Career Advice Request

[HarryBosch]

Jensen,

I have some attorneys in the family tree. None of them went to brand name recognition law schools. All are doing very well for themselves with incomes ranging from $250K to $1M+.

The ones doing very well have their own law practice. One of them has no attorneys working for him other than himself – he practices in the workers comp field, which, even though the laws are not as favorable to workers comp claims as they once were, he still earns a very high standard of living. The other attorney in our family who has his own law practice does have several attorneys working for him. He handles corporate bankruptcies and during bad times he does especialy well. The dot com bust era was a boom for his business.

To summarize, if you want to practice (lucrative) law, follow the money 🙂

But above all, as others have said before, do what you enjoy and success will follow.

Not earth shattering but definately words of wisdom.

[Anonymous]

A question for the lawyers or those in the know: Don’t family law attorneys do really well (private practice or working for a firm), especially in CA with all the divorces?

If I were a lawyer, I’d have to have my own practice instead of working for a firm that didn’t care about me personally, only how much income I bring in. Not my cup of tea.

To the OP, if you’re going to do this, make sure you love it. Not just like it, that will make the difference for you. Have you considered med school? Again, you have to really want to be a doctor. Have you considered engineering? These guys purportedly do pretty well on here. My field is psychology, but if I had to do it over, I probably would have gone to med school and been a psychiatrist.

Again, whatever you do, make sure you love it. Getting a law degree and finding out afterward that it’s not your cup of tea won’t be a good thing.

P.S. I know you said you aren’t good in math, but have you considered a tutor?

[Anonymous]

A question for the lawyers or those in the know: Don’t family law attorneys do really well (private practice or working for a firm), especially in CA with all the divorces?

If I were a lawyer, I’d have to have my own practice instead of working for a firm that didn’t care about me personally, only how much income I bring in. Not my cup of tea.

To the OP, if you’re going to do this, make sure you love it. Not just like it, that will make the difference for you. Have you considered med school? Again, you have to really want to be a doctor. Have you considered engineering? These guys purportedly do pretty well on here. My field is psychology, but if I had to do it over, I probably would have gone to med school and been a psychiatrist.

Again, whatever you do, make sure you love it. Getting a law degree and finding out afterward that it’s not your cup of tea won’t be a good thing.

P.S. I know you said you aren’t good in math, but have you considered a tutor?

[Anonymous]

A question for the lawyers or those in the know: Don’t family law attorneys do really well (private practice or working for a firm), especially in CA with all the divorces?

If I were a lawyer, I’d have to have my own practice instead of working for a firm that didn’t care about me personally, only how much income I bring in. Not my cup of tea.

To the OP, if you’re going to do this, make sure you love it. Not just like it, that will make the difference for you. Have you considered med school? Again, you have to really want to be a doctor. Have you considered engineering? These guys purportedly do pretty well on here. My field is psychology, but if I had to do it over, I probably would have gone to med school and been a psychiatrist.

Again, whatever you do, make sure you love it. Getting a law degree and finding out afterward that it’s not your cup of tea won’t be a good thing.

P.S. I know you said you aren’t good in math, but have you considered a tutor?

[Anonymous]

A question for the lawyers or those in the know: Don’t family law attorneys do really well (private practice or working for a firm), especially in CA with all the divorces?

If I were a lawyer, I’d have to have my own practice instead of working for a firm that didn’t care about me personally, only how much income I bring in. Not my cup of tea.

To the OP, if you’re going to do this, make sure you love it. Not just like it, that will make the difference for you. Have you considered med school? Again, you have to really want to be a doctor. Have you considered engineering? These guys purportedly do pretty well on here. My field is psychology, but if I had to do it over, I probably would have gone to med school and been a psychiatrist.

Again, whatever you do, make sure you love it. Getting a law degree and finding out afterward that it’s not your cup of tea won’t be a good thing.

P.S. I know you said you aren’t good in math, but have you considered a tutor?

[Anonymous]

A question for the lawyers or those in the know: Don’t family law attorneys do really well (private practice or working for a firm), especially in CA with all the divorces?

If I were a lawyer, I’d have to have my own practice instead of working for a firm that didn’t care about me personally, only how much income I bring in. Not my cup of tea.

To the OP, if you’re going to do this, make sure you love it. Not just like it, that will make the difference for you. Have you considered med school? Again, you have to really want to be a doctor. Have you considered engineering? These guys purportedly do pretty well on here. My field is psychology, but if I had to do it over, I probably would have gone to med school and been a psychiatrist.

Again, whatever you do, make sure you love it. Getting a law degree and finding out afterward that it’s not your cup of tea won’t be a good thing.

P.S. I know you said you aren’t good in math, but have you considered a tutor?

[dumbrenter]

Bjensen, I am in a similar situation as you…I am an engineer, but have been seriously considering law school. I have been following this thread with great interest.
My primary motive is not a love for law profession or anything. It is money. To make more money, I either have to do management or get a high-return education.
Check out the starting salary on the webpages of national law firms with offices in San Diego.

[dumbrenter]

Bjensen, I am in a similar situation as you…I am an engineer, but have been seriously considering law school. I have been following this thread with great interest.
My primary motive is not a love for law profession or anything. It is money. To make more money, I either have to do management or get a high-return education.
Check out the starting salary on the webpages of national law firms with offices in San Diego.

[dumbrenter]

Bjensen, I am in a similar situation as you…I am an engineer, but have been seriously considering law school. I have been following this thread with great interest.
My primary motive is not a love for law profession or anything. It is money. To make more money, I either have to do management or get a high-return education.
Check out the starting salary on the webpages of national law firms with offices in San Diego.

[dumbrenter]

Bjensen, I am in a similar situation as you…I am an engineer, but have been seriously considering law school. I have been following this thread with great interest.
My primary motive is not a love for law profession or anything. It is money. To make more money, I either have to do management or get a high-return education.
Check out the starting salary on the webpages of national law firms with offices in San Diego.

[svelte]

Sorry, just got around to re-reading this thread…

Specializing in IP law almost always requires a bachelor’s degree in science or engineering. I can almost guarantee you that these firms are mostly dealing with biotech and hi-tech companies and that many of their lawyers are patent attorneys with engineering/science undergrad degrees. Also, the $700/hour figure is what the firm bills. The attorneys themselves don’t make anywhere near that although they do earn a very nice living.

The article mentions that an engineering degree is typical for these positions. And you’re right, $700/hr is what the firm bills. My company charges customers about double what I make for my consulting time, so I would figure that a lawyer might see about $350/hr of that $700/hr…which equates to making $700,000/yr if working 40 hour weeks. As you say, a very nice living.

[svelte]

Sorry, just got around to re-reading this thread…

Specializing in IP law almost always requires a bachelor’s degree in science or engineering. I can almost guarantee you that these firms are mostly dealing with biotech and hi-tech companies and that many of their lawyers are patent attorneys with engineering/science undergrad degrees. Also, the $700/hour figure is what the firm bills. The attorneys themselves don’t make anywhere near that although they do earn a very nice living.

The article mentions that an engineering degree is typical for these positions. And you’re right, $700/hr is what the firm bills. My company charges customers about double what I make for my consulting time, so I would figure that a lawyer might see about $350/hr of that $700/hr…which equates to making $700,000/yr if working 40 hour weeks. As you say, a very nice living.

[svelte]

Sorry, just got around to re-reading this thread…

Specializing in IP law almost always requires a bachelor’s degree in science or engineering. I can almost guarantee you that these firms are mostly dealing with biotech and hi-tech companies and that many of their lawyers are patent attorneys with engineering/science undergrad degrees. Also, the $700/hour figure is what the firm bills. The attorneys themselves don’t make anywhere near that although they do earn a very nice living.

The article mentions that an engineering degree is typical for these positions. And you’re right, $700/hr is what the firm bills. My company charges customers about double what I make for my consulting time, so I would figure that a lawyer might see about $350/hr of that $700/hr…which equates to making $700,000/yr if working 40 hour weeks. As you say, a very nice living.

[svelte]

Sorry, just got around to re-reading this thread…

Specializing in IP law almost always requires a bachelor’s degree in science or engineering. I can almost guarantee you that these firms are mostly dealing with biotech and hi-tech companies and that many of their lawyers are patent attorneys with engineering/science undergrad degrees. Also, the $700/hour figure is what the firm bills. The attorneys themselves don’t make anywhere near that although they do earn a very nice living.

The article mentions that an engineering degree is typical for these positions. And you’re right, $700/hr is what the firm bills. My company charges customers about double what I make for my consulting time, so I would figure that a lawyer might see about $350/hr of that $700/hr…which equates to making $700,000/yr if working 40 hour weeks. As you say, a very nice living.

[svelte]

Sorry, just got around to re-reading this thread…

Specializing in IP law almost always requires a bachelor’s degree in science or engineering. I can almost guarantee you that these firms are mostly dealing with biotech and hi-tech companies and that many of their lawyers are patent attorneys with engineering/science undergrad degrees. Also, the $700/hour figure is what the firm bills. The attorneys themselves don’t make anywhere near that although they do earn a very nice living.

The article mentions that an engineering degree is typical for these positions. And you’re right, $700/hr is what the firm bills. My company charges customers about double what I make for my consulting time, so I would figure that a lawyer might see about $350/hr of that $700/hr…which equates to making $700,000/yr if working 40 hour weeks. As you say, a very nice living.

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