How To Figure Out What The Heck To Do Next After Quitting Law School

Hey there, faithful readers who've been dying to hear from me regarding quitting law school and ignoring my foray into low-quality blogging with a legal bent!

I received a couple questions a while back and thought, why not? I'll blog about them.

Some time ago Anon asked:

"I'm really considering quitting law school. I never dreamed of becoming a lawyer. Honestly it was never even on my radar during undergrad. It was only after I graduated and started going "now what?" that I thought about it. So I studied for the LSATs for roughly two months, did pretty well, applied to one school, and was accepted on a full ride. Honestly I don't hate it but I could really care less about law. I'm not bad at law school. I got the highest grade on our first writing assignment but I'm so much happier doing other things. My hearts not in it and I realize that I resent the huge drain it has on my time. I don't think I'd be a bad lawyer I just don't think I'd be a particularly good one. Honestly, I think my biggest question is if I go through with it and quit law school what in the heck do I do next? How do I go about finding a job and making a life and all that stuff? What did you do?"

Well, Anon... it kind of sounds like you might just be too scared of whatever may follow law school or quitting law school to make any decisions at this point.

My questions to you are first, what do you want from your career?  If you're looking for stable employment or decent wages, it sounds like finishing up law school probably wouldn't be the worst thing for you, especially if you aren't struggling with it.  If you're solely looking for something that fulfills you, then you should consider your options in quitting.

Here are many other questions I would consider good for you to ask yourself: What was on your radar when you were in undergrad?  What have you done to help give yourself the life experiences that will help you find out what your true passions and interests are?  If you're looking to follow your heart, you're going to need to know what your heart is saying.  For instance, are you driven by a desire to serve humanity?  Are you driven by a desire to provide for and protect your own?  Are you driven by social standing or acceptance?  Are you concerned about the expectations others have for you?  Do you have the time to step back and explore your options?  Do you have responsibilities to others that don't allow for that?  What things DO make you happy if the law does not?  What times in your life did you feel fulfilled and content with the direction you were heading?

As for your questions for me... I just went to my network and started looking for things that interested me.  But that was not until I had taken a break and explored one last time whether the law was for me (by interning for a judge.)  Now I work in marketing and I get to write and edit which is really where I think my passion lies.

Don't know how helpful all of that was, but hopefully I've at least offered something for you to think about.

I also received a question from Jessica that deals with some experiences of hers that I think many people can relate to:

Right now i'm in the middle of my second year. Law school for me has been a rollercoaster. I have great grades. I have become super involved with law societies, journals, and a teaching assistant position. On paper, law school is generally going "well." However, I could not get a legal job last summer. Throughout the countless interviews I got the same question: why don't you have any legal experience prior to going to law school? I have a Master's degree, and I worked two odd jobs to get through that degree financially. What I find frustrating is the implication that I have sat on my butt since college, and somehow this work that I am super proud of just isn't good enough. This is the point at which I started to consider dropping out. the inability to find a legal position over the summer completely consumed me, and I ended up completely depressed for months.
But it turned out just fine, and during my 1L summer I got an amazing job at a publishing company. I did amazing work there, and being back in a field that I loved helped me overcome my depression. I even learned a bit about copyright and intellectual property, so I thought I could use this interesting experience to find work in that area of law. However, I recently met with my career services adviser who told me - and I still get truly shaken up about this when I think about it - that I will never be a lawyer. She said that despite my grades and my activities, I don't have the "personality or demeanor." She also hinted that I could never be a lawyer because I am a woman. I feel like this is just the last straw for me. I have a job offer in the publishing field, and I have never had anyone in that field question my abilities to do great work even though I am "female" and "soft spoken." And now I'm right back in the depression. It's difficult to even get out of bed in the morning. However, it's so hard to pull the plug after putting in the time, money, and effort. I feel like I might always wonder if this degree would have helped me to get a job down the road. But I feel like I have to take back my life.

I feel like law school is such a specific set of circumstances. My boyfriend and my family are all super supportive of whatever decision I make. I guess I just wanted to reach out to someone who has been to law school.

Jessica,

For the lack of something better to say, I'm going to first say, some people suck.  Obviously you could be a lawyer if you wanted to be.  You're a talented person that has proven yourself in a professional atmosphere.  Maybe a "soft spoken" nature would keep you from working in legal settings that require extremely charged verbal debate, but there are SO many areas of the law, and SO many types of lawyers.  That woman is an idiot for flat out saying you would never be a lawyer.  That's your choice.

Moving on, I sincerely hope you've reached out for help with the depression.  I can only speak to my own experiences with it, but just be open and honest with SOMEONE you trust about EVERYTHING you need to get off your chest.  It did me a world of good to be open about it.

I really hope that you know that quitting law school, while super hard to do after all the time, money, and effort you've invested (as you said), can be completely worth it.  I still deal with the financial ramifications of my decision to quit, but I know that I'm a happy person. Being able to live with a positive attitude is worth losing on the stuff I invested into a legal career.  But that's just me!

Hope you've been able to sort some things out since writing!

Sorry to Jessica and Anon for taking my time in responding!  I actually started this blog post about a month or so ago!  I just realized that I didn't want to let this blog go by the wayside while I move on with my life.  It can still serve a good purpose in a few people's lives, and I mean to make it available to them!

Next time on How to Quit Law School: A very important update post about the author.  (That one might take a while before it shows up, but it should be fairly good.)