Discouraged become lawyer?
I'm in college majoring in Political Science and minoring in History. I make good grades, I enjoy it and I'm good at it. However, it would appear Poli Sci is not a particularly valuable degree. I've been told I'd make a great attorney and I have an interest in intellectual property & technology law. But everyone tells me law school is very stressful/difficult and law is a very stressful profession.
So I'm kinda discouraged/depressed as to what to do. I'm told lawyers aren't particularly happy people and that the practice of law is very stressful and a lot of lawyers become alcoholics/addicts of some kind to cope.
Plus, law school is very expensive so if I take the risk it'll be huge debt.
Since the degree I'll so have (BS in Poli Sci) is basically worthless I'm kinda depressed about my future.
Answer:
You do NOT need a sci/tech degree to work in IP law! You only need a science degree if you want to become a patent lawyer before the US Patent & Trademark Office. Every other aspect of IP law from licensing to litigation is done outside of the USPTO. Any lawyer can take a case to court. Any lawyer can negotiate a contract. Patents are not the end all and be all of IP law. So if this is something you have a strong interest in, do not let that stop you.
Yes, law school is stressful, but working life in general is stress. Everybody needs to find ways to re-connect with reality - friends, family, non-law hobbies. At my school, the student affairs office gives out free movie tickets and we have an annual spring musical revue called the Follies where they sing obscene songs making fun of the dean. You find ways to get through law school just as you found ways to get through college.
If you want it, do it!
to be a tech lawyer or any real ip guys u need a bachlors in a science field.
I got an MA in Political Science and never really used it. I have friends/fam who were far more wonkish and are now staffers in the capital, attorneys, profs. Some love what they do some don't, but that's the case in any field. Sure, it's stressfull, but it's part of the job. It depends how badly you want it. Nobody else can make that decision for you.
law school is very difficult for some, and easy for others. If you can think logically and put together a coherent sentence, you should be fine. BTW, you shouldn't decide what sort of lawyering I wanted to do until you get into school and get a little exposure to a few fields. Yes, there are lawyers who are alcoholics, just as there are plumbers and professors who drink too much. The vast majority of lawyers that I know lead quiet middle class lives indistinguishable from their neighbors.
You seem to think that to be a lawyer means to be in private practice, which is where the stress lies. It occurs to me that you might be very happy as an in-house lawyer in a corporation where you can apply your interest in intellectual property and technology and at the same time use your (about to be acquired) legal skills. See if you can do an internship or at least get some work experience in such a corporation and see whether you feel that you could fit in. At the same time, look into career prospects for government lawyers with a background in Poli Sci. That again might be the answer for you! I'm sure you have a great future, so cheer up! Good luck!
I am an attorney with a psychology BA. I knew I wanted to be an attorney since high school so I got my pysch degree just to have something. Psych, I've been told is a pretty useless degree without more education, which seems to be how you are feeling about Poli Sci.
I thought law school was hard at first, because I spent so many years parroting my professors in undergrad and writing 20 page bullsh.. papers. I had to adjust to a new way of thinking and writing, but once I caught on, I enjoyed law school the last two years. They say, your first year is the hardest, your second is the busiest and your third is the most boring.
Any job can be stressful - while law might seem more so than others, law is mostly just challenging. You work with a lot of type A, anal retentive lawyers, but the work is always different. The client and his/her problems are always unique, the facts are always different and you have to come up with new ways to apply the law.
If you looked for a small firm or a government job, I think that would be less stressful than a 500 lawyer firm. Government lawyers get out at 5:00pm and have weekends and holidays off.
I passed the bar here in MI and I had a horrible time finding a job. I would have to say the market right now is supporting patent and tax attorneys vs. private practice. Firms are looking for five years experience or number one in your class.
My advice is to pick a place you want to live and go to school there. I took that advice and then had to move back home after graduation for family reasons. I had so many connections in VA and I had to leave all of them to come to MI where I knew no one in the law field. Definitely get a summer legal job as that shows experience on your resume and definitely network. As silly as that sometimes sound and as sad as some people are when they obsessed with networking, its who you know that gets you a job.
I hope I was helpful; I really want others to learn from my mistakes.
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