Should I shift my goals from Political Science to Law?

[Reason]

All my life people have told me that I should be a lawyer...

I love debate and challenging unjust authority.

I can't even count the number of people that have told me at the end of a conversation that I would make an amazing defense attorney...

The only reason I have brushed this off till now is that I have despised my years of govt. schooling filled with subjects that I could not possibly care less about; therefore the prospect of many additional years of schooling was out of the question.

I now wonder if maybe this was a mistake considering the additional schooling would be focused on a subject I find fascinating...

I am sort of just posting what I am thinking at the moment...

Any thoughts/ideas?

Anyone attempt law school or know anyone that has been through it? etc

[Reason]

I should add...

currently I am 1 semester away form completing my 2 years of general education for my BA in political science.

[KCIndy]

If you're really good at law, you would probably be a more effective proponent of liberty as a lawyer. Think how expensive a good lawyer is. If you could afford to donate a significant amount of your legal time to liberty/freedom oriented causes, that could make a BIG difference.

[KCIndy]

I should add...

currently I am 1 semester away form completing my 2 years of general education for my BA in political science.


Just grab a few LSAT prep books and start studying!!! :D

[Reason]

also... anyone know much about the paralegal career field?

[heavenlyboy34]

depends on what kind of lawyer. If you like debate, defense attorney work would be a good choice for ya. ;) You could be the libertarian Johnny Cochran! :);) lolz

[brenden.b]

I have a B.A. in International and Comparative Politics, as well as one year into a M.A. in Political Science. Go get your law degree, I am hardly using my major and, honestly, it would only do me any good if I worked for the Federal Government or was a Professor.

[BamaAla]

Practicing law isn't all eloquent speeches in front of receptive juries. You're probably never going to have oral arguments in front of the Supreme Court and the time spent in court vs. time spent preparing paper work is going to be mind numbing. With that said, if you have a passion for the law, go for it. Its about time to start preparing for the LSAT (a true mind f***) and looking into what schools you want to apply to. Begin padding your extra curricular resume with anything that will separate you from the herd because everyone that applies to the better law schools have high GPAs and LSAT scores and there are many more applications than seats.

I know you said that you don't want to spend loads of time in school, but if you really want to shape the minds of tomorrow, academia is not a bad place to look to. Just a suggestion.

[Reason]

I should add...

currently I am 1 semester away form completing my 2 years of general education for my BA in political science.


Just grab a few LSAT prep books and start studying!!! :D

I should clarify, I still have 1 more semester of gen ed and then a min of 4 semesters of major specific college.

[jkr]

use the down turn to go 4 both!

[BamaAla]

I should clarify, I still have 1 more semester of gen ed and then a min of 4 semesters of major specific college.

http://www.lsac.org/

Start here. There is a wealth of information to be had. I would also suggest considering something other than political science. The majority of people with law school ambitions major in polisci, history, or english. If you are really set on political science, think of double majoring and add something outside of the humanities. Your university should have a pre-law advisor; I would hook up with that individual as soon as possible in order to get the ball rolling. You really can't get started too soon.

[libertybrewcity]

Well there are a few things you should think about before you jump into law. Just because you like debating doesn't mean you will like being a lawyer. Here is what I suggest:

Get an internship at a law firm or do something law related. This is the perfect way to decide whether or not you like law. You might hate it after working in a law firm for a few months.

Two, you might want to find a major that law schools look for. I don't know the current statistics but I believe law schools are accepting more English majors than any other.

Three, start gathering recommendations and keep your grades up, probably above a 3.6 at least.

Four, consider what will be a good job in the future. Will there be a surplus of lawyers in the future? Will you even be able to find a job after graduating from a tier 2 or tier 3 law school? If there is an economic collapse, will your services be needed?

Just some things to think about.

[Matt Collins]

Read up on it. Expect to make no money as a lawyer, and whatever you do don't go into debt to go to law school. There are thousands of articles out there about the status of the legal market, and it ain't pretty!

[ChaosControl]

It'd certainly be more useful of a degree.

If I didn't hate the law with a passion, I'd consider pursuing it. No way in heck I could remember all the illogical legal code nonsense necessary to be a lawyer though.

[Liberty_Mike]

Go for it man! We need more lawyers who respect the true rule of law and the Constitution! Maybe you could even defend victims of police brutality, and go as far as prosecuting those officers who commit brutality. If you hold these beliefs, I endorse you to become a lawyer :)

[brandon]

Just about anything would be more useful than a poly sci degree.

But if your goal is to go to law school a poly sci undergrad would be just fine. You can get into law school with just about any undergrad degree as long as you do well in school and do well on the LSATs

[Uncle Emanuel Watkins]

All my life people have told me that I should be a lawyer...

I love debate and challenging unjust authority.

I can't even count the number of people that have told me at the end of a conversation that I would make an amazing defense attorney...

The only reason I have brushed this off till now is that I have despised my years of govt. schooling filled with subjects that I could not possibly care less about; therefore the prospect of many additional years of schooling was out of the question.

I now wonder if maybe this was a mistake considering the additional schooling would be focused on a subject I find fascinating...

I am sort of just posting what I am thinking at the moment...

Any thoughts/ideas?

Anyone attempt law school or know anyone that has been through it? etc

Legal precedence is not an end to a means, but a necessary evil to an end with that end being the people's Civil Purpose. Only the deceived think that the utlimate power resides in legal precedence and not in the people's Civil Purpose.
There are only two choices for a prostitute to make when that day comes when she is deemed by her master to be too old and uncomely to perform in his business. Either she kneel down to please him, or she stands in faith and walks away from him in faith all at great peril to her life.
Ultimately, she only has a prayer.
So, I would suggest to you that, likewise, we only have a prayer.

[Howard_Roark]

Lawyers are the most anti-liberty profession there is. Look at major donor lists and most of the Democrats are lawyers. Also, I think the day to day job of being a lawyer must suck because so many people who went to law school end up doing something else.

[Kregisen]

Lawyers are the most anti-liberty profession there is. Look at major donor lists and most of the Democrats are lawyers. Also, I think the day to day job of being a lawyer must suck because so many people who went to law school end up doing something else.

I met a libertarian lawyer last month (the lawyer of the pastor who got tazed during a checkpoint in az).

He says he loves his job because he can defend freedom and has a passion for it...that's why he's a defense attorney. He also told me he was allowing liberty minded college students going into law to intern for him.

If I wasn't a business student I would totally think about it.



I don't even know of any jobs you can get with a poli sci degree. If you're interested in it, I'd go with law if I were you.

[oyarde]

I met a libertarian lawyer last month (the lawyer of the pastor who got tazed during a checkpoint in az).

He says he loves his job because he can defend freedom and has a passion for it...that's why he's a defense attorney. He also told me he was allowing liberty minded college students going into law to intern for him.

If I wasn't a business student I would totally think about it.



I don't even know of any jobs you can get with a poli sci degree. If you're interested in it, I'd go with law if I were you.

LOL , I bet the CIA , homeland security and FBI would be ok with a poli sci degree . :)

[LibForestPaul]

Law field is saturated from my understanding. That being said, what is more useful to starting a business, writing proposals or grants, etc. If you want a graduate degree, J.D. is far more worth it. Consider dual business/accountant/medical?/with law?

[BuddyRey]

IMHO, the world desperately needs more libertarian attorneys, and doesn't need with comparable urgency more libertarian politicians.

[ClayTrainor]

IMHO, the world desperately needs more libertarian attorneys, and doesn't need with comparable urgency more libertarian politicians.

That's a great observation. I owe you +1 Rep when I get my power back.

[kkassam]

Just about anything would be more useful than a poly sci degree.

But if your goal is to go to law school a poly sci undergrad would be just fine. You can get into law school with just about any undergrad degree as long as you do well in school and do well on the LSATs

This. Poli sci is IMHO pretty useless--better to go for economics if you want to understand public policy. It's fine for an undergrad to do really well in and go on to other things (like law school) or if you're really fascinated by contemporary political science research and want to become a Ph.D and professor of poli sci.

If you're looking for encouragement on the legal path, there was a panel (including Hans Hoppe!) at the Austrian Scholars Conference at the Mises Insititute this year suggesting young libertarians to go into law.

http://mises.org/media.aspx?action=category&ID=228

I'm sure you could email any of the panelists to get further advice and support.

[Baptist]

Reason,

Just know that if you go to law school you will be as frustrated at law school as you are now. You will be frustrated as you sit through years of professors who have no clue about the Constitution. For us liberty people, law is about original intent of those who authored the law, and deep philosophical questions about whether or not this law or that law should even exist. I believe that much of your law school training instead will focus on analyzing Supreme Court ruling and precedent. I believe this because two semesters ago I took a Con Law: Civil & Political Rights class and this is what it was all about. My professor had a law degree. When I asked him why he was teaching us that we have XX right when that right has been gone since 9/11, he stated that studying law is mostly about studying court cases, rulings, and precedent. There have been no SCOTUS rulings on PATRIOT ACT, wiretaps, etc, so he said there was nothing to study. I don't know which law school he went to, but that kind of learning would drive me insane. I'm more into how laws came about, the philosophical questions of law, and believe that you should study statutory law and common law as much as court rulings.

[BamaAla]

Reason,

I believe that much of your law school training instead will focus on analyzing Supreme Court ruling and precedent. I believe this because two semesters ago I took a Con Law: Civil & Political Rights class and this is what it was all about. My professor had a law degree. When I asked him why he was teaching us that we have XX right when that right has been gone since 9/11, he stated that studying law is mostly about studying court cases, rulings, and precedent. There have been no SCOTUS rulings on PATRIOT ACT, wiretaps, etc, so he said there was nothing to study. I don't know which law school he went to, but that kind of learning would drive me insane. I'm more into how laws came about, the philosophical questions of law, and believe that you should study statutory law and common law as much as court rulings.

I know its frustrating for people to sign up for a 400 level con law class and end up studying Texas v. Johnson, Roe v. Wade, and Miranda v. Arizona all semester long, but that's the way law is studied. It may be blasphemy around here but your teacher was correct: there is no need to study a passed measure until case law defines it. With that in mind, there are many chances to study a wide range of topics when in law school http://www.law.ua.edu/courseguide/

When you're in law school, they aren't teaching you to be an academic; they're teaching you to be an advocate. If you want answers to how laws came to be, take a philosophy class. If you want to advocate law in the American justice system, you need to go to law school.

[Matt Collins]

Reason,

Just know that if you go to law school you will be as frustrated at law school as you are now. You will be frustrated as you sit through years of professors who have no clue about the Constitution. For us liberty people, law is about original intent of those who authored the law, and deep philosophical questions about whether or not this law or that law should even exist. I believe that much of your law school training instead will focus on analyzing Supreme Court ruling and precedent. I believe this because two semesters ago I took a Con Law: Civil & Political Rights class and this is what it was all about. My professor had a law degree. When I asked him why he was teaching us that we have XX right when that right has been gone since 9/11, he stated that studying law is mostly about studying court cases, rulings, and precedent. There have been no SCOTUS rulings on PATRIOT ACT, wiretaps, etc, so he said there was nothing to study. I don't know which law school he went to, but that kind of learning would drive me insane. I'm more into how laws came about, the philosophical questions of law, and believe that you should study statutory law and common law as much as court rulings.
Unfortunately that is how law school is taught. They don't care about the Document itself, they only care about what the courts have said about the Document. Is it any wonder why our nation is so screwed up? Don't confuse lawyer training with legal education, the two are NOT one in the same.

[torchbearer]

if you want to borrow/spend a ton of money on a useless degree- stay in poli sci.
pre-law would be a better use of the money.
poli sci was my minor focus.

[Reason]

hmmm

[BuddyRey]

That's a great observation. I owe you +1 Rep when I get my power back.

Thanks, man! :)