorce decree. that didn't make any sense to me at all.

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