Career Strategy

"We believe that the decision to go to law school should be part of an overall career strategy..."
- Northwestern Law 2005 prospectus

Absolutely. That is one thing I like about business school admissions. If you don't have a well articulated idea of where you are headed, you probably won't get admitted. Too many law school applicants head to law school with vague ideas of what it is like to work full time at a job, let alone as a lawyer. I think that one should think of an overall career strategy and see if law school fits in. For example, if your goal is to become a Fortune 500 CEO, is law school really the best path? Conventional wisdom says yes, but anecdotal evidence suggests no.

I've thought long and hard about my career strategy. I've got to find an occupation that I both enjoy and can be proud of. From my limited experience in writing editorials for the school newspaper and analyzing arguments in my Arguments class, I've found that research and writing is something I really enjoy. Which is why being a lawyer, specializing in litigation, seems very exciting to me.

Here is my tentative timeline:

Age: 27-28
Goal: Finish up law school or finish up judicial clerkship if given the opportunity. Hopefully head towards big law firm to save up money, help pay off loans, and learn complex litigation in preparation for my next move.

Age: 29-31
Goal: Make the move to the U.S. Attorney’s office. Become Assistant U.S. Attorney, pick up trial lawyer skills and more complex litigation skills. If unable to make it to USAO, make the move to the district attorney’s office. Arguing motions in court will be a necessary skill that cannot be picked up in a big law firm environment. Government job will probably have more predictable hours and be better for raising a family.

Age: 35-40
Goal: Make another move to a boutique or small firm environment, where partnership opportunities are greater. Large firms offer little chance to make partner, so it will be better to move to a smaller firm.