Confessions of a Litigious Mind

The random, irrelevant musings of a law school graduate.

Saturday, July 15, 2006

do i look rich?

i went to the mall today. as a general rule, i dislike the mall. it's always crowded and everything is overpriced. further, i usually dont like most of the crap i come upon there, and i guess when it comes to clothes i'm a pretty picky person. i rarely even shop at goodwill anymore, except for t-shirts during my annual "back to school" shopping trip in august. but even the donators haven't been donating quality t-shirts lately. bullshit. but i digress.

when i do find something i like, it's usually expensive enough where i dont want to purchase it. i'd much rather spend my money on dominique, fun shit with friends, booze, golf, and meat. take your overpriced fabric and shove it.

the reason i went to the mall today was that i found a gift certificate for a music/movie store in my room. god knows how long it had been there. so i went to the store, and ended up with a key purchase. i got both the arrested development season 2 dvds (18 episodes) and the big lebowski for $26.48. but the gift certificate was $25, so it cost me $1.48. awesome.

next, i went to one of the department stores to check out some ties. i found a few that i liked, on sale even. but they were the same pattern, just different colors. i didnt want to buy 2 ties with the same pattern, so i looked for another tie to replace one. nothing there that i fell in love with. so, instead of even buying the one tie i said fuck it and left without any. i look at it this way: when i'm fucking you up the ass in court, the color of my tie is probably the last thing on your mind.

the last reason i dislike the mall (and this is not exclusive to malls) is that they always have tables set up for this-or-that group soliciting shoppers for money and/or donations. true, people go to the mall to spend money. but for that money, they want to receive stuff. not nothing. and why do people always harass me when i walk by? do i look rich? no, i dont. although i have noticed that since i've grown the beard, people are slightly more hesitant to bother me than they were before. hey, whatever works. i'm well past the stage in my life where i can be guilted into donating money. shit, i should be at a table asking for donations to help pay my law school tuition. talk about spending money for nothing.

posted by josh @ 7/15/2006 04:03:00 PM

13 Comments:

At 7/15/2006 5:58 PM, Blogger law monkey said...

i still maintain, you can always quit law school, if it's that worthless.

 
At 7/15/2006 6:32 PM, Blogger josh said...

i've already gone thru 2/3 of it, might as well finish. fuck the debt, i'll pay it off. the last year will be the easiest anyway.

i'll just take the degree, act like it's a big deal, and see what happens.

ok, i'm not thinking this out. i'm watching arrested development.

 
At 7/15/2006 11:22 PM, Blogger sadielady said...

I love arrested development. I'm totally jealous.

And yes, why would you quit two years in w/ that much debt. Even if you realize that far in that a lot of it is bullshit, weigh two years' worth of debt w/o a degree in hand vs accumulating one more year's worth of death in order to get that degree that at least has some value in terms of being able to potentially get a job w/ a higher salary b/c there are other people out there in the marketplace of jobs who do put value on that degree and will offer you a higher paying job b/c of it.... so why on earth would you tell some one two years in that if they think it's worthless than can always quit? I don't get that.

 
At 7/15/2006 11:23 PM, Blogger sadielady said...

HAHAHAHAHA, oh my god!!! and i didn't even mean to do that. "one more year's worth of death?" um, paging dr. freud....

 
At 7/16/2006 2:03 PM, Blogger law monkey said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

 
At 7/16/2006 2:07 PM, Blogger law monkey said...

sadielady: i think it has something to do with not wasting your time doing something that you don't want to do.

the thing is, many people associate quitting with failure. however, completing 2 out of 3 years of law school is better than none, so even if someone didn't go through with the final year of law school, they've still gained something:
1) 2 years of legal education (and arguably, the 3rd year is a waste anyway, a topic which is the subject of much debate amongst members of the profession. so really, the first 2 years are the most important, and if you've got that much, you've got a legal education.)
2) you've realized, by the end of 2 years, that you don't want to be a lawyer. that's a big lesson to learn, and it can be incredibly valuable in the sense that you won't feel like you're committing yourself to a profession in which you have no interest.

if it were me, and i knew that i didn't want to practice law or use my law degree, i would give serious thought to not going through with the final year. i'd rather take a step in the direction in which i actually want to go. i don't like to waste time.

finally, i don't know how employers would view it, but i'm guessing that at least some of them would say, oh hey, you've gone to law school, you stuck it out, and you probably came away with some very valuable skills that we can use. if you can prove to the employer that you quit school because you just weren't interested in the law, and you didn't quit because you just couldn't cut it, then i don't see how quitting could be much of a hindrance.

also, a job candidate who only has a B.A., when compared to a candidate who has a B.A. + 2/3 years of law school, is less appealing to some employers.

like i said before, sometimes, quitting can be a good thing.

 
At 7/16/2006 11:19 PM, Blogger d$ said...

"if you can prove to the employer that you quit school because you just weren't interested in the law, and you didn't quit because you just couldn't cut it, then i don't see how quitting could be much of a hindrance."

that's exactly it though. unless you know your potential employer on some personal level there's no way a stranger is going to believe that you left lawschool on your own accord.

 
At 7/16/2006 11:21 PM, Blogger d$ said...

and dicta you forgot the addendum to your blog: "i'd much rather spend my money on dominique*"


*dominique is not a hooker.

 
At 7/17/2006 10:30 AM, Blogger law monkey said...

unless you know your potential employer on some personal level there's no way a stranger is going to believe that you left lawschool on your own accord.

i'm not so sure about that. if your grades were awful, then yeah, you won't have much credibility when you tell your prospective employer(s) that the reason you quit was because you just weren't interested. BUT, if your grades were decent, the employer would be more likely to believe you when you say "the law just isn't my thing."

and actually, i think there are plenty of people who would believe you if you told them that you left law school because you didn't want to go into that profession. most people recognize that law school is a bit grueling (understatement, perhaps?). so when you say, "yeah man, i tried it, i didn't like it," they're more likely than not going to believe you. in my opinion, anyway.

i guess i should mention that some of what i'm saying on the topic of quitting law school is based on discussions that i've had with a former co-worker. he went to law school for just a year, discovered that "thinking like a lawyer" was a bit too dreary and pessimistic for him, and decided to try something different. when he applied for other jobs, employers were impressed that he had even done one year of law school (regardless of the fact that he didn't stick it out), because they recognized that he had indubitably acquired certain skills that non-law school attendees would have. (grade-wise, he did well his first year, and so his credibility was hardly marred by quitting law school.)

 
At 7/17/2006 10:32 AM, Blogger josh said...

2/3 years of law school might (and i'm not even sure that's true) be better than 0/3, but i wouldn't imagine that you could explain why to anyone. any employer's response will be "well, if you learn all you need to know in 2, then how come it's a 3 year program?"

also, finishing the last year wouldnt make me feel like i'm "commiting myself to a profession in which i have no interest" any more than 2 years would. besides, if i finish the last year i'll at least have a degree, which although perhaps highly useless in a non-legal setting, is still an advanced degree. and that looks better than no advanced degree at all, using the same logic as 2 years looking better than 0. also, an advanced degree can open other doors that 2 years cannot, such as teaching at some types of institutions. therefore, i wouldnt consider the third year a waste of my time.

besides, i havent totally ruled out some sort of law. i'm a picky person. if i like something, then it means i really like it. but that doesnt mean that sometimes you dont put up with shit cuz it will make things a little better off in the future. the key is just to not put up with too much shit. and i think with all of what i've put up with in the first 2 years, finishing the last one to get the degree, even if i decide not to practice, outweighs any benefits to quitting.

 
At 7/17/2006 10:34 AM, Blogger josh said...

oh right, also, dominique is not a hooker. she prefers lady of the evening.



just kidding. i get it for free.

 
At 7/17/2006 5:38 PM, Blogger law monkey said...

"dominique is not a hooker. she prefers lady of the evening."

hahahaha, nice.


"i wouldnt consider the third year a waste of my time."

sweet.


"i havent totally ruled out some sort of law."

gotcha.


"i'm a picky person."

we know. :P


"the key is just to not put up with too much shit."

agreed.

 
At 7/17/2006 6:09 PM, Blogger d$ said...

let's not forget that dicta's two years of law school are at two different schools. transfering and then quitting could be seen as beeing wishy washy or something else that makes him sound kinda feminine and fickle. - not a selling point for potential employers

 

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