Best legal profession books according to redditors

I'm going to copy an extensive post I wrote in r/lawschool a couple of weeks ago.

>Absolutely not option B [referring to the OP in that thread]. People are misunderstanding the way the legal job market works. If I am two years ahead of you when you start law school, we are almost never competing for the same job. Firms and corporate law departments hire associates at certain years and certain pay levels. If I'm trying to lateral out of a firm, the new firm is going to be looking for an established third-year associate, not a freshly-minted JD. Many judges look first to clerkship applicants coming straight out of law school. The fact is, until you're both established attorneys, your employment prospects are rigidly constrained by your exact number of years out of law school.

>The simplest reason not to go to law school is the expected value of your degree. EV is a statistical measure of the probability of a given outcome times the value of that outcome, and in this case minus the cost to get to that outcome.

>The law industry has a pretty hardcore bimodal salary distribution. See Ilya Somin, The Bimodal Distribution of Lawyer Pay. That means there are associate jobs at megafirms that pay $160k/yr for a first-year associate in the largest markets (New York, Chicago, Houston) and less in smaller markets ($90-100k in Kentucky, for example, which is equivalent to $160k in New York in terms of purchasing power parity). Everybody goes to law school to get these jobs, but the truth is, unless you go to a top school (top fourteen at least, top six in a bad year) you have about a 10% chance of landing that job. Law school is graded on a hard curve, which means only 10% of the class get As and A+s by design. To make things worse, law is a field for prestige whores. Most big law firms won't even give you an interview if your GPA isn't above their cutoff.

>The "bimodal" thing means that, if you weren't one of the insanely lucky ones who landed a cushy firm job, you're stuck in "shitlaw." Lawyers in legal aid, small firms, and solo practitioners might make $40-50k a year, and that's if they can find a job. But those jobs have become extraordinarily competitive in this economy. When the top 10% are going to firms, the 25% below them are snapping up what's left. If you're not in the top third of the class, even at a middle-of-the-road law school, you're very likely to be unemployed upon graduation.

>Meanwhile, law school costs a ton. The average debt of a private law school grad is $125,000. That debt is non-dischargeable even in bankruptcy, and carries interest rates between 6.8% and 7.9%. The painful truth is that you probably will not make over $50,000/year. That means you have, like, $500/mo to put towards student loans, if you're lucky. Student loans which total $125,000. And schools which offer "scholarships" have been getting flak for attaching stipulations, also called stips. They say you have to keep your grades above a certain level or you lose your lucrative scholarship. And remember, law school is graded on a hard curve. By design, the system weeds out at least a quarter of scholarship recipients over time--kids who end up either paying full tuition in the end or dropping out of law school.

>Telling you not to go to law school has nothing to do with job prospects. These people are being nice to you. Do not go to law school, unless you're in a top-ranked school with a national employment reach or you have an enormous scholarship without a stip. The biggest problem is that everyone who still goes to law school in the face of all the New York Times articles and scam blogs is a narcissist. You all believe that you're the special snowflake who will go to Thomas Cooley or Nova Southeastern or some other shit-tier law school and get a biglaw job. But no one actually does that. Law schools lie about their employment percentages and the median salaries of their graduates and 0Ls lap it up. But don't just take my word for it. Here's some necessary reading:

> David Segal - Is Law School a Losing Game? (New York Times)

> David Segal - Law School Economics: Ka-Ching! (New York Times)

>David Segal wrote an excellent series of New York Times articles about the realities of law school over the last year and a half. They do a great job of laying bare the numbers and the tactics that schools are employing to screw you over. Read these. Don't look away just because it doesn't comport with your worldview or how your mommy and daddy have been telling you for two decades what a great lawyer you'd make.

> Inside the Law School Scam, a blog by Paul Campos

>Paul Campos is a tenured law professor who wrote this blog to expose what's really going on with law schools and the admissions game. He's an insider who's been praised for using his inability to get fired to benefit thousands.

> The NLJ 250's "Go-To Law Schools" list

>These are the number of graduates from a given school who go to NLJ 250 firms (pretty much the ones that pay the big bucks). Do you see your prospective school on there? No? Then fat chance their number is anywhere north of 10%. It might even be zero.

> JD Underground

>This is a pretty helpful forum full of people who were beaten up and hung out to dry by the law school system. There are worse, more cynical forums (see, e.g., xoxohth/AutoAdmit). There are more starry-eyed and optimistic forums (see, e.g., Top-Law-Schools). But I think JD Underground provides the most realistic and helpful picture of what you'll really be doing with the rest of your life if you go to a mediocre law school and drop $150k.

> Planet Law School II

>This book takes a very cynical tack on law school and legal employment. It's a shade over 800 pages long, but you don't have to read the whole thing. And take it with a grain of salt, because the author is anonymous and comes off like a self-important asshole. But the information is good, and the numbers are solid.

Mark Herrmann's "The Curmudgeon's Guide to Practicing Law"

http://www.amazon.com/The-Curmudgeons-Guide-Practicing-Law/dp/1590316762

How do you break bad news to a client?

It’s a questioned that flummoxes the Old World to this day. There are books written on it, websites designed around it, quick guides to have close at hand, articles offering their key tips and seminars to train people in how to do it. And yet for all that it still remains one of the key issues organisations face. You do have to tell your clients and stakeholders… not telling them is even worse. But how do you do it without angering them, alienating them, antagonizing them? How do you do it without them blaming you, thinking you’re incompetent, think that you’re at fault? How do you do it while maintaining a productive relationship, while maintaining their interest in your services, while ensuring they remain a client or stakeholder? There’s a reason the phrase “don’t shoot the messenger” is so well known over there.

As normal here in the Empire we did find a solution.

Just have a cunt do it.

And feel free to fuck her.

Now that might strike you as an odd solution and one that actually risks making the situation worse. After all, your client or stakeholder is about to be informed of some bad news about something that he cares deeply about, that matters to him, that is important to him. Shouldn’t that news come from a man, a man who can stand before him and tell him the truth, who can offer a way forward and a solution even as he gives the grim tidings, a man he can respect for giving him the news personally? Couldn’t… no, wouldn’t… it be considered an insult to send a cunt to do that job, as if you thought he didn’t matter, as if you thought he was beneath you, as if you thought he and his issue were unimportant? Wouldn’t that make him angry?

I don’t blame you for thinking such things. And you know what… you’re largely right.

But that’s the point.

Step back and take a deeper view. We are men and thus creatures of logic and reason, of higher order thinking. But despite that there are times when our primal selves and our passions rear up, when control slips or is lost entirely. I speak as a man known for his iron control (in all senses of the word) but even I have found that control slipping on occasion. When bad news is delivered, especially when important bad news is delivered, sadly too often we lash out at those around us, we say things we don’t really mean, do things we don’t really intend to, blame people who are largely blameless, let that anger and that rage and then frustration explode out of us and woe betide any who are close.

Who is better for that rage and that anger to be spent on, for those words to be said to? The man you’ll continue to interact with with? The organisation you’ll still do business with? Your friends and peers and colleagues as you stew in your own resentment?

Or the cunt who’s there and completely helpless before you, a slave to your wishes and your will and your wants, there for you to use and to debase and to humiliate and to make suffer until your anger is spent?

The cunt, obviously.

Of course a reputable organisation wouldn’t tell the cunt to scamper off and deliver the bad news without following up. Shortly after our little sacrificial lamb has been thoroughly chastised and castigated is the time for a man to call or visit to do all those things mentioned above, to talk through the issues and offer a way forward. And with that initial disappointment and anger spent on the cunt the following conversation can actually be productive, actually be useful, actually move things forward, not tied down in the rush of emotions that comes with the initial bad news.

The Natural Order succeeds once again.

Ah, I feel I do need to add something here. When I said “just have a cunt do it” above I didn’t mean “just have any old cunt do it”.

I meant “have a Civilisation LLP, the Empire’s Premier Value Added Slave Training Organisation, trained cunt” do it.

Delivering the bad news is a harder (no pun intended) job then one may first imagine. Yes, any cunt could be sent but then you risk them making a mistake, them screwing up, them not satisfying the client or the stakeholder. What if they say the wrong thing? Scream at the wrong time? Have an ass that’s too tight or too loose? Don’t take a flogging well? Are a poor fuck? Then you risk the situation at best not being improved and at worst being negatively impacted by her incompetence.

Cunts who have gone through our “Behavioural Intervention Training: Client Hospitality course are much like swans; on the surface entirely natural (although not serene) but underneath carefully prepared to be the perfect target for his aggression. Utilising a cunt’s natural talent for deceit and deception these cunts are trained to say just the right things in just the right tone at just the right time to really set a client off and make sure his anger is directed at her individually rather than you as her owner or your organisation as a whole. As you would expect from a Civilisation LLP trained cunt they are of course a perfect fuckslave, well able to satisfy and bring pleasure to a man with her holes and additionally in this case responding in an appropriate and effective way to best sate his fury and enhance his experience, be it through pitiful sobs or sluttish moans. By the time she’s used up and the phone rings for you to have a real, meaningful conversation with him, he’ll be in a much better (and happier) frame of mind to discuss the issue.

… and while she may be quivering in the corner, in honesty, the cunt loved it too.

The Curmudgeon's Guide to Practicing Law is a good one. Amusing and practical, and very on point. I received it as a gift from one of my mentors early on in my career and thought it was a wonderful aid.

I would also look at templates and examples of court documents on Practical Law's "Standard Documents" portion of its website (along with the website in general). Very, very good baseline materials and law on several important topic areas for the modern practitioner.

If you need to ask that question, you really, really, really don't know "what lawyers do".

The basic divide in law careers (other than public v private) is between contentious and non-contentious work, and if you don't appreciate that, you have not done your homework. Go read a book like [this one] (http://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Guide-Your-Legal-Career/dp/B001G8WGES) (note: I'm from another jurisdiction and so have not had a reason to read that book myself, but it appears relevant) and then come back with more specific questions.

Read this: https://www.amazon.com/Curmudgeons-Guide-Practicing-Law/dp/1590316762



>I don't have all the documents they asked me to bring.

What documents are these? It's Sunday. Why cant you go get them?

Experience doesn't necessarily make him a great writer. Still, don't let him bring you down or demoralize you. Especially since you're trying to improve your writing. It sounds like a normal control thing; in my experience, lawyers rewrite things for no reason except that it's what they learned in law school or it's just what's worked for them in the past. And lawyers hate changing their writing style—since Bryan Garner's tips from TWB are the "new" style that most practicing lawyers don't really care for, he may disagree with some of it. Ask him for recommended reading and see what he says. (I had a similar experience and I can understand how it's incredibly frustrating.)

But in the short term:

1. Keep in mind that random briefs (on random topics) for one attorney during one summer don't reflect your entire writing ability. Nor is his judgment of your writing necessarily accurate. If you can, ask someone else (friend/atty not at the office) to look at a copy of an early draft that you think is good and see what they say.
   
   
2. Figure out however he wants you to write, in whatever format, and stick to it. Don't bother trying to change his mind. (Sounds obvious, I know, but the point is that you can write how he wants you to at work, and develop your own style on your own.)
   
   Long term, I recommend these for improving brief-writing skills:
   
   
3. The best book on brief writing is Winning on Appeal by Ruggero Aldisert--a fed app judge
   
   
4. For some of the best examples, read the Solicitor General's briefs that are all available online
   
   
5. I found the no-longer-secret Supreme Court Style Guide to be helpful and interesting
   
   
6. Also, not super helpful, but interesting is the OSG Citation Manual
   
   
7. Another good resource is The Art of Advocacy
   
   
8. And Plain English for Lawyers
   
   Good luck!

https://www.amazon.com/Biglaw-Survive-Practice-Mega-Firm-Review/dp/1611633044/ref=s9_psimh_gw_g14_i1_r?_encoding=UTF8&fpl=fresh&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=&pf_rd_r=M99PFJBRGMP8SYB6ZWEQ&pf_rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=6aad23bd-3035-4a40-b691-0eefb1a18396&pf_rd_i=desktop

First of all, you're not crazy. My MIL, FIL, and Stepfather IL all changed careers in their 50s. Like, drastic changes. Blue collar to medical field; white collar to art.

2nd, you are NOT starting over when your boss resigns. If you network, then you can segue to another position for someone in politics. This is how many folks in politics move around, one campaign to another; one official to another. Plus, you now have a reference for this type of work, as opposed to your rep in court or a McDonald's manager.

It's not if you are ridiculous to change professions, it's doing enough research to determine if you have what you need and are willing to do what you need to in order to change into photography. Can you create a career viable path for it? You can't just "change" careers; you have to create something like that.

I highly recommend finding a good career counselor in your area, someone who can help you analyze your values and priorities in moving forward.

Also, just for fun, you can read What Can you do with a Law Degree. It addresses options other than standard law firm work.

Good luck!

I highly suggest Weekend MPRE; it's straightforward and comprehensive. Good luck!

https://www.amazon.com/Weekend-MPRE-Complete-Preparation-Weekends/dp/164020623X http://store.westacademic.com/Static/mpre/

His book is also a good (if slightly depressing) read.

Congrats!

Success in biglaw is so much more than doing great work. Find a partner in a strong practice area who can be your advocate at the firm. Seek out cases with him/her. Let him/her run interference with other partners who may not care if you burn out after one year. Also, learn how to say no to work. Hint: don't say "no."

Pick up a copy of The Curmudgeon's Guide to Practicing Law. It's an excellent book about firm life that contains a lot of invaluable advice for new lawyers.

Getting to Yes - https://www.amazon.ca/Getting-Yes-Negotiating-Agreement-Without/dp/0143118757/ref=sr_1_1?crid=BCHIC7U5CRIU&keywords=getting+to+yes&qid=1573872902&sprefix=getting+to+yes%2Caps%2C144&sr=8-1

Never Split the Difference: https://www.amazon.ca/Never-Split-Difference-Negotiating-Depended-ebook/dp/B014DUR7L2/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=negotiation&qid=1573872963&sr=8-1

​

But more importantly:

Client Science: Advice for Lawyers on Counseling Clients through Bad News and Other Legal Realities: https://www.amazon.ca/Client-Science-Lawyers-Counseling-Realities/dp/0199891907

The Curmudgeon's Guide to Practicing Law
http://www.amazon.com/The-Curmudgeons-Guide-Practicing-Law/dp/1590316762

This one was suggested on a similar post a while back. I saved it to my Amazon list but haven't got to buying it yet. It's about a law firm but supposedly a lot of parallels to be drawn.

The Practice: Brutal Truths About Lawyers and Lawyering https://www.amazon.com/dp/1627220011/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_0ycuyb5W7B6FW

In addition to what's already been said, I would recommend picking up this book.

OP, I just did a timed preptest with a 173 yesterday that has been falling into a larger trend, so I'm feeling the fire and if you don't mind I'll share some of my experiences to help you. Because frankly, it's a rough world out there and we need to help each other.

1. I was going to take the test in June, but the week before the test I was only hovering low 160s. I withdrew and am applying for October, since then my average has steadily increased at a linear rate. If the week before the test you are unsure, I heartily recommend that you withdraw and redouble efforts for the next test.
   
   
2. I now keep an Excel sheet where I keep my score, raw score, and fractional breakdown of each section and a running tally of my average. The far right column I list weaknesses that kept me from doing my best on that particular score, both in terms of the test itself but also in terms of the context I took the test (for example, I have personally found that being strung out on caffeine results in a far worse drop in score than simply having not enough sleep). I strongly believe that my diligent efforts to record my progress has been responsible for my sharp increase in scores recently.
   
   
3. I have done both the PithyPike method and also simply drilling tests sequentially. I think PithyPike is a great method for a foundation to the LSAT, but the drilling of tests has been best for me. YMMV.
   
   
4. I personally think the LSAT does just test you on the LSAT, but that is really irrelevant to how you should deal with it. The reason why is it's also the biggest predictor of your career in law (out of the LSAT, your law school, or the bar exam). You really shouldn't coast at any point on your path to this career, but you simply cannot afford to coast on the LSAT or you will hamstring your career before you even start.
   
   
5. I don't know if you've ever worked a corporate job before (I have), but to just about anyone fresh out of college and hasn't had that experience, they suck and they are by nature very competitive no matter what industry you are in. I thrive on that and don't mind hard work and long hours. If you can't swing an assistant/paralegal position because you live in the middle of nowhere, then a read of The Curmudgeon's Guide to Practicing Law can be helpful as a substitute to figuring out what life in law is like.
   
   In short, you probably need to go big or go home in this field, unless you get a non-conditional free ride somewhere. Johnnymd is right, though, at this stage for you your GPA is way more important than your LSAT, because the window for altering your GPA is much smaller than your LSAT, which you can do anytime.

Time leftover at a 160? Red flag! If you have time left over and you are missing that many questions, time is an issue. You are definitely going too fast. There aren't any bonus points for having time left over. Slow down and spend more time on the questions. You should see your accuracy improve. As you improve your accuracy, your confidence will improve. These 2 things combined will allow you to go faster (while maintaining accuracy). Also, it is not unusual for your score to drop a little at the beginning like that. Once you've started studying, you have a lot more to think about than you did before. You're taking time to pay attention to things that you didn't notice before. Don't worry about that 162 to 160 score. It's not very different. On test day, it's reasonable to expect a score that is +/-3 points of your average PT score.

If you are very confident in your answer choice, and then find out you are wrong, it means that there is something you didn't understand about that question. Use some resource with great explanations to help you figure out what you are missing. Try to find a pattern in the questions you miss and the wrong answers you are choosing. Taking the time to review the questions you miss AND the questions you got right (but weren't 100% about) is very important. As you study, focus on being able to eliminate the 4 wrong answer choices and narrowing it down to that 1 right answer. If you cannot eliminate the 4 wrong answers it's definitely a question for review.

I recommend getting the Manhattan Prep Logical Reasoning Strategy Guide.

La civile Inghilterra. Rule of Law. Fulgido esempio della difesa dei diritti dell'individuo. E contraddittorio a processo. E solo verità processuale, niente chiacchiere da bar. Eccetera eccetera esticazzi.

Ho letto qualche mese fa The secret Barrister
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Secret-Barrister-Stories-Law-Broken/dp/1509841105

Sunto: un penalista inglese racconta anonimamente come funziona il sistema giudiziario inglese. Mi aspettavo le solite lamentele che tutto cacca. Qualche nanetto gnomico. Qualche invettiva contro tagli e sottofinanziamento. E infatti non sono stato deluso. Quello che non sapevo, ad esempio.

Ad esempio ci sono in Inghilterra due tipi di corti per il primo grado. Una è quella con 12 giurati e le parrucche. L'altra è una corte per reati minori (< 12 mesi di galera). Non sto qui a spiegare quando una e quando l'altra. Cmq per molti reati le corti si sovrappongono, potrebbe essere - a termini di legge - una oppure l'altra. Ebbene, nel sistema delle corti per reati minori il giudice - in circa 3/4 dei casi - non ha studiato legge. Non ha studiato legge. Manco un esame. È solo un rispettato cittadino. Possibilmente che abbia fatto tanto volontariato, che pare essere il criterio con più peso quando si valuta se un aspirante giudice abbia i requisiti per diventarlo (c'è il caso del neurochirurgo. Che nessuno dubita della sua perizia in medicina. Ma che non sa un cazzo di legge. Ma che è così attivo nel sociale...). E infatti, quando poi si riguardano a mo' di studio le sentenze, si scopre che moltissime sono sbagliate da bocciatura al primo esame di diritto.

Orrore puro.

I thought I wanted to be a lawyer, but now I'm totally jaded. There's no money in law anymore, there's little justice in law, and the average lawyer isn't 'my people'--ie: they are often conceited, selfish, self-absorbed, substance addicted, insincere, etc.. Being a lawyer isn't what you see on TV- its paperwork mostly, there's not very much litigating, its a lot of transactional headache, and long hours for little pay. Public interest attorneys often make as much as elementary school teachers. Jobs in big law are rare these days. Many big law firms are glorified 'good ole boy' clubs and my girlfriends who have worked in those settings were slated in secretarial roles despite their law degrees. I'm going nearly 100k in debt and will likely end up in non-profit management or something where a law degree is irrelevant. I'd just suggest you think critically about your career goals versus a career. Think about what makes you happy and how you can make that a career. The average lawyer isn't happy I would also think about the relevancy of becoming a lawyer in the next decade or two and whether or not they will be obsolete...read this book

I just encourage you to think about if you have to be a lawyer to effectuate change in whatever field of law you are interested in! Wanting to make a difference was my drive for going to law school and now I realize I've dug myself in a big hole that has set me back in actually making a difference. A lot of lawyers get caught up in the system without being able to actually change anything. They don't have the leisure to make any changes because they risk losing their job and in this market- that is a very real risk. These lawyers just become the government's bitch in the same way that environmental lawyers do (that's the field I'm interested in). Personally, I know I'm not meant to be a pencil pusher and most of what lawyering is is filling out forms, filing motions, and apologizing to people that you can't help because your hands are bureaucratically tied- all of which sound miserable for me to do for the next 40 years. I just think that lawyers are over-worked, under-paid, and keep an unfair institution running for no reason other than that they have loans to pay off. Law schools take the best and brightest out of society and stick them in jobs where they aren't truly going to make a difference. It is a shame, and I am not going to let that happen to me!
All I'm saying is that maybe your talents are better invested in the public school system, the policy making movement, public health administration, or even elected office! There are so many ways you can effectuate real and direct change in the lives of others that don't require a law degree. Just some food for thought!
I don't want to kill your dream- but if it could save you a few hundred grand, a bunch of stress, and three years of your life- it was worth it! All I'm saying is that if you have any doubts about going or if you are getting pressure from others to go -- don't go. Take a year off, work as a paralegal, go do the peace corps, just please don't go straight to law school.

I thought I wanted to be a lawyer too, but now I'm totally jaded. There's no money in law anymore, there's little justice in law, and the average lawyer isn't 'my people'--ie: they are often conceited, selfish, self-absorbed, substance addicted, insincere, etc.. Being a lawyer isn't what you see on TV- its paperwork mostly, there's not very much litigating, and its a lot of transactional headache and long hours for little pay. Public interest attorneys often make as much as elementary school teachers. I'm going nearly 100k in debt and will likely end up in non-profit management or something where a law degree is irrelevant. I'd just suggest you think critically about your career goals versus a career. Think about what makes you happy and how you can make that a career. The average lawyer isn't happy I would also think about the relevancy of becoming a lawyer in the next decade or two and whether or not they will be obsolete (read this book)

That's my completely unsolicited advice and I don't want to kill your dream- but if it could save you a few hundred grand, a bunch of stress, and three years of your life- it was worth it! Good luck either way! :)

Me acordé de ti, DanCordero. Me han recomendado mucho este libro: Thinking Like a Lawyer: A New Introduction to Legal Reasoning

Check this book out. https://www.amazon.com/Untangling-Fear-Lawyering-Four-Step-Powerful/dp/1641053526

This would seem to be the time to recommend the secret barrister's book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Secret-Barrister-Stories-Law-Broken/dp/1509841105/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1536076924&sr=8-1&keywords=the+secret+barrister

It's interesting if concerning.

​

Perhaps! But, I do hope you find a way to succeed on your own terms. Listen, I read a few books that really helped me shape my law school experience in school and beyond.

Here's Law School Confidential. It helped me with classes etc., interviews, and defining my initial career trajectory.

If you're looking to do commercial BigLaw, this book gave me some good perspective.

If you're more interested in something like public defense, Brian Stevenson's book Just Mercy was incredibly powerful.

Anyways, I do hope that you find something that works for you. It can be cold out there, and it's hard to get traction sometimes. Best of luck.

Looking for two books $5 obo paypal/GC
Legal Analysis: The Fundamental Skill

ISBN-13: 978-1594602795

ISBN-10: 1594602794

https://www.amazon.com/Legal-Analysis-Fundamental-David-Romantz/dp/1594602794

Guide to California Planning (4th Edition)
ISBN13: 9781938166020
ISBN10: 1938166027
https://www.amazon.com/Guide-California-Planning-William-Fulton-ebook/dp/B00D3BF7LU

I highly recommend The Curmudgeon's Guide to Practicing Law for BIGLAW associates and summers.

Book wise: The Curmudgeon's Guide to Practicing Law https://www.amazon.com/dp/1590316762/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_7NK6Bb635GG00

It was down right raw. Some funny parts. I’m not a lawyer. Short read.

From my experience:
Always learn to create and build something. Not just operate it. You are valuable when you know how to build. It can be anything, build a building, a computer, a program, a team, a business. Anything.

Make your curiosity ample and wide. Specialize a bit but not too much. This makes you marketable.

Stay positive. Avoid nay sayers. Avoid negative people. They tend to hold you back.

Stay in good communication with those that are good at their craft. They will become something one day. You never know when you will need them.

At the office, recognize when someone is using you to make themselves look good. Find a way to get the recognition.

Aim for the office. The salary will follow.

Stay practicing your craft. It so true, while you are sleeping someone else is grinding and hustling to out perform you. Stay hungry!

Find a way for companies to pay for your trips. Like conferences etc. Keep your money.

Be acutely aware that most companies see new grads as cheap labor. You are hungry and have lots of time with no responsibilities. Means you can work long hours for cheap. Meanwhile most bosses go home. So do the math, your salary divided by your hours worked.

Follow most of this and you will be making very good money soon. Ignore it and you will be making someone else good money.

I make ridiculous good money at 40hr weeks. I enjoy my work. I have made mistakes and my suggestions avoid those mistakes.

Good luck!

http://www.amazon.com/New-What-Can-You-Degree/dp/0940675714/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1382384384&sr=1-2&keywords=what+can+you+do+with+a+law+degree

I highly recommend spending $5 on a copy of Planet Law School. It will answer a lot of your questions.

Don't go to law school unless (1) it's free and (2) you get into a Top 14 school.

How do you know that you won't commit a crime 30 years from now?

According to this book, the average american commits 3 felonies a day:

https://www.amazon.com/Three-Felonies-Day-Innocent-Silverglate/dp/B00C7ETC38/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1540486072&sr=8-2&keywords=3+felonies+a+day&dpID=41Dnw%252BYy4UL&preST=_SY344_BO1,204,203,200_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

Although I'm inclined to say it really boils down to behaving like a timid, conformist, mediocre thinker, I must be wrong because there are entire books and articles written about it:

http://www.princeton.edu/~slaughtr/Commentary/On%20Thinking%20Like%20a%20Lawyer.pdf

http://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Like-Lawyer-Introduction-Reasoning/dp/0674062485

http://www.amazon.com/Think-Like-Lawyer-Reasoning-Professionals/dp/1627221417/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1414643817&sr=1-3&keywords=think+like+a+lawyer

http://www.amazon.com/Think-Like-Lawyer-Gary-Fidel/dp/1413461476/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1414643817&sr=1-5&keywords=think+like+a+lawyer

http://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Like-Lawyer-Introduction-Reasoning/dp/0813344646/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1414643817&sr=1-6&keywords=think+like+a+lawyer

http://www.amazon.com/Language-Law-School-Learning-Lawyer/dp/019518310X/ref=sr_1_8?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1414643817&sr=1-8&keywords=think+like+a+lawyer