Should I take the bar?

[ravenvii]

So I'm graduating from law school in about a month. It's too late to just leave now, so I'm going to finish it.

I hated every minute of it. And everywhere I read, the job market is horrendous for lawyers, despite the (slow) recovery.

I've always wanted to be a programmer, and the current growth of the iPhone/iPad made me want it even more. I'm going to take advantage of the (currently) incredibly cheap tuition in California for community college ($20 per credit!). Yes, it'll add years more of school (ugh), but I'll 1) learn skills I actually want to use, and 2) am gonna be unemployed anyway, so who cares?

But the question right now is, should I take the bar? That comes with the time and expense (BarBri, etc), and the expense of maintaining my membership, going to continuing education to keep my bar membership.

Is it worth it?

 

[GfPQqmcRKUvP]

Yes. Take it while the info is still fresh in your mind. You never know when, down the line, being able to tell someone you are a member of the bar will be helpful, even if you aren't a practicing lawyer. This is a no-brainer, but can I really expect anything more from a lawyer? 😛

 

[CorvusCamenarum]

I'd say probably not. You're right; this is a terrible time to try to enter the field of law. Unless you went to a top-drawer law school, did extremely well, and have some extras under your belt like a clerkship or something, you're probably going to be out of luck.

From 2004 through 2008, the field grew less than 1% per year on average, going from 735,000 people making a living as attorneys to just 760,000, with the Bureau of Labor Statistics postulating that the field will grow at the same rate through 2016. Taking into account retirements, deaths and that the bureau's data is pre-recession, the number of new positions is likely to be fewer than 30,000 per year. That is far fewer than what's needed to accommodate the 45,000 juris doctors graduating from U.S. law schools each year.

source - LA Times

As an anecdote, a buddy of mine graduated a year ago from a tier 1 law school, finished third in his class, passed the bar on the first attempt, and still hasn't found himself a situation yet.

 

[dmr727]

I'd say probably not. You're right; this is a terrible time to try to enter the field of law. Unless you went to a top-drawer law school, did extremely well, and have some extras under your belt like a clerkship or something, you're probably going to be out of luck.

But why not take the bar anyway? As Badandy said, it's still fresh - might as well put that knowledge to good use.

 

[hulugu]

But why not take the bar anyway? As Badandy said, it's still fresh - might as well put that knowledge to good use.

I tend to agree, take the test while everything's freshly minted. After a few years at CC, you'll be able to put that on the resume along with your programming qualifications.

Hey, maybe a studying app for the iPad?

 

[Azmordean]

So I'm graduating from law school in about a month. It's too late to just leave now, so I'm going to finish it.

I hated every minute of it. And everywhere I read, the job market is horrendous for lawyers, despite the (slow) recovery.

I've always wanted to be a programmer, and the current growth of the iPhone/iPad made me want it even more. I'm going to take advantage of the (currently) incredibly cheap tuition in California for community college ($20 per credit!). Yes, it'll add years more of school (ugh), but I'll 1) learn skills I actually want to use, and 2) am gonna be unemployed anyway, so who cares?

But the question right now is, should I take the bar? That comes with the time and expense (BarBri, etc), and the expense of maintaining my membership, going to continuing education to keep my bar membership.

Is it worth it?

A complicated question.

For background, I went to law school, took and passed the Virginia bar, worked as an attorney for 2 years, but am no longer practicing, though I am in a related field (Federal Contracts) where the degree certainly comes in handy.

It sounds as though you hated law school. But keep in mind, practicing law bears little resemblance to law school. First thing I'd do is check your state's requirements. Even after passing the bar, to maintain your license, VIrginia requires you to take CLE classes (12 hours per year). There are also dues. The two together can be pricey and take up some time. However, Virginia also offers associate membership. You can't practice law with it, but you don't have to take CLEs and the dues are somewhat less, and you can switch back to active at any time. That's what I have. You don't want to let bar membership ever lapse though, or you may have to re-take the exam!

All that said... assuming your state has some kind of "associate" membership - unless you are certain you will NEVER want to practice law in your current state - I'd go ahead an take the bar. You are in an academic mindset now, so you might as well do BAR/BRI and get it over with. Trying to go do it later, after the academic mindset has passed, is tough. And that's not even considering the fact that you'll basically have to take 3 months off to study for the bar when you do decide to take it, and if you are working full time or something, that's pretty tough to do.

Of course, if you are fairly certain you don't want to practice law now or in the future... then save your money 🙂. It's not like you CAN'T take it later, it'll just be more burdensome than taking it now.

 

[bamaworks]

Yes. Take it while the info is still fresh in your mind. You never know when, down the line, being able to tell someone you are a member of the bar will be helpful, even if you aren't a practicing lawyer. This is a no-brainer, but can I really expect anything more from a lawyer? 😛

Agree 100%. Options are a good thing. You shouldn't slam the door on one major facet of your life if you don't have to. I maintain a couple of clinical certifications that I don't need just because it's good to be versatile.