Need advise from u lawyers/current law students....

[GrayRage]

Well, the devil finally has tempted me enough to join him and all the other lawyers in hell and I am mulling over goin to law school at night (i am getting to tired and old to keep chasing folks around like am now). I figure switching to becoming a prosecuter will be as fun as doin' what I am doin now (sorta like PKin' dickheads IRL).

In any case, it seems I have to take the LSAT and I am lookin' for any tips or advise on study guides or info. Please post any thoughts, but I am not gonna take one of those gimp LSAT prep courses....

[Malignancy]

Gray-

Those "gimp" LSAT courses will determine your life. They DO work and get most people at least 7-8 points higher on the LSAT than if they didn't prepare with them. I took Princeton Review and scored a 166 on my actual LSAT while I was only scoring 155-159 on practice tests before the course.

Nevertheless, I think you should take your LSATs and see how you score. If you score in the high 160s to 170s, I recommend going to a top 14 school. If not, then get try to get a full scholorship. Lawschool debt is terrible. I seriously suggest that you reconsider going to lawschool right now Gray. The market is complete shit for graduating law students, even for those graduating from top schools.

As for criminal law, I wanted nothing more than to be a prosecutor after school, but I simply couldn't afford to do so. The United States Attorneys Office only hires people as AUSAs after 3 years of practice and the DA offices pay complete shit. For example, I received an offer from the Brooklyn DA's office in '99 and they wanted to pay me 31k/year and one of the requirements was that I had to live in NYC. How the fuck can anyone do that? I actually thought about looking for places in Bed-Sty, but I couldn't even afford that without government assistance :P Anyways, I went the private practice route and I like it. Most of the lawyers I meet hate practicing law however, so unless you REALLY have a desire for it, think twice.

Good luck bro

EC

[GrayRage]

The Fl State attorney's start at 48k per year and cap at 130ish. I should have a pretty easy time beating others out on this because of my job history (one would think). 50k plus benefits is not bad with the inevitable raises and overtime imho.

As for the LSAT, I have a few questions:

1. Do u know of any good places to look up classes?

2. Are the online classes helpful?

3. Self studying is not viable option (buying study guides?)

4. What kind of questions do they ask? IQ type?...or pre law stuff like info about previous cases or legal procededings? I know i will learn this in the study guides, but was just trying to detemrine how to approach it.

There is only one school I can go to because I own my home and am not moving (cause i live here and work here). So Nova Southeastern University would be my only options and it costs about 60 or 70k to go through the program. Do schools offer scholarship based on good LSAT scores? Even if u have average GPS from undergrad school? Not that I pretend I will do great on the LSAT....but it's something that would sway me into spedning the 1k on a LSAT class....

As for goin' through LAw school....I know there is a crap load of attorneys, but I am pretty sure I could pull off one of these jobs (prosecuter would be my goal for sure) and the pay is not bad. I dunno tho...lstill mulling it over :)

[Malignancy]

Gray-

I took my LSATS back in 1995, so its been a while, but I assume the classes are probably about the same. Back in 1995, 99% of people take either Kaplan or Princeton Review. I noticed when I checked "LSAT preparation" on Google, there are a lot of new programs that I've never heard of, so I'm probably not the best person for giving advice as to which prep course to take. Similarly, I know nothing of the online courses.

Consider this however: The LSAT is PURELY IQ based. As I recall, there are 3 sections (logical reasoning, reading comprehension, and logic games) that count. There is also an "experimental" section a writing sample. You won't know the experimental section and it will look just like one of the other 3 sections that count, so you will have to work just as hard on that as the other 3. The writing is complete bullshit. One thing to remember is that you need to know NOTHING about the law to go to law school. People that went "prelaw" are as full of shit as every other major, so don't worry about that.

Make sure you do well on the LSATs regardless of where you want to go because most schools ONLY care about the LSATs and give out scholarships based upon these. Getting into lawschool is about 75% LSAT 25% undergrad grades.

One last thing - is Nova accredited? At least in NY, you have to have attended an accredited law school in order to sit for the bar exam. It might be the same in Florida, so make CERTAIN its accredited.

EC

P.S. I'll be moving down to Florida soon - I can't believe the state's attorney pays that much down there! DAs are getting fucked here in NY..

Check www.kaptest.com or www.princetonreview.com for the LSAT info...

[GrayRage]

Here is an attorney posting for Leon county State attorneys...I am sure there are others, but my wireless is so slow i don't want to search :p

http://www.myflorida.com/owa_jobs/owa/www_cv.jobvac.detail?pvac_key=3139&pregion=SW

Here is link for Nova Law school (it's acredited and pretty respected from what I hear).

http://www.nsulaw.nova.edu/

[Malignancy]

Gray-

Note at the bottom of that job description that 2 years of practice are required. That basically means they won't even look at new law grads, and I'm assuming that the upper part of the pay scale are for attorneys who have been practicing for quite a few years. $48k is about right for an attorney in public service outside of NY with 2 years of exp.

As for Nova...just be careful bro and ask people NOT affiliated with the school how they view the school. Also ask alumni (www.martindale.com) how they view post graduate job opportunities. If you have connections, a good personality and are very intelligent, it won't make a difference where you go to school because you'll be successful at whatever you do. If you're lacking in these departments, make sure you have connections or something else going for you (being a PI is good btw :D) before you commit a lot of money and 3 years of your life.

Whatever ya do, good luck and I'll try to answer whatever other questions you have as they arise...

EC

[GrayRage]

Yeah i noticed that. Funny they want experienced people to pay them only 48k per year ;p But I suppose it is fun to prosecute dick heads.


Having a fun job > all

Will let yah know what I decide I suppose. Mebe I will just keep doin' what I am doin' (considering I am making more then that now without having to kill myself for 4 years hehe).

[Mindgames]

Gray keep doin what your doin. Change and starting over pretty much blows. If it aint broke dont fix it.