You (and 60,000 Others) Have Taken the LSAT. Now Read This.

[WSJ Law Blog]

When I read the news, reported by Above the Law and others on Tuesday, that LSAT applications have soared over the course of the last year, I was forced to get all cross-legged on the floor and practice my Mindfulness exercises. When I resurfaced from my episode of focused breathing, I resolved to show resolve, to not idly by while so many marched off to law school without at least making my most impassioned stand.

Fortunately, I realized that someone else has recently said, in so many words, what I wanted to say. Earlier this month, a publication called the National Jurist contained an essay called “You chose law school for a reason.” (Hat tip: Adjunct Law Prof Blog.)

Much of the essay concerns the unwillingness of law schools to provide accurate statistics on their graduates’ employment. But about 2/3 of the way down the post, the author, lawyer and law-career-guru Ursula Furi-Perry, pretty much nails it, in my opinion. She writes:

I’ve said this many times before in my books and articles: there are as many reasons to go to law school as there are applicants, but there are some wrong reasons to go.

DON’T go to law school, for example, because you’re lured by the prospect of making money: Most law grads will not get the six-figure salaries so often touted.

DON’T go because you’re trying to please someone else who thinks law school is the right path for you. Only you should make that decision.

DON’T go because you think law school will serve as a “default” option. With a grueling workload and rising tuition costs, you need to make sure you’re enrolled because you want to be, and because the law degree makes sense as a lucrative option for your future.

Spot on. In my opinion, these three make up a significant chunk of the reasons behind young 22 -year-olds trundling off to law school en masse, and they’re all misguided.

Don’t get me wrong. Law school is absolutely the right move for people of a certain prediliction, namely, those people who really want to practice law for a living. And there are a lot of those folks out there. Yes, there are lots of things you can do with a law degree, but the vast majority of them do, in fact, pursue careers as lawyers.

Back when I was applying to law school, the “pre-law” adviser at my undergraduate institution forced me to think if there was anything else I’d rather do than practice law. I told him yes, there was — and I told him what it was — and he very pointedly discouraged me from applying to law school, at least right away. I, driven by a rather overwhelming sense of fear and insecurity and uncertainty and directionlessness, and a sense that what I really wanted to do wasn’t very practical, didn’t take his advice. It was a mistake.

That was in the 1990s. Granted, times are tough now, but the stakes are higher too. Tuition is more expensive and even graduates of top-tier schools struggle to get high-paying jobs, let alone graduates from more middling institutions.

So, I’d encourage you to ask yourselves, LSAT-takers, is there anything else you’d rather be? Try that first. Law school will always be there.