Okay, anyone want to give some advice?

[Gregg]

First off, I'mm 44 years old and once upon a time I was an accoutant although I've been out of practice since 1999. I currently work at Ford, not at all relevant to anything I've studied for. I have a BSBA accounting, MBA and PhD in International Business. I'm considering going to law school, Ford will pay the tuition so that's not an issue, and I make mid six figures anyhow...I'm single.

I work about 70 hours a week, but I'm seriously hyperkinetic...

Am I insane to consider law school at this time? I have no desire to actually practice law, I'm just a knowledge junky. And can you go to law school part time?

Any input would be appreciated....

G

[Doktor Avalanche]

First off, I'mm 44 years old and once upon a time I was an accoutant although I've been out of practice since 1999. I currently work at Ford, not at all relevant to anything I've studied for. I have a BSBA accounting, MBA and PhD in International Business. I'm considering going to law school, Ford will pay the tuition so that's not an issue, and I make mid six figures anyhow...I'm single.

I work about 70 hours a week, but I'm seriously hyperkinetic...

Am I insane to consider law school at this time? I have no desire to actually practice law, I'm just a knowledge junky. And can you go to law school part time?

Any input would be appreciated....

G

If you don't have the desire to practice law, then law school isn't for you.

I, on the other hand, do have the desire to practice law but don't have the money to put up to do it. I wish my job would put up the tuition for law school.

[Investor]

If you don't have the desire to practice law, then law school isn't for you.

I wholeheartedly disagree. Many, many lawyers do not practice law. Law school teaches you many skills which translate to other careers, and it is a worthwhile venture from a pure academic standpoint. Gregg, I was a practicing CPA when I went to law school. It was not easy to juggle both a career and the law school workload, but I don't have a single regret about doing it. Oh, and I no longer practice law (well, I do a little) and feel the education I received in getting my JD makes me much better at what I do.

I was a bit younger than 44 when I entered law school, but I was a little older than the average JD student. I believe that fact made law school a little easier for me than for many of my classmates.

[Judge Roy Bean]

IMHO anyone who is "hyperkinetic" would have a very difficult time with the regimen.

[Levendis]

I am in my fourth and final year of law school as a part-time, night student. I'm 28 with a wife (a full-time undergraduate student), a four-year old son, and a full-time job in the tax industry. I voted that you should go for it.

Law school is boring. If you're not going to practice, you'll probably learn more from reading the interweb. On the other hand, unless you go to one of the top law schools, you'll be doing a favor for whichever marginal student you'll displace (who would probably fail the bar after incurring mountains of student loan debt). But, on the tertiary hand, you may find it hard to discipline yourself to keep up with the work in a way that doesn't shortchange your quest for knowledge. That is, it may often be possible to cram and get decent grades, but you wouldn't learn much. I do not know what may be found in the quaternary hand.

[grammarian44]

I went to law school at 42, after 12 years as a full time college professor.

Don't get to law school because you think would enjoy the classes. It's not fun. Go because you really think you will do something with it afterward. Law school is not designed to fan your interests in the law for its own sake, unlike many other graduate fields. It's designed to pump as much law into you as possible in the available time, for the sole purpose of getting you into legal practice.

Law school assumes that you will practice, even if you won't.

[Prof]

I went to law school at 42, after 12 years as a full time college professor.

Don't get to law school because you think would enjoy the classes. It's not fun. Go because you really think you will do something with it afterward. Law school is not designed to fan your interests in the law for its own sake, unlike many other graduate fields. It's designed to pump as much law into you as possible in the available time, for the sole purpose of getting you into legal practice.

Law school assumes that you will practice, even if you won't.

I second this observation. I was a little older when I went to law school, with an MA and military service before I entered. I went to law school because I realized that a Ph.D. in History and another 4 years of grad school would land me a job in a non-tenure track community college, if I was lucky, or as an archivist if I wasn't.

With the GI Bill, I eventually got two law degrees. I was one of the lucky folks who shifted from graduate school to law school, because I found that I liked law school a lot more than I liked graduate school. However, I approached law school as a job -- and worked at it about 60 hours a week (not including part-time jobs, National Guard, and family -- I married just as I entered law school). Lots of folks who had advanced degrees and came over to law school hated the experience, even if they succeeded, and some have spent decades as law school professors trying to change law school into a more grad school like environment. They have not succeeded and remain miserable. See, e.g., Kennedy, Duncan.

That commitment made it possible for me to do well, get good job offers on graduation, and, later, enter the law school teaching ranks for about 10 wonderful years before I got ambitious again.

However, part-time law school, of the type you describe, is just dabbling. You may find the classes interesting, but to benefit, you really have to work, and work hard. Of course, as a part-time student, you will be taking up a space which another person might get -- so that he or she can incurr about 70,000 in student loans, while foregoing about as much in income from a good part-time job, just to find that he or she cannot get a job or can only get a job that pays about 40,000. In which case, you will be doing a good thing.

However, given your background and level of education, and the nature of most law schools with night/part-time divisions (does Wayne State still have a night school?), as well as the nature of those night schools, I think you will quickly be bored to tears by the nature of that educational experience. You will sit in long classes, which, given the nature of night schools, will often be taught as lecture classes, with little of the Kingsfield approach as seen on TV. You will be tired. Your classmates will be tired. There will be little intellectual interaction. Many of your fellow students will not only be tired, but will also be there solely to get a professional ticket. It will remind you of CPA exam prep. course work. So, before you invest Ford's now extremely limited resources, go over to Wayne State or where ever and visit a couple of classes. See if you find this stimulating enough to keep you going for 4 years.

[Famspear]

I became a CPA and was in public accounting for a few years before law school. I think that the law school experience must vary quite a bit for each individual, depending in part on the school you attend, because my experience was overwhelmingly theoretical, using the Socratic method/case method - very little real "lecture" like anything I experienced in college. Definitely nowhere near anything like "CPA exam prep. course work."

Now, for the kicker: I practiced law for only a short period after law school. Since law school, I have been in a specialized tax practice -- as a CPA -- for over 15 years. Nevertheless, for me the decision to go to law school was one of the best things I have ever done. The law school experience is a great practical help for me in my tax practice.

[Famspear]

Post-script: I hasten to add that I went through a regular full time day program - going summers and finishing the 3 year program in 2 and a half years, so I could get out and move on.

The night law school experience described by other contributors above is unknown to me, so please take that into consideration.

[Prof]

Post-script: I hasten to add that I went through a regular full time day program - going summers and finishing the 3 year program in 2 and a half years, so I could get out and move on.

The night law school experience described by other contributors above is unknown to me, so please take that into consideration.

Yes, I strongly suspect that almost all night law schools tend to "cover the ground and all of the ground" necessary to pass the bar. However, our inquiring mind may find a more satisfactory program in his area, which I assume to be Detroit. He should go to the local night program(s) and "test-drive" the experience.

And, re-reading my remarks, which in retrospect seem very critical of the night school approach, I should note that many fine lawyers, including former partners of mine, came out of night programs and were and are wonderful lawyers. That said, most would describe the night school experience the way I did -- a grind to get a ticket.

On the other hand, three years at UTex Law School (did you go there or elsewhere) could be a wonderfully stimulating experience, particularly given the quality of the faculty and student body at a major law school.

[Famspear]

I went to the University of Houston Law Center. Back then, the Law Center was criticized by some students as being "too theoretical" - which I thought was a strength for the law school, not a weakness. I seem to recall that back then, U of H was ranked in the top 50 law schools nationally, ahead of Texas schools like Southern Methodist University and Baylor, but lower than UT Austin. The latest US News & World Report rankings are putting U of H at a ranking of about 60 nationally. I think that the lowered ranking of U of H over the past few years has been a source of some heated discussions.

When I was there, I found the professors to be excellent. I found the law library to be very good. (Years later the library, which is underground, was devastated by the flooding of Tropical Storm Allison; I hope they have fully recovered from that.) U of H offered its share of fairly esoteric courses from which to choose. I had a very good experience at the University of Houston.

Minor rant: The law school rankings by US News and other commentators can be helpful, but are only one set of tools to be used in making a decision. (The higher your particular school is ranked, the more valid the ranking, of course!)

[Prof]

John Schultz, the law librarian at that time, had been my law librarian at So. Carolina. The assoc. law librarian, Mike Baird, is a long time friend; I knew him when he was the law librarian at Ole' Miss, when I taught there (he left UofH in the late 70's, certainly before your time there). Ray Nimmer and Liz Warren (now at Harvard) were probably there then, particularly since Ray, at least, is still there, and has been serving as interim dean following the resignation of the most recent dean, Nancy Rapoport, who was criticized for letting the ranking slip out of the top 50 and was viewed as too liberal.

My remarks about night schools are heavily influenced by what I know of South Texas (which produces very good lawyers, I might add).

[Famspear]

I remember Professor Nimmer (although I had no classes with him) and I remember Jon Schultz at the law library (I think he spells his name "Jon").

[Prof]

I remember Professor Nimmer (although I had no classes with him) and I remember Jon Schultz at the law library (I think he spells his name "Jon").

You are correct; your memory is better than mine. By the way, I think U of H is stll behnd SMU and Baylor, but not much.