My correspondence with career counselor Ron Fox (Career Planning for Lawyers) and the endless stream of news about law firms punting new hires out of the stadium has your Unemployed Lawyer thinking about law school days. I remember that I enjoyed them. I thought law school was fun! I know, I know. I’m really weird, but there you have it.

When I graduated, I knew how to state a problem clearly and then analyze it. I knew sundry and scattered things about codes and statutes. I even knew that a tort was a civil wrong for which a defendant may be held liable (not found guilty) and for which the plaintiff seeks money or equitable relief (as opposed to the punishment of jail time).That was about it; and I was one of those law review cum laude folks, so it wasn’t that I’d been doing nothing for three years.

I didn’t know anything about either the business or practice of law. Everything I know about being a lawyer, I learned on the battlefield. I was so naïve that I believed that top law firms attracted top lawyers because they were top lawyers. I had never heard of PPP. I thought firms wanted top minds and thinkers; I didn’t even think about top earners. I didn’t know anything about hourly billing rates. I thought all you had to do was to be good.

I remember being frightened of the copy machine. I didn’t, in those days before ECF, know how to file anything; paralegals and Docketing took care of that for me (that was after I learned what Docketing was). I didn’t know why I was writing all those memos; I just knew I hated them. I didn’t know anything about anything and I imagine most new lawyers still don’t. I had spent three years learning fun and interesting things, but I had done so in a vacuum. It seems to be the nature of law school.

I didn’t know how to choose a job from among the offers I received. Nobody in my school career center really knew me. My professors were of some help, but in the end, I chose on gut feeling. That means I liked the people I met at Firm A better than the ones at Firm B. It was all very scientific and well thought out.

I think a bigger problem was that nobody at school was there to work with me on what kind of choice might be best for me. I never even considered any option but a BigLaw firm. In all fairness I have to say that I am hardheaded and it might have been impossible to turn me; but nobody even showed me what else was out there.

Since I have become the Unemployed Lawyer, it has never crossed my mind to return to my school career center for help. I know it won’t be there. I am friendly with both the dean of the school and the Board President and they know it isn’t there. I believe that some schools supply more support than others, but my school is not high on the list.

Further, I’m not really any use to my school anymore. While I was working, I was great for its statistics and its pockets. My job at BigLaw was another notch in the school’s placement belt and the school could refer students to me for references and networking. My school could ask me for donations because it had a fairly good idea of what I earned, at least at first. I have worked for a few not-for-profits and you have to realize that fundraising is the life blood of those institutions.

Nevertheless, I can’t help but feel annoyed and frustrated when I receive fundraising letters about twice a month.  I don’t have anything to give you; you don’t have anything to give me. Let’s just formalize it and walk away in peace.
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[1] Twentieth Century-Fox, 1973, directed by James Bridges, starring John Houseman, Timothy Bottoms, Lindsay Wagner.