Nursing to Law School

Peanut&Buttercup · Aug 22, 2014

I would recommend you do some research before you enroll in law school.

1. Unemployment rates for lawyers is pretty high. We have a huge glut of lawyers and no jobs.

2. There is a bimodal salary distribution. The very top of the very top will start at $100K+, while the vast majority will languish at $45-60k. While $45K may be a decent salary, it's not very much if you have $100K+ in loans from law school.

3. The profession has a pretty high dissatisfaction rate. Suicide, depression, divorce and addiction rates are much higher than for the general population.

4. The work is generally tedious and boring, especially as a young attorney. It's absolutely nothing like what you see on TV.

Some people love being lawyers. Most, in my experience, don't. The website abovethelaw.com chronicles some of the negative aspects of the profession. If you do your due diligence and still feel this is the right path for you, by all means, go for it. Just do it with your eyes open.

PacoUSA, BSN, RN · Sep 3, 2014

I would recommend you do some research before you enroll in law school.
1. Unemployment rates for lawyers is pretty high. We have a huge glut of lawyers and no jobs.
2. There is a bimodal salary distribution. The very top of the very top will start at $100K+, while the vast majority will languish at $45-60k. While $45K may be a decent salary, it's not very much if you have $100K+ in loans from law school.
3. The profession has a pretty high dissatisfaction rate. Suicide, depression, divorce and addiction rates are much higher than for the general population.
4. The work is generally tedious and boring, especially as a young attorney. It's absolutely nothing like what you see on TV.
Some people love being lawyers. Most, in my experience, don't. The website abovethelaw.com chronicles some of the negative aspects of the profession. If you do your due diligence and still feel this is the right path for you, by all means, go for it. Just do it with your eyes open.

^^^ This!!

I failed to do my due diligence before jumping into law school and as a result I was one unhappy lawyer for about a decade. Had I listened to that little voice in my head screaming GET OUT GET OUT during a research & writing class I may have in fact become more verse in my career now and certainly more solvent. Reading for a Contracts class was like pulling teeth as opposed to reading for Health Assessment which was night and day for me. But such is life. What matters is that I finally found happiness with nursing and I am here to stay even beyond retirement age (certainly not floor nursing but definitely somewhere in nursing).

You should shadow a lawyer or two for a few days to get a good idea of what they do (something I did NOT do, as I was lured into the perceived glamour of legal work thanks to TV shows like L.A. Law.) Ask questions and get their honest opinion about their quality of life and advice on whether this is a good career to enter. I have to say personally, I have never ever had a lawyer tell me that they loved their job. In fact, many lawyers I worked with in the past really envy my courage to tear myself away from the profession completely to start anew in another. I'm however happy that I did. It was a gamble that paid off.

Sent from my iPad using allnurses

astrocyte · Sep 11, 2014

Thank you so much for the insight @peanut&buttercup and @paco-rn!