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I got accepted to a local school here in Pittsburgh, Duquesne, which from what I understand places well regionally and has a good alumni network here in Western PA, which is where I want to stay and practice, preferably doing something in family law, veterans law, or litigation. I particularly don't care about being rich, and the scholarship they're offering me leaves me paying about $33-35K total for a JD. My house and cars are paid off, I don't owe on credit cards or other loans, and my undergrad was paid for by the GI Bill so I only have about $6K in student debt from there. I'm 33 and have a varied work history, and I sit on my county's Democratic committee so I have a pretty good network in place of people in politics, law, and the judiciary since our judges are all elected here in PA, and they all come to political events. Am I doing this right? Is a relatively low ranked (compared nationally) school worth going to, even with a large scholarship offer?
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Dec 2, 2014 13:03
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yronic heroism posted:Be clear with yourself on your objective. You say you want to practice law. You're sure you don't want to just to be in politics or government generally? Yeah, I tried the politics thing and I absolutely hated it. I just keep my committee seat for the networking it allows. I also worked in government and I did six years in the Air Force, which I liked my job but wasn't a tremendous fan of government bureaucracy. The reason I want to focus on veterans law is because veterans courts are sprouting up all over Pennsylvania, and Duquesne has a strong veterans clinic. I came back from the military with PTSD and had substance abuse issues for years before cleaning my act up about 6 years ago. The only issue is that veterans law probably won't even be enough to pay what bills I do have. And as for my scholarship, it's simply contingent upon being in good academic standing. As long as I pass, I keep the cash. Other schools offered more, but were tied to GPA which my pre-law advisor told me I should avoid like the plague.
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Dec 2, 2014 13:54
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Hot Dog Day #91 posted:Toona: are you ok with working 60 hours a week to earn 30,000 per year for the rest of your life? If so, go for it. My first two years in the Air Force I copied Morse code for 8-12 hours a day for $1000/mo + room and board.  So yeah, something in the ballpark of 40-60k/year...I can easily live with that. I get paid about $1600/mo now on the GI Bill and it takes care of all of my basic needs. Toona the Cat fucked around with this message at 14:16 on Dec 2, 2014 |
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Dec 2, 2014 14:09
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Green Crayons posted:Some folks in here practice family law. They will tell you how horrible it is. In Pennsylvania, they've set up veterans courts who deal only with first or second time offenders who happen to be veterans. It has a greater focus on rehabilitation, getting homeless vets off the streets who turn to crime, and those who came back with mental issues and such. It helps enroll them into VA programs and tries to cut down recidivism. Yeah, you're spot on with the general practitioner aspect. Last semester I shadowed my university's general counsel, who worked in solo practice for 20 years. He said the first 15 were pretty awful with just trying to generate enough business from people who could actually pay. I'll be 37 when I finish law school so that's not exactly appealing, but I would be okay with being in a small firm. My pre-law advisor was a malpractice/injury lawyer here in Pittsburgh for 30 years, where he was a managing partner before retiring and handing his seat to his son and basically said as long as I don't gently caress law school up horribly, he has the right connections to get me started.
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Dec 2, 2014 14:13
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CaptainScraps posted:I have over $45,000 in outstanding invoices this year. Good grief. How much of it do you actually expect to get back?
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Dec 2, 2014 16:09
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Soylent Pudding posted:Toona, you sound like you've done your homework far better than most prospective students in this thread. Also congrats on getting a handle on your substance abuse issues. However, have you considered that lawyers are at very high risk for depression and substance abuse and what impact this might have on your preexisting issues? I've had extremely good advisers. My entire department at my undergrad university is comprised of four professors, two of which are former attorneys. All of them wrote my letters of recommendation, and I've basically kept them in the loop at every step, asked their advice, and then acted on what they recommended. It's worked out well. Yeah, I've strongly considered that. My problems with alcohol were before my daughter was born. After my daughter was born in 2009, and suffered a birth injury resulting in cerebral palsy, it made giving up the sauce a lot easier. I haven't really been much more of a light social drinker since she was born. Before that, at least a couple times a week I would sit at my desk and see how fast I could drink a fifth of something, in between other drinks. Fuzzie Dunlop posted:Whatever you do, you should negotiate for a higher scholarship offer from Duquesne. You should at least get them to match those higher offers. Depending on how close the numbers are, maybe push for a full-ride. Schedule an appointment with someone on the admissions staff, mention your other offers and tell them that finances are a concern for you and you want to know what they can offer. Then go from there. I think it's useful to meet in person for these as much as possible. They may say they'll have to wait until later in the cycle, like March or April to let you know, but just say fine, stick to your guns, and have a few follow-up meetings or phone calls every 2-3 weeks until you have an answer. Yes, I'm actually working with one of my professors on trying to get DU to up their ante by using other offers. No, I can't say I do. I'm hoping to do so this spring. One of my neighbors is a tax attorney and basically said that whenever I want to, I can hang out in his office this spring. I have no interest in tax law, but I assume that'll give me at least some insight into how a small firm works. Right now, I'm unemployed. I'm living off of my GI Bill monthly stipend, and my wife's income. I'm in a good place financially, where even if I don't draw in a dollar from anywhere for the next few years, I can come out the other side relatively unscathed, and without raiding my portfolio or retirement accounts. And yes, over the next 10 months or so, I'm hoping to network as much as I humanly can.
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Dec 3, 2014 03:09
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Vox Nihili posted:Have you seen this: http://www.lstscorereports.com/schools/duquesne/2013/ It looks like about 50% of people graduating from that law school actually become lawyers. Yes. Duquesne draws a lot of the "fresh-out-of-undergrad-oh-god-law-school-seems-like-a-good-option" type of student, and they're the go-to school in the region for people who simply think that law school is the way to go for them because they have no other ideas of what to do. I fall into both of these categories slightly, but I come in with years of work experience, a solid network, and a nice scholarship. I realize I'm taking a bit of a chance on Duquesne and law school in general, but for the price of a medium SUV, that's a chance I'm willing to take.
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Dec 3, 2014 15:22
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The Warszawa posted:The college of magi should practice race-conscious affirmative action, elves are URM. I don't know about the game you guys are talking about, but this is great.
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Dec 16, 2014 19:42
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Meatbag Esq. posted:Currently in a restaurant at big sur drinking a beer with my family. Big law can suck my nut bitches. If it was Fernwood Bar and Grill...so was I.
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Dec 26, 2014 14:00
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Have any of you used Post-9/11 GI Bill Benefits to pay for law school? After I finish undergrad this spring, I'll still have about 3 months of benefits to use. Does anyone have an idea of if that'll pay for at least a year based on the theory that if you have even a day left, the VA is known to pay for an entire semester?
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Jan 7, 2015 07:23
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Mr. Nice! posted:I'm using it now. Three months will probably only get you one semester. Do you have any service connected disability? If so, you may be eligible for vocational rehab. Voc rehab will pay for your school and then some and will provide a monthly stipend as well even though it is a bit less than the 9-11 BAH. Go down to GiP and check out the education resource thread. There's a lot of good info in there. No, no disability. ActusRhesus posted:some states also let vets who are residents attend public universities for free. May be worth moving, working for a year to set up residency, and then doing that. Intriguing. I may have to look into this.
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Jan 7, 2015 15:25
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I got tipped off to a firm looking for undergrad interns to do no-pay office bitch work, which I really wouldn't mind doing since it'll get me into an environment I want to end up in after law school (10 or so attorneys) and I'm financially well off enough to not worry about the not getting paid part. I realize I'm likely asking a stupid question here and my gut instinct is that the answer is "no," but should I include any information on my resume or cover letter about what law schools I got accepted to or any scholarship offers?
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Jan 10, 2015 05:22
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Arcturas posted:Why would they care where you got accepted to law school? Or about your scholarship offers? I have no idea. It seemed like a bad idea but I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask those actually in the legal career field.
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Jan 10, 2015 18:03
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Have any of you used a home equity loan or homeowners line of credit versus student loans? I have above average credit, and from what I can tell, my interest rate would be about half of what it would be compared to student loans, and create a payment of $283 versus $742 on $75K borrowed over 15 years. EDIT: I have no mortgage payment, car payment, or other credit debt, so it seems pretty manageable. My monthly expenses are basically food, gas, utilities, insurance, and I sock away about $400 a month away for property/school taxes.
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Jan 15, 2015 21:19
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Arcturas posted:I had a post a few pages back about refinancing student loans. My conclusion was that if they're government student loans it's a bad idea to refi them because you lose the safety net that IBR/PAYE/etc provide you and over the lifetime of the loan don't lose all that much in the extra interest payments. You're basically paying extra interest for the insurance of knowing that, if you lose your job or take a big pay cut or get injured, etc., your loan payments go down to zero and you can still survive. Plus you have the 10 yr public interest option. The latter. My house is paid off, which is why I figured that I can use that instead of loans. Honestly, I could make minimum wage and my wife's income can pay the bills and taxes.
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Jan 15, 2015 23:18
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Why on earth would anyone go into debt that much willingly? I mean, I'm looking at 50-70k total and thinking that's a lot.
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Jan 15, 2015 23:47
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Hot Dog Day #91 posted:You're also looking at giving up your paid for house to enter a dying profession. Touché.
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Jan 16, 2015 00:03
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Seemed like a decent idea at the time.
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Jan 16, 2015 01:44
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Probad posted:Why do people say this? Who are you people that have so much money that not only can you afford to dump it into law school (and then forgo three years of earnings and experience), but you can't think of anything better to do with it? Excessive self-confidence, being naive, and telling one's self "I won't be like all those who did it and hate it, I'll like it, I'll get a job after graduation, wait and see!" I just don't know what else to do. My college plan began with the intention of going to law school, and I can't fathom doing anything else.
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Jan 17, 2015 19:10
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Is it going to be awkward for me on admitted students day when I may be the oldest new student? Last year's class, the oldest 1L was 32, and I'm 33 now. To be fair, I didn't start undergrad until I was 30 and my entire social circle is basically 18-23 year old girls. (I go to a university that's 91% female.)
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Jan 31, 2015 21:12
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Holy gently caress.
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Feb 14, 2015 05:11
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onemillionzombies posted:I thought you'd all like to know "Lawyer" made top 7 in Forbes' Highest Paying In-Demand Jobs In America. Nice, now I'm looking even more forward to admitted students day next month.
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Feb 17, 2015 19:54
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This tangent is making me not look forward to legal writing, which I guess my law school is highly ranked at.
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Feb 21, 2015 19:54
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I mean, to be honest, it means nothing to me. I'm just used to short and to the point writing as a newspaper editor.
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Feb 21, 2015 20:04
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I never said I wanted to, all I asked was if borrowing about 15% of my equity was a good idea which was roundly panned and I discarded the idea.
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Feb 22, 2015 05:25
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Yes, Duquesne, about $7,500 a year after a non-GPA reliant scholarship.
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Feb 22, 2015 18:45
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MoFauxHawk posted:One thing I wasn't clear about--Are you going to work while you're at law school? Are you putting a career on hold that you can go back into, or are you leaving your career? No, my wife's income is sufficient to where I don't have to work. I haven't worked since the summer of 2012, and have been using my GI Bill stipend and grants for spending money. My last real job was as a railroad clerk I could go back to if I desperately needed to. BigHead posted:What kind of scholarship? Does that $7,500 a year include lost wages? I can't recall the exact name but it's a merit scholarship that's renewable as long as I maintain good academic standing which is defined as a 2.0 GPA.
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Feb 22, 2015 20:23
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Hot Dog Day #91 posted:Y'all toona has run the traps in the thread he's going to law school. The best we can do at this point is how he's successful and quote his posts when he's looking for work desperately in 3.5 years. This, basically.
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Feb 22, 2015 20:35
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mikeraskol posted:This is more the quote that bothers me (unless its a joke and I missed it). My law school decision came down to either Duquesne or Pitt since I wanted to stay in Pittsburgh, and plan to stay here for the rest of my life. Duquesne offered more money and is a perfectly fine school for the local job market with an extensive alumni network, particularly judges since all of ours are elected and dear god do Pittsburghers love to vote for locals. I'm on my county's Democratic committee and I've spent a lot of time helping get them elected so I'm hoping that pays off in the long run. In fact I just went to a breakfast for a lawyer this morning who is running for judge and I agreed to pass around ballot petitions for him, and he's a Duquesne alum.
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Feb 22, 2015 22:38
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Artic Puma posted:I lol'd super hard during the bar exam today because one question began with someone taking out a mortgage on their house for "graduate school" tuition and then having their house foreclosed upon. Don't go to law school Toona. True story: after reading about IBR and how federal loans work, I finally got why I got dumped on pretty hard for what is a truly terrible idea. Still going, though. 
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Feb 26, 2015 04:39
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Hot Dog Day #91 posted:"27 posts in an hour? Maybe Toona reconsid- nope, just seltzer chat." I just got emailed the agenda for admitted students day. I'm partly stoked and partly curious to see if there are any other 30-somethings starting this fall.
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Feb 28, 2015 04:31
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tau posted:Sounds intriguing. I'm in. Sure.
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Mar 1, 2015 07:40
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Both bourbon and scotch are acceptable as long as you do them neat. 
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Mar 3, 2015 03:12
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SlothBear posted:I use two drops of water from a mountain spring to unlock the flavor. On the rocks.  A part of my soul died.
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Mar 3, 2015 05:10
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Then I kill myself for being a pretentious dork.
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ActusRhesus posted:I like chick drinks. Preferably fish bowl sized. Primanti Brothers, the restaurant that puts fries and cole slaw on sandwiches and is featured in any sports broadcast in Pittsburgh ever, has a super fruity, super sweet rum-based drink that's blue called a Drunk Duck and comes with a mini-rubber duck in it. It's adorable yet tasty.
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Mar 3, 2015 05:39
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Would it be weird for me to cold call solo practitioners and/or small firms to ask if they're looking for summer help?
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Mar 4, 2015 03:40
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I asked my rabbi for a list of lawyers who belong to the temple. That's where I'm starting.
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Mar 4, 2015 03:47
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I just got my financial aid letter. I wonder how many people take the maximum offered.  EDIT: My maximum possible debt would be a little over 93K, I'm probably looking at 61,500. Toona the Cat fucked around with this message at 20:08 on Mar 6, 2015 |
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Mar 6, 2015 20:05
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Look Sir Droids posted:Most people? I guess I'm just naive about these kind of things. I've had one loan ever in my life and that was for my first house.
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Mar 6, 2015 20:09
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I'm honestly not.
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Mar 6, 2015 21:54
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