Interview: Part II

Anastacia: So, you’re in law school! What made you decide to pursue law as a career, and where do you think you want to go with it?

Ms. Runner: Law school – Well, this is a question I’m asking myself now that I’m in my fourth round of finals (hitting head against wall)! There are a number of factors that lead me here, some I am more proud of than others. In college, I double majored in French and English and people would always look at me askance, “So, law school then?” as if that is all one does with a liberal arts degree that didn’t involve a minor in economics. But the idea had never interested me and I fended off these questions with eye rolls.

For a while I dallied with the idea of a PhD in English literature, but I dodn’t have the focused interest in one subject that is required to sustain that kind of career. I became smitten with the lure of the publishing world and spent two summers pursuing that interest and subsequently landed a job working at a big publishing house in New York City. I loved working with authors and I loved my colleagues, who were witty and sarcastic and well-read. I didn’t love the fact that 85% of the time was spent working on marketing and advertising and pitching, and only about 10% spent on actual editing (and most of the 10% was done at home after an 8 hr work day), and of course, the work was underpaid. After two years, the pie in the sky job of executive editor no longer had allure. Coincidentally, two years was also a good time to put an end to a fraying long distance relationship. I picked up and moved to DC, where there are a whole lot less publishing jobs, but where my now-husband was in school.

Right around this time I signed up for the LSAT. The decision to take the LSAT was rolled up in so many things – deciding to shift my career to…something else, wanting to be able to support myself and actually save money, wanting to feel powerful (both in terms of being able to effect change and in terms of being my own boss, and in terms of having a specialized skill), recognizing that I didn’t have a burning passion to do something else, and admitting that my aptitudes might be a good fit for the profession after all (you know, endless patience with minutiae, willingness to kowtow to tradition, blindly prostrate myself for THE MAN, strong “writing and analytic skills”).

I got myself a non-law job in DC working as a grant writer for a non-profit (those “writing and analytic skills” do come in handy). In part the non-law job was safe, I didn’t want to have a bad law experience and scare myself out of going back to school, and in part it was another attempt to see if there was something out there that would be fulfilling, and challenging, and economically productive that might draw me in another direction. The grant writing job confirmed some things – that I need challenge even if it means working long hours (9-5 kills me if I’m bored), and that I enjoy working with smart people.

I’m sheepish about admitting why I am in law school because I’m not here for noble reasons, like my passion for the law, or a dream of setting those falsely imprisoned free. I’m here for the stereotypical reasons, and for all the reasons that people tell me I will ultimately be unhappy with the law. But the people that I’ve met so far ARE smart, and ARE interesting (especially when we can get ourselves to talk about things other than our stressful schedules, stressful exams, and woe is me stressful life), and the learning itself has been really enjoyable (and I think it says a lot that I’m saying this right after taking a 3 hr exam). There are many who have told me that liking law school is not an indicator of career satisfaction, and since I’ve only had a judicial internship so far, the fact remains to be seen.

In the meantime, I'm resentful about feeling that I need to defend my choice to go to law school against attack that I sold out, that I won't like it, and that I will be soon regretting the debt I've incurred.*

This summer I’ve signed up for the BIG LAW experience, which is supposed to be cushy and not tell me much about what working at a BIG LAW firm would really be like. But there is no doubt that the money is alluring, and there is a high likelihood that I'll get in the game after graduation. Beyond that, I’m discovering a passion for family law and child welfare issues and think about ultimately steering my profession in that direction (though again, many nay-sayers who caution burn out). At the moment, I think it would be interesting to work on constitutional questions that arise in the context of new reproductive technologies, or to work on child welfare/foster care reform. But we’ll see.

*But feel free to say "I told you so" when I tell you in two years that I sold out, I don't like it, and that I am regretting all the debt I've incurred.