Juris Doctor at 19

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by chrisjm18, Jun 17, 2021.

Loading...
  1. chrisjm18

    chrisjm18 Well-Known Member

    "A first-generation student, she started taking college courses when she was 13 in middle school, graduated with her associate’s degree at 15, and then started a program at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio, that allowed her to complete both an undergraduate degree and law degree in six years. She graduated with her bachelor’s degree in international studies at 17 and graduated with both her MA and JD this past May."

    https://www.american.edu/sis/news/20210615-at-nineteen-danya-hamad-is-youngest-ever-sis-master-of-international-relations-graduate.cfm
     
    Dustin and TEKMAN like this.
  2. TEKMAN

    TEKMAN Semper Fi!

    Good idea, but bad judgment. The legal industry is different than other industries. A JD from a less well-known school might have a hard time getting into the market. However, if she is aiming for non-profit; properly it is the best route to go...don't expect a higher pay salary. Good for her to start college early!
     
  3. LearningAddict

    LearningAddict Well-Known Member

    At 19, she has plenty of time to gain experience, figure things out, and have her education pay off.
     
    chrisjm18 and Maniac Craniac like this.
  4. nosborne48

    nosborne48 Well-Known Member

    Huey P. Long got admitted to the Louisiana Bar at age 22. Not quite as amazing as this kid. But then again, Long was assassinated at age 42 so you never know.
     
    sideman and Dustin like this.
  5. AsianStew

    AsianStew Moderator Staff Member

    Amazing! She knew what she wanted at a young age and decided to go for it, that determination and persistence was key to finishing that quickly!
     
  6. TEKMAN

    TEKMAN Semper Fi!

    True, but the legal industry might require graduating from a top school and top of the class in order to have a good career.
     
  7. Vonnegut

    Vonnegut Well-Known Member

    Indeed. There were great articles recently in WSJ and Bloomberg on some recent and significant changes with the top law firms. That they were almost all collectively increasing their starting salaries to over $200k a year and with the reduction in travel/remote work savings, partner level profit sharing was averaging $4.5M. Not a bad deal... also something essentially unobtainable by someone not graduating from a top school.

    Conversely... law grads from lesser schools might be lucky to break $50k...
     
  8. That's not true anymore. The legal industry has change drastically on that front. In order to work for "Big Law" you definitely need to graduate from a top 10 school. You would need to be in the top 10 of your class as well. The difference is that it's no longer the only way to have a good career. A lot of consumers have went away from the one stop shop firms. It's too expensive. They would rather pay one firm for one thing then and then another firm for whatever they specialize in. I graduated from Thomas M. Cooley. At the time, most considered them at the very bottom of the rankings. The only time I've made 50k was when I first started out as a public defender. After it's been six-figures. There are other classmates that made 250k+ by their 3rd year in practice. BIG DISCLAIMER: All of them, including me, opened our own firms. So if you want to work for someone else then your school matters. If not, clients don't really care. It also depends on what type of law you want to do. I do mainly criminal. My classmates that were making 250k in their 3rd year were doing personal injury. I can't see someone making that doing international or policy. Not starting out.
     
  9. AsianStew

    AsianStew Moderator Staff Member

    Many people go into law as they are looking into helping clients obtain a favorable settlement in the case for personal injury claims against large corporations, that is somewhat lucrative. The young lady we're referencing is in a similar situation where her passion is helping others as well, but in a different context, her prerogative is human rights as a whole, not for a particular person. I think that's rewarding for her, not in a monetary sense, but the feeling of helping others win through injustices we see in today's society. Again, good for her!
     
  10. JoshD

    JoshD Well-Known Member

    I have 2 friends that graduated from a non-target law school that are stuck at Legal Shield making not much more than a K-12 teacher (which I believe make $32K here in Oklahoma). This is crazy to me after the requirements to enter the field, which is a Juris Doctorate and passage of the bar…
     
  11. Dustin

    Dustin Well-Known Member

    Legal salaries are fairly low given the high student debt that many law graduates come out with ($164,742 including undergrad). At the same time, there's something to be said about the psychic benefits of loving your job and feeling satisfied every day.

    Edit: Fairly low outside of BigLaw. But of course the majority of law school grads are not those first year associates making $150-200K and billing 2000 hours a year.
     
    JoshD likes this.

Share This Page