Law school can be a long road to travel, and an expensive one. But for some students, that’s exactly what they want to tackle after graduation.
Trent Anderson, the vice president of Kaplan Inc., a company that supplies educational resources to schools and individuals, said the best idea for people who think there is even a small chance they want to practice law would be to go to law school immediately after graduation.
Kaplan Inc. provides standardized test preparation and online classes as well as information for college graduates who are trying to decide what the next step will be for them.
“Going to law school doesn’t mean you necessarily have to practice law,” Anderson said. “But if being an attorney is what you want to do you will have to go.”
Anderson said there are definitely other professions someone could take on that would also benefit from earning a law degree, but only those practicing law are required to earn a law degree.
“There are companies that recruit people with law degrees,” he said. “But there aren’t any where it is a must have.”
Anderson said professions such as consulting, investment banking and several fields in real estate can find a law degree beneficial.
“As with graduate school or business school, someone should be confident that they want to go to law school,” Anderson said. “Law school is an expensive and time consuming way to find out you don’t want to be an attorney.”
For recent graduates who aren’t sure whether law school is something they are ready to take on, finding experience in the professional world might be a way to determine that.
While he said there is not necessarily one specific field where valuable experience can be gained, he thinks it could be beneficial.
“The best preparation for law school is to do something you are passionate about,” Anderson said. “Whether the field you choose to work in is legal or not, they are looking for people with great experiences when it comes time for admitting people to law school.”
Third-year MSU-Detroit College of Law student Timothy McArthur is attending law school even though he doesn’t plan on practicing law when he graduates. Instead, he wants to be a forensic psychologist - an official often called in as an expert witness in court cases where individuals plead insanity.
“Forensic psychology and law are tied together,” he said. “It will be helpful to understand the legal system when I have to appear in court cases.”
Second-year MSU-DCL student Sujey Kallumadanda took a different route.
He opted to gain experience in the professional world before attending law school. He was a stockbroker for two years but decided that wasn’t the profession he cared to be involved in.
“You can do anything with a law degree,” Kallumadanda said. “Law school is the most well-rounded education you can get no matter what you want to do in the future.”
