Recently, Governor Herbert announced his choice to fill an upcoming vacancy on the Utah Supreme Court. Out of a pool of highly qualified applicants, he chose a prominent judge and attorney, Paige Petersen, bringing the tally of Supreme Court Justices from Carbon High School stock up to two, joining Justice Constandinos Himonas, who was appointed in 2015. In addition to these appointments, another Carbon alum who has distinguished himself in the legal field is Kevin Worthen, former Dean of the J. Reuben Clark Law School and current president of BYU.
I have a confession: the fact that so many distinguished legal professionals coming out of Carbon High surprised me, not because people who graduate from Carbon aren’t capable, but because I had no idea so many had interests in legal careers. For example, as far as I’m aware, I am the only member of my graduating class that attended law school. So, I wanted to write an article for any students or adults who are considering applying to law school and give some advice about what I wish I had known before embarking on a doctorate of law.
First: Make sure this is really what you want to do. Talk to some members of the bar where you live like attorneys, judges or even law professors if you can, to get an idea of what kind of work you will be doing once you are too a member of the bar.
Second: Talk to some law students. Find out what a typical day in the life of a law student entails, find out about student loans, budgeting finances, budgeting time and maintaining relationships. Determine if you are going to be able to be a successful student because law school is a whole different story compared to undergraduate or even other doctorate programs.
Third: Manage your finances NOW. Don’t have any debts (excluding student loans) going into law school. Federal loans will not pay your car or credit card payments, so make sure you are as debt free as possible before you begin because many law schools will not allow you to have a job during your first year of studies. As a side note, as the current GOP tax plan sits, you will no longer be able to deduct your student loan interest payments from your taxes, which is a significant hit to those who paid six-figures to go to graduate school.
Fourth: If you are in a relationship, whether married or not, understand that this will be a joint-venture. Make sure you are both on the same page. You will be incredibly busy and not a significant presence at home during law school and when you are home you may not have the energy to contribute as much as you’d (or they’d) like. And again, for the sake of stressing this point, discuss your finances and establish some ground rules.
Fifth: Learn to read. That sounds strange because if you are reading this article you kind of know how to read, but what I mean is learn to read A LOT. Every single day during your law school career you are going to be reading an insane amount of information with the expectation you must retain and regurgitate it at some point, if not now, then when you take the bar exam. You’d be surprised at how good you will get at picking out little details, try developing this skill now, it will come in handy later.
Finally: Please understand that while law school is a serious undertaking which is both excruciating mentally and emotionally taxing, it is one of the most enjoyable experiences I have had in my life. The growth you will undergo will be astounding, and as empirical evidence has suggested, if you attended Carbon High you are destined for some pretty amazing things.
Law school has many costs besides money
Nathaniel Woodward