gofer articles

So you want to be a lawyer. You realize it will mean a lot of researching, a lot of time used with books – but you like reading, and figuring things out, and you enjoy words, language, and all the semantic nuances included.

You even know that the LSAT test for admission to law school is hard, and something to pay hundreds or even thousands of dollars for, for special prep courses, coaching classes and so on. You also are aware that law school itself will be tough as nails, at least through the all-too-crucial First Year.

Great. Maybe you even know that you will be forever hitting the books as a practicing lawyer, forever taking online CPE courses and their tests, one after the other, in order to maintain your standing with the professional association governing your licensure.

Super.

But did you know that it will be rather tough getting a high-enough-paying job as lawyer in order to pay back your student loans? In fact, those online CPE courses will cost some money, too.

Oh, you probably think you’ve got that covered. You’ll graduate at the top of your class, or you’ll be accepted into an Ivy League law school and graduate none too low in the positions so as to get hired by a top corporate law firm and effortlessly recoup your investment in two to three years’ time.

And without a doubt, if such a thing does happen, your odds would be a lot better than those for virtually the rest of your peers, even in this economy. But “better than” does not imply “inherently good.” ’Cause guess what happens – globalization is coming to the legal profession as well.

Yes, you heard that right – outsourcing. Certainly, some of the online CPE courses available on the worldwide web were created overseas! And though the legal profession has tried to resist it (after all, it took a whole decade for everyone to swap from WordPerfect to Microsoft Word!), it’s finally started to affect the industry.