Is Practice Like 'Boston Legal'? Will I Make Big Bucks? For $5K, Cornell Offers Prelaws Some Answers
Is the real life of a practicing lawyer similar to what is portrayed on Boston Legal and Law & Order? How much time does a lawyer spend arguing constitutional issues? Can a lawyer expect to make a lot of money?
Would-be legal eagles who are still in college can spend much of the summer in New York City learning the answers to these questions—and seeing for themselves what law practice is like, if they are fortunate enough to get an unpaid internship at a law firm or corporate, nonprofit or government legal office, in a six-week Cornell University program, explains a university Web page.
Offered by the School of Continuing Education and Summer Sessions, the program costs $4,970, exclusive of housing. It also includes a three-week, four-credit morning course, Introduction to the American Legal System, which is taught using the Socratic method. Participants will have the opportunity to explore the law and culture of New York as part of the program experience, too, the web page notes.
However, Above the Law, which brought this Cornell program to our attention, offers a free, short-form written tutorial for those who don’t have the money or the time to spend on the deluxe version.
Answering the same questions posed in the Cornell program description, ATL offers a number of thoughts and suggestions. Among them, the blog tells those interested in arguing constitutional law, “Heck, you can argue anything you want while sitting on a bar stool. If you want somebody to pay for your arguments, you’d best figure out how to make a constitutional case out of a mid-tranche asset forfeiture.”
Some previous ABAJournal and ABAJournal.com articles may also be enlightening, concerning the downside of the dream:
Fake Ad for $30K NY Lawyer Job Gets Real Responses
Was It Worth It? With Debt of Up to $250K, Some Law Grads Are Dubious
Unable to Find Legal Job, Blogger Posts Bah Humbug Tale on YouTube
Law School ‘Wonderland’ Stats Show 93% of Grads Employed, Despite 15K BigLaw Job Cuts
Law School? Bag It, Bloggers Say
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