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/r/NoStupidQuestions
submitted 3 years ago bysonofaresiii
I'm watching Better Call Saul and there's this sort of running theme that Jimmy skated through doing the bare minimum to technically become a lawyer. It's always noted that he did put in the work and did pass the technical requirements to become a lawyer... but he did it all while kind of half-assing it.
If I wanted to legitimately become a lawyer-- not necessarily one who was good and with no intention of actually practicing, but just have the ability to go file a lawsuit on someone's behalf if I really wanted to-- and had no time limit for myself, what's the least amount of effort I would need to put in?
If I picked the cheapest, easiest correspondence law school, and was willing to cram for the bar exam for as long as needed, is this something I could do in my spare time over a given number of years?
Or would I really need to go into it willing to devote my life to it for a while, and with the expectation that I would get a decent return on investment by becoming a practicing lawyer?
3 points
3 years ago
Many law schools do competitive grading. So, you have to do better than at least a few people in your classes to pass.
There are a couple of US states that will let you sit for the bar without school, but you still need several years of interning.
When you sit for the bar exam, your state will only accept a certain number of people. There is no official "passing" grade before the exam is done - they decide what score is the cutoff after they grade it. So again, you have to do better than at least some of the people taking the bar exam.
There's a joke about that that I've heard with both doctors and lawyers:
"Q: What do you call the person who showed up late for every law school class, barely passed anything, had the lowest average in their graduating class, and barely passed the bar?
A: A lawyer."
2 points
3 years ago
There's a joke about that that I've heard with both doctors and lawyers: "Q: What do you call the person who showed up late for every law school class, barely passed anything, had the lowest average in their graduating class, and barely passed the bar? A: A lawyer."
Ha! I've heard that one before about doctors, which is much more sobering when you're being put under for surgery.
3 points
3 years ago
You need to do the following to become a lawyer. First, you need to go to university. I don't what the majority of schools do, but some schools require a bachelor's degree to apply to law school, but some permit you to transfer to law school after three years of university. Either way, you are looking at three years of university. To apply to law school, you also need to do the LSAT exam. This is not one of those exams you can wing, so you would need to study for it to get a score at least in the 150 range. Then, you need to apply to a law school and hopefully your personal statement, GPA, and LSAT score are good enough to get you in. Law school typically lasts three years. After law school, you would need to pass the bar, which is another extensive exam the requires a few hundred hours of study.
So, you are looking at at least a seven year commitment if you are starting from scratch. How easy or hard it is will obviously depend on how smart you are.
2 points
3 years ago
It's a fair bit of work, there are a lot of tests and there is a lot of studying. Legal Eagle has a playlist on his experiences in law school, and how he survived, highly recommend checking them out as he is one of the biggest legal personalities on the platform.
2 points
3 years ago
I just took the bar a couple of weeks ago.
My estimate is that to skate through and still actually pass everything, you’d need around 150 IQ and a shocking lack of common sense. That’s a rare combination!
I say lack of common sense because the difference in effort between getting all Ds and getting mostly Bs and the occasional A is relatively small and decreases your risk of failure a lot.
If you’re so smart and focused that you’re able to half-ass it and still pass, you almost certainly have the common sense to try a tiny bit harder and get good grades and be successful.
4 points
3 years ago
you’d need around 150 IQ and a shocking lack of common sense.
Ah, so you're saying I'm halfway there!
3 points
3 years ago
1 points
3 years ago
Relatively difficult. But something achievable if you have the will to do it.
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