Fifty-Something Law Grad Found BigLaw Job a Tough Gig But Has No Regrets About Earning a JD
After a career in television production, Barbara Griff decided to go to law school.
In her fifties when she graduated in 1996 magna cum laude from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, she has no regrets about earning her juris doctorl degree. However, she found the BigLaw job she got after graduating a tough gig, says Griff in a Careerist post.
Age discrimination was minimal. And being older was actually an advantage in relating to clients as she worked first as an associate at Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton and Garrison and next at Loeb & Loeb in New York.
But this kind of job was not the right fit for her, says Griff, who now works as a legal recruiter.
“I felt like the woman who gets involved with a man that her friends had warned her to avoid; she thinks she can handle the guy because she’s been around the block. Wrong,” she writes. “I was unprepared about how hierarchical, impersonal and isolating big-firm life can be.”
Hat tip: Am Law Daily
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Is Law School a Good Idea for Middle-Aged Professional? Experts Warn of Risks and Bias”
