Thursday, March 4, 2010

Advice for a Future Lawyer

Today Career Services had a guest speaker make a presentation.  Overall, I would have to say this was one of the most informative speakers they've had, and definitely the most entertaining.  One of her pearls of wisdom stuck in my head and I felt the need to share.

Obviously, people are worried about getting jobs once we graduate.  And once you finally manage to get a job, what if you hate it?  There are hundreds of areas of law, but what if you end up taking a job not in the area you want simply because it's the only job you can get?  Are you going to be stuck there for the rest of your career, or will you eventually be able to make it back into other areas?  What if you do end up with your dream job, in your dream city, with the dream firm.....and then you make a mistake that nobody ever lets you live down?  Are you going to be the butt of jokes forever?

What I learned today from this speaker was that it really didn't matter what I did when I got out of school.  Whatever I do is not going to determine where I spend the rest of my career.  Or as she put it: "The worst thing you can do straight out of law school is commit a felony and get caught." 

There are two things I'd like to point out about this bit of advice.  First, apparently the problem is not committing the felony, it's getting caught.  And second, if you commit the felony and get caught, it's ok as long as you're not straight out of law school.  I'm pretty sure that's not what she meant, but it does make it more entertaining and memorable to think if it this way.

1 comment:

  1. HA...I'd say this is the rule of thumb all throughout life, isn't it? just DON'T GET CAUGHT...at least that's what Tiger was hoping to do. People aren't sorry about the act...they're sorry they GOT CAUGHT!! good advice!

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