I Wanna Be A Lawyer When I Grow Up
posted by Miriam Cherry
Yesterday my friend Caitlin asked me when I knew that I wanted to be a lawyer. At this point, a life in the law is so much a part of my identity that I had to stop and think about it. I’ve become immersed in all the details that go along with practice and now being a professor, so much so that it’s easy to forget what motivated that initial journey down the path of the law.
Of course, if I look deeply at it, I have two serious reasons for choosing to study law: intellectual challenge and social justice. But if I really think about it, practicing law appealed to me before I could articulate those reasons.
I was writing my first client advice letter. I was five. The letter concerned Snuffleupagus. Yes, the shaggy brown-woolly-mammoth-elephant Snuffy from Sesame Street. At the time that I watched Sesame Street, Big Bird was trying to get his friends to believe that Snuffy existed. But when Big Bird would bring Maria, Bert, Ernie, or the other muppets to see him, Snuffy disappeared to talk to his mother, get a drink of water, etc. Then no one would believe Big Bird, and Snuffy continued to be the “imaginary friend.”
Even to my five year old self, it appeared that Snuffy’s existence could be definitively shown by an offer of proof. In that letter (which my mother helped me mail off to the public TV station) I suggested that Big Bird should start taking photographs of Snuffy or set up a precise time when the skeptical friends could come by.
I’m interested to see what motivated our readers to enter the legal profession. And it’s okay to admit that “The People’s Court” had something to do with it.
May 7, 2006 at 12:55 pm
Posted in: Law Practice
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Responses (31)
Andrea - May 7, 2006 at 1:53 pm
I was teaching high school ESL for two years when I became frustrated and depressed by the legal barriers keeping these great kids from doing great things with their lives (there were problems whether they were documented or not). Working, going to college, financial aid, driving, keeping their families together - there was a long list of problems caused by immigration status and finances that didn’t seem insurmountable, but no one really knew how to help.
We had a couple kids get deportation orders, and a lawyer from a community legal services group helped one get to stay for good. I was enchanted. I want to be able to do that! I said. I better go to law school. So here I am.
(And that’s what I’m doing this summer - God bless summer public interest funding!)
Seth R. - May 7, 2006 at 2:57 pm
I became a lawyer mainly because I didn’t have anything better to do.
I was a political science major. There’s not a lot you can do with that degree and a lot of the students in the program were “going law.” So it was always an option.
I read the book “Planet Law School.” I admit to kinda buying into it. I’ve got a stubborn personality and I took the book as a personal challenge. “So they’re all out to get me eh? By golly, I’ll show them!”
But I never had any particular liking or inclination for the law and it was sort of a last minute decision. After law school, I still wasn’t particularly passionate about the law. I felt it was important, and I had no objections to it, but I’ve never managed to get too worked up over it.
So I don’t think this is “my calling” (not the way people mean that word today). But that’s fine by me. Most of the world doesn’t get a choice in career. They get lousy jobs that don’t match their personalities. And most of them are just grateful to be employed.
Being a lawyer provides for my family’s financial future and allows me to be useful to society. That’s all I really expect from a job. Expecting more would seem like silly navel-gazing to me.
MR - May 7, 2006 at 3:03 pm
I am no longer ashamed to say it was LA Law in high school. My physics professor begged me to be an engineer, and I would have been if it had not been for McKenzie Brackman Cusack, et al.
I guess that’s why I’m now in IP.
Seth R. - May 7, 2006 at 3:04 pm
Not that I’m opposed to those who feel their own calling very strongly. Nor do I mind those who seek out the best personal fit, when the options are available.
All I’m saying is that “fulfillment” just wasn’t my personal style.
Caitlin - May 7, 2006 at 3:26 pm
Last night at dinner, Miriam also noted that as a youngster she served as counsel for the Big Bad Wolf during a ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ mock trial. She found trial work stimulating. Mr. Wolf was acquitted.
Miriam Cherry - May 7, 2006 at 4:12 pm
Better employment prospects are certainly one of the main reasons to go to law school, whether that is achieved through private practice or assisting underserved communities, and whether that is part of a “calling,” or as a survey of other lesser opportunities.
Congrats on your summer intership, Andrea!
As for my fourth grade efforts at defending Mr. Wolf, well, let’s just say that there were a number of roving wolf packs in the area that day. It also helped our case that Ms. Hood had some “memory difficulties” on the stand. (Hi Caitlin!)
np - May 7, 2006 at 4:15 pm
Law blogs!
Miriam Cherry - May 7, 2006 at 4:20 pm
I just re-read that. I didn’t mean to imply that jobs outisde the legal profession were “lesser opportunities”, just that they appeared to be less palatable to Seth R.
I may be a law geek, but I’m not a law snob.
Jamarcus Campbell - July 12, 2006 at 5:35 pm
I WANNA BE A LAWYER WHEN I GROW UP CAUSE ITS MY DREAM AND A PASSION BUT WHEN I DO IM GONNA LOOK BACK AND SAY WELL DONE I DID IT NOW I CAN MAKE MY OWN DECISIONS!
Jamarcus Campbell - July 12, 2006 at 5:39 pm
I WANNA BE A LAWYER WHEN I GROW UP CAUSE ITS MY DREAM AND A PASSION BUT WHEN I DO IM GONNA LOOK BACK AND SAY WELL DONE I DID IT NOW I CAN MAKE MY OWN DECISIONS! DA REASON I WAS BORN TO BE A LAWYER IS BECAUSE THE LORD PUT ME HERE TO MAKE A CHANGE IN THE FUTURE AND THATS MY DREAM SO IM GOIN TO MAKE IT HAPPEN LIKE ALWAYS CAUSE IN MY HEART I DO AND I LOOK AT CASES ON TV AND SEE TRIALS JUST PICTURING THAT I WAS THE LAWYER FOR ONE BUT IF I REALLY WANT IT TO BE TRUE I WOULD STUDY TO THE BEST OF MY ABILITIES!
rayan - October 2, 2006 at 12:06 pm
i wanna become o lawyer
Robert - November 11, 2006 at 10:13 pm
I’m in the deciding process. Graduation is approaching and I have a lot of moxed feelings about which direction life is pulling me. I love international affairs, law is interesting and CJ is my major. What to do….
Elizabeth - December 31, 2006 at 1:23 am
One night at the dinner table we were talking about what we want to be when we grow up and what we should be when we grow up. When it was my turn i let it out.” I want to be a pilot.” i said. then they let it out.” Lizi, you should be an attorney” they said. ” all you do is argue until you win and never stop talking. that is when i got into it. i went to many different websites to find out about it more. i know everything now and my parents have it all planned out. we are moving in two years to do a plan for a good scholarship to collage so i can go to law school. i am so excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!! after all this hard work trying to find out about being an attorney, i know i will be one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ilana - January 11, 2007 at 9:53 pm
Question: How much arguing does being a lawyer actually involve? I’d imagine it’s a lot of drudge work too.
masooma - January 14, 2007 at 9:00 am
I wanted to be a lawyer and i still do want to and i hope that when i do become one i will say to everyone yes i did it at last
alyssa - March 8, 2007 at 1:47 pm
i am 14 and i want to be a lawyer when i grow up… i hope i do become a lawyer when i grow up so when someone asks me “Did you follow your dreams,” i can say “yes i did”
Alyssa - March 8, 2007 at 1:48 pm
i am 14 and i want to be a lawyer when i grow up… i hope i do become a lawyer when i grow up so when someone asks me “Did you follow your dreams,” i can say “yes i did”
Jeremy - April 6, 2007 at 7:19 am
I have recently started to think about becoming a lawyer.
I have spent a lot of my working life doing jobs that I just found my way into, and have really followed the path that was thrown down infront of me. I have never found a career, though and something I can really “get my teeth into” - that is something intellectually challenging.
I love problem solving - it is a natural thing for me. Throughout life I have always found that I am motivated to stand up for what I believe is right. And hold people to account where necessary.
Does that make me lawyer material? I don’t know. Anyone out there got any suggestions of where to go from here?
sally - April 23, 2007 at 11:25 am
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Anna - July 4, 2007 at 5:18 pm
I am just a child but i know from now that i want to be a lawyer when i grow up and i looked up this website on google why? because i really love the idea of being a lawyer is soooooooo good and im sure im going to become a lawyer when i grow up.
Lynn - July 4, 2007 at 6:17 pm
Anna: If you have the math and science ability, go for medical doctor. It’s a harder transition right out of med school, but ten years down the line, your quality of life is appreciably better.
malika - July 22, 2007 at 9:12 pm
I am 17
I really want to become a lawyer
the thing is i hardly read not that i cant i am a good reader its just i hardly have time
the other thing is that ma parents dont want me to become a lawyer because it includes lies
what shall i do
Robin - August 13, 2007 at 8:41 pm
Malika and Anna - whatever you do don’t let others determine your destiny and change your dreams. I’m an adult now and my dream of becoming a lawyer was crushed by my oldest sister who hates to read, hated school, and had no interest in college. I’m different! I’m not her and I let the one thing someone said prolong the process. I know I still want to be a lawyer and I will be. I may keep that to myself because people are judgemental. Don’t let go of your dream no matter!
Robin - August 13, 2007 at 8:59 pm
Seth - you’re killing me! navel gazing! LOL. what kind of law do you practice? I still have plenty of time to decide which direction I want to go cause I’m 34 and working on my bachelor’s degree. I have about 2 years then I have to be ready. I want to help less fortunate with legal assistance, but I want to make a good living too. Better than I ever dreamed and make my family proud.
Robin - August 13, 2007 at 8:59 pm
Seth - you’re killing me! navel gazing! LOL. what kind of law do you practice? I still have plenty of time to decide which direction I want to go cause I’m 34 and working on my bachelor’s degree. I have about 2 years then I have to be ready. I want to help less fortunate with legal assistance, but I want to make a good living too. Better than I ever dreamed and make my family proud.
latavaie - November 3, 2007 at 4:32 pm
I really want to be a lawer when i grow up but nobody think i can be a lawer.
latavaie - November 3, 2007 at 4:32 pm
I really want to be a lawer when i grow up but nobody think i can be a lawer.
Carda - November 17, 2007 at 9:53 pm
The first profession I said I wanted to become was al lawyer. So much that in my adolescent years I would be the advocator for my friends, so much that I would get a whooping for defending my friends in a disrespectful manner. Also fight for my friends. My juvenile years get arrested for advocating for myself & or friends. I wanton my life for a dozen years. Most of my family is in the medical profession. Being arrested for drugs disqualified me from working in drugs. I took a liking to psychology-sociology but when my professor stated that certain shrinks administer scripts, but I wouldn’t be able to be.
I got a hold of my life and Almighty God rekindled my passion for wanting to be an officer of the law. I have never been the school type. I’m focused, my higher education marks are idyllic. Honestly I remember watching Judge Mathis, saying I was a thug I’ve been arrested, but I cleaned my life up, and now I’m a judge. I honestly feel if he could do it, I can do it. If I devote the same amount of energy that I gave to being a deviant, I will be an immaculate lawyer. I also know about the Criminal In-Justice System.
For the comment above mine Latavaie you could do the same. Some one with that much motivation to prove every one wrong could be a great lawyer.
For the others you should be honored to be an officer of the courts. You can change society, by changing the laws. I guess you must like where society is going. “If your not part of the solution your part of the problem”
I can’t wait to become a Lawyer. If that is what my Lord Jesus Christ wants for me that is what I need.
Ij - February 2, 2008 at 4:44 pm
I’m glad to know that there are still a few people today who are determined and would not let other people’s fears derail their motivation for their lives. As a kid, I thought playing lawyer was a fun game. I also enjoyed literary debates in high school. But my mother thought that it wasn’t right for a woman to become a lawyer. One of her reasons was that some men would be intimidated by the woman’s intelligence. She suggested Medicine as an alternative. I thought she was right, but i found Physics to be very boring (I’m sure there so many people would disagree with me on that point). However, I soon realised that I was on the wrong track and switching to preparing to become a lawyer was a difficult task. So, I would suggest that anyone who has the flare for defending the truth( whatever you believe that to be) should do so irrespective of other people’s opinions. I think I could have made a very good lawyer; and who says I can’t?
Emi - February 15, 2008 at 4:41 pm
So you wanna be a lawyer because you played Phoenix Wright on your Nintendo DS so many times?
Don’t.
Akbar - January 31, 2009 at 5:10 am
I recently had my call to the bar and finally achieved one of my dreams, to become a lawyer. My main motivation was watching Bobby Donell strut around in ‘the practice’ and the prestige and respect I felt was attached to lawyers of all stripes. I also enjoyed challenging myself to prove I could accomplish this dream. Now, I simply hope that practicing law can give me fincancial stability while working on interesting subject matter. There are better and easier ways to make money. The law however is inherently interesting, especially criminal law, which is something that most professions can’t claim. Anyways, Justice is an elevated concept and ideal in our society, and being associated with the practice of justice is a privlege.
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