Of course, I clicked to read this NY Times article, titled "Is Law School a Losing Game?", immediately when it first appeared on January 8. Of course, in the seconds before the page loaded, I answered the question with a sad laugh, "Nope."
But maybe I was too quick to make the fun, cynical joke which I've made often at my own (largely financial) expense. Law school was not hell. It was a solid education into the history and structure of the U.S. government, as well as the interconnection of state and international laws, treaties and jurisdictional bodies that all seek, in various ways, to balance equally various concepts of justice, liberty and human rights. However complex the reading, obtuse the lectures, or occasionally immature the student body, the experience can't help but enlighten. Honestly, it was not a bad way to spend three years. I'd do it again, if I could do it for free.
Unfortunately, the education ends and the professional legal world I entered was not half as thoughtful as the training I got for it. That's not to say that I didn't come across great colleagues and amazing clients in desperately sad situations which demanded rigorous research and intellectual creativity, but as a non-profit attorney helping people struggling to secure even the most basic of needs, I wasn't going to lead a fight to the courthouse if I could obtain a more efficient result without it. And shit, when I did have to go to court, who would handle all my clients while I prepared? Yeah, no one. And who would help me with the copious procedural issues once I was there? Hmph. We were all too swamped with our clients' crises to luxuriate in long debates about conflict of laws or creative constitutional arguments.
Nope, for me, lawyering was social working with a heavy hand. And my legal education? It made my heavy hand more formidable, I suppose, and certainly gave me credibility among my clients when I would let them know, "the government really has never liked poor people" and "the system is not geared for our side to win." I would apologize often, on behalf of the system, until I remembered that the system's flaws were ingrained and purposeful and I'd had nothing to do with its design. Law school helped me with that realization too.
Ah, so jaded. But, fortunately, my legal education also made me pragmatic enough to know when it was time for me to get the hell out. The bummer part is that my loans won't run away from me the way that I ditched the profession.
This week, I sent in my request for inactive status with the California Bar. When I graduated from the very fine UC Davis, King Hall School of Law in 2003, I confessed to one of my favorite professors that I really didn't think I wanted to become a lawyer but I appreciated everything he'd taught me. He offered one final lesson: "You don't have a choice until you pass the Bar. Then, when you have earned the right to be a lawyer, you earn the right to turn your back on us."
In the NY Times article, there's a quote that I found somewhat funny and pretty darn editorial: "law school is a pie eating contest where the first prize is more pie." (Apparently, it's a cliche though I've never heard it.) I don't think this is quite true. I think first prize is a pie in the face. But, with some humility I can admit, I really like peach pie.
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