Vol
Investor

My advice would be to focus on getting through law school, then the bar. No one know what they want to do or even how to pratice law at those points. That comes latter.

In my opinion, law school doesn't teach you how to be a lawyer. It teaches you how to think like a lawyer. When you start praticing law, your education on becoming a lawyer begins. That continues for a life time. I have been doing it for 30 years and I am still learning.

I beleive the law is the most interesting of all types of work because it is continual learning. Not just about law. Every case has new bits of knowledge to learn. If you do personal injury or workers comp. you have to understand the injuries. So you teach yourself those aspects of medicine. Each injury is different so you keep learning medicine, How can you persuade, if you don't understand the subject matter? Every case has different facts, different bits of knowledge. As you pratice your knowledge base grows. But also each case presents different questions of law in the feild involved, so as you master those, people think of you as a specialist in those feilds. But really, we are all just students, each with a different style. That's why it is an art form. It is why you always pratice law and never master it.


Then there is the art of dealing with people and persuading people. That to me is "the real art of being a lawyer". No one can tell you how to do it. There is no one you can copy, because you must be yourself. So, it is something you must teach yourself and spend a life time improving. No one has the answers! But, you must believe you do and that confidence will carry you a long way.

Always be polite and kind to everyone. That too will carry you a long way. People think of lawyers as being mean to people adverse to them. That is totally wrong. They just defeat them and that causes them to feel they were treated badly, when in fact they may have been treated with kindness and understanding the whole time. Think about, it you have more credibility the less anger you show. I always beleive, the first step towards lossing is to lose your temper. Credibility is the quality that causes people to beleive you and that causes wins. So always seek to improve your credibility with everyone.

I think, I must be boring you writting so much. So, I will stop here. But, if you ever have any question feel free to ask. That what friends are for. I think you will find 99% of the bar are ready to be your friend and help any way they can. In that way it is like a big club.

Just curious, what would you recomend for a law school student...to focus on something or not? I could pick a concentration or do a general law, basic concentration and am not sure what to do. I have been told both ways by different people. If you have any suggestions, let me know. Thanks.