I still work at "the firm" two days a week during the school year. Honestly, I love it. I love the change of pace, and I love being able to take what I've learned in my wills and trusts class the week before, and see how it will actually behoove me to understand the information, to apply when I'm a full fledged lawyer some day.
I'm also excited, that I learn something new every day that I'm at the firm. Sometimes it can be overwhelming, but I like knowing that I will never (well probably hopefully rarely ever) have a boring day. Lawyers are expected to be paying attention to the current laws, interesting cases, and understand where things are moving towards. We should be constantly education ourselves, even after law school.
As for "the firm"
There is no better feeling than having a client tell you that you did a good job on some legal research for a trial that you heard about 2 hours before it was occurring Or when your boss tells you that you found some great cases for memo. I love finding some interesting research that may have seriously altered the outcome of a hearing, or walking up to a partner with a well-researched memo on a topic they are relying on you to educate them on. The best moments are the ones where I've drafted a demand letter, and then reviewed it thinking "Wow...I sound like a real lawyer"
I wonder if when I'm a full-fledged lawyer, if I'll still have these moments...or if I will begin to take them for granted. I don't see why I wouldn't, because I seriously doubt having a piece of paper in my hand, and a tassel on piece of cardboard on my head will change the fact that I still wont feel like a "real lawyer".
Working in a firm is truly eyeopening. How law students come straight out of law school and open up their own practice is beyond me. How can you really expect to have the knowledge of a true lawyer in just 3 years of school? Law school doesn't teach you about the real world. It doesn't teach you how to change a hearing date, or how to schedule a court reporter, or even where the register of deeds is in the courthouse...basically all if the practical things that you learn when you're a newbie.
As for the legal questions, in a firm, I can ask questions and I know which attorney is more likely to know the answer. Its a support system, at least in my experience. I'll admit, I work in a small firm, which feels more like a community than what I hear from law clerks working at large firms.
So to all you law students, or soon to be law students out there...I'd highly suggest you give the law firm life a try. It changed my entire idea of what I want to be doing when I graduate, and educated me far more than any "pre-trial litigation" course could ever teach me.
I wonder if when I'm a full-fledged lawyer, if I'll still have these moments...or if I will begin to take them for granted. I don't see why I wouldn't, because I seriously doubt having a piece of paper in my hand, and a tassel on piece of cardboard on my head will change the fact that I still wont feel like a "real lawyer".
Working in a firm is truly eyeopening. How law students come straight out of law school and open up their own practice is beyond me. How can you really expect to have the knowledge of a true lawyer in just 3 years of school? Law school doesn't teach you about the real world. It doesn't teach you how to change a hearing date, or how to schedule a court reporter, or even where the register of deeds is in the courthouse...basically all if the practical things that you learn when you're a newbie.
As for the legal questions, in a firm, I can ask questions and I know which attorney is more likely to know the answer. Its a support system, at least in my experience. I'll admit, I work in a small firm, which feels more like a community than what I hear from law clerks working at large firms.
So to all you law students, or soon to be law students out there...I'd highly suggest you give the law firm life a try. It changed my entire idea of what I want to be doing when I graduate, and educated me far more than any "pre-trial litigation" course could ever teach me.
2 comments:
Sounds like you are in the right field! You will make a great lawyer someday, and a creative one at that!
That is so great, and I wholeheartedly agree. I feel like it's one of those things where the more you know, the more you realize you DON'T know. I cannot imagine opening my own firm my first year out of law school. Malpractice much? haha
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