As I prepare to graduate from law school, I’ve been thinking about my decision to apply. I’m a ‘KJD,’ someone who went from kindergarten to law school without working in between. The cool part about that is you’re a lawyer before you turn 26. The bad part is you’re a lawyer before you turn 26. 

I went to the University of Massachusetts Amherst for my undergraduate degree. There, I had many wonderful professors: retired judges, international law scholars and experts in legal philosophy. I loved reading cases for class, discussing questions with no right answer, trying to figure out how these disparate concepts could fit together. I knew law school was for me. But one of my favorite professors would always tell me not to go. 

And I’m glad he did. Because too many people go to law school for the wrong reasons.

If you want to be a lawyer because you want to make money, I wouldn’t recommend it. Some lawyers make lots, but there are other jobs where you can make money. And many of them are not as all-consuming as the law.  

If you want to be a lawyer because you want people to think you’re smart, I wouldn’t recommend it. You’ll be surrounded by lawyers, who won’t be impressed by you being a lawyer. Many of them will, in fact, be smarter than you. At best, strangers at dinner parties will ask for legal advice. In any event, if you don’t think you’re smart, what someone else thinks won’t change your........

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