Well I gave up trying to find a legal job in the liberal social justice world - if you haven't gone to Harvard, Yale or Columbia Law, it is near impossible to find jobs like that.

I have decided to practice the other kind of law I liked in law school - tax law (hence my username). I am trying desperately to get a job with the IRS while I get my master's in tax part-time.

Well, I had a bunch of questions when I clicked on this thread, but taxgirl just crushed every single dream I have had since I was a little kid. I'm applying to law schools this fall, but now I really don't know what to do.

I have always been interested in pursuing a path in law and social justice, and I am already involved in a lot of those issues in other ways. I'm sure as hell not going to a top 5 or even 10 school, though... do I really have no chance?

I follow a lot of the social justice stuff going on, specifically with LGBTQ rights, and as far as I know, none of my favourite figures have degrees from the "top of the top" schools. Is this something that has changed recently that I just don't know about?

I apologize comment above sounds melodramatic. It was simply surprising for me, and very different from other perspectives I've heard. Hearing that is sort of panic-inducing, to be honest.

The legal job market is tough now and on the East Coast if you want a public interest/nonprofit job that pays you a living wage (or even one that doesn't), school pedigree matters. Especially in Washington DC or New York - I don't know how it is where you live. In other areas, it might not be as bad. I think it will be easier for me to get a government job that to get a full time job at the ACLU - a place where I interned in the summer of 2005.

If I had to do it all over again, I would think twice about going to law school. It's expensive and there are few people that make enough money to pay off all that debt in a reasonable period of time. Even Barack Obama just paid off his law school loans a couple of years ago. He used his book advance to do it. If he had not gotten a book deal, he would still be making those monthly payments! I haven't paid on my loans yet - I don't make enough money so I qualify for an economic hardship deferment.

Really think about whether you need a law degree to have the job you want. You might be able to make the kind of money you want and get the job you want without it - or with a less expensive graduate degree. The market is flooded with law grads now. Law firms are laying off lawyers left and right. I am actually thinking about practicing law part time and just doing that on the side because it has been 2 years and I haven't been able to find a legal job.

I'd be looking in CA. To be honest, if I had a choice I might reconsider going to law school. It's far too late for that. I HAVE to apply somewhere in the next few months because I can't afford to pay off my student loans from undergrad if I don't enroll again immediately, and I won't be able to defer. I have prepped for the LSAT, not the GRE. I probably don't have to have a law degree to do what I want to do, but I think it would be very helpful not only in terms of employment opportunities/experience, but for personal interest reasons as well.

I am expecting to pay back loans until I am dead. I'm fine with that part.

I guess it's better to know going in that I am completely screwed, but yeah, I am screwed and there's not much I can do about it.

Hey LesbianLlama, a ray of hope. taxgirl1 isn't entirely wrong, but it's not all doom and gloom. there are multiple routes to a good public interest job. among them, believe it or not, is to spend some time in the private sector. i chose not to go that route, and had a few years of having to think about whether to spend my joke of a salary on rent or ramens before I 'broke in.' a lot does depend on school pedigree, there's no doubt -- particularly at the big orgs (taxgirl1 mentioned the aclu; they do tend to hire from the top schools). but a lot depends also on your performance, personality, connections, and luck.

LL,

Another lawyer thinking taxgirl1 is being too negative--I'm familiar with the CA market, and schools like SCU Law and UC Davis channel a higher percent of their grads. into public interest than Stanford and Berkeley do. The Northern California Innocence Project (which I am familiar with) has one SCU grad. as a staff attorney, and the Executive director, the fabulous Cookie Ridolfi, graduated from Rutgers. So it isn't all gloom and doom. If you consider Public Defender work to be public interest, I think it starts in the $60-$80k range in most of the big cities.

If you have any specific questions about applying, or just want someone to vent to, you can email me at ismonie@gmail.com.

-Izzy

Thanks, Izzy. That reminds me of another thing to note about the prestige of the law school and entrance to the public interest. Many of the top schools equate success in the public interest with securing employment at an org whose prestige in its field is commensurate with that of the law school. In other words, 'success' is working at the ACLU, or the Center for Constitutional Rights, or the Department of Justice. Sure, a few people every year accept employment... elsewhere... But we don't talk about them, don't circulate their pictures on public interest law bulletins, don't invite them back to lecture on campus.

Check out National Lawyers Guild, and try to make it to the east coast one year for the rebellious lawyering conference.

Same goes for me re questions. roli DOT director AT gmail DOT com.