Before we move on to discuss why you should go to law school, I need to define something at this point in time.
What does it mean to be a "lawyer?" You can look up this definition yourself on Wikipedia or other sources. For the purposes of this blog, however, I define a lawyer as someone who will represent clients as lawyers. I realize that this is kind of a circular definition, but in the end, a lawyer is someone who will represent a client and defend his interests against other people or organizations that are trying to do him harm. I am not talking exclusively about courtroom work: there are many lawyers who fit this definition who will never set foot in a courtroom. I am talking about people who get a law degree, get licensed as attorneys and spend their time defending their clients' interests against those who try to do harm to their clients.
Maybe it is the romantic in me, or maybe it is because I practice full-contact historical fencing as a hobby, but I see lawyers as Medieval warriors of old ready to do battle to defend people.
This definition is important because over the next few series of posts I will be describing why a person should go to law school and become a licensed attorney. If a person is going to go to law school to be a businessperson, a business consultant, an office worker, a drone in some office, a real-estate agent, etc. then in my opinion they are not practicing law. People who seek these positions do not need to go to law school; an MBA will do just fine. There is no need to ask if people such as these should go to law school, therefore, since they have other educational options available to them to fulfill their career goals.
Lawyers fight. Pure and simple.
So, the next series of posts will affirmatively try to answer the question: should you go to law school?
What does it mean to be a "lawyer?" You can look up this definition yourself on Wikipedia or other sources. For the purposes of this blog, however, I define a lawyer as someone who will represent clients as lawyers. I realize that this is kind of a circular definition, but in the end, a lawyer is someone who will represent a client and defend his interests against other people or organizations that are trying to do him harm. I am not talking exclusively about courtroom work: there are many lawyers who fit this definition who will never set foot in a courtroom. I am talking about people who get a law degree, get licensed as attorneys and spend their time defending their clients' interests against those who try to do harm to their clients.
Maybe it is the romantic in me, or maybe it is because I practice full-contact historical fencing as a hobby, but I see lawyers as Medieval warriors of old ready to do battle to defend people.
This definition is important because over the next few series of posts I will be describing why a person should go to law school and become a licensed attorney. If a person is going to go to law school to be a businessperson, a business consultant, an office worker, a drone in some office, a real-estate agent, etc. then in my opinion they are not practicing law. People who seek these positions do not need to go to law school; an MBA will do just fine. There is no need to ask if people such as these should go to law school, therefore, since they have other educational options available to them to fulfill their career goals.
Lawyers fight. Pure and simple.
So, the next series of posts will affirmatively try to answer the question: should you go to law school?
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