Ask a Medical Malpractice (Defense) Lawyer

[TheRealJoeFish]

Did you go to law school directly following undergrad? I've been thinking about it for quite some time but decided I had enough student debt right now....

I did.  I was not a motivated student, and when I decided I wanted to be a lawyer, I was at least mature enough to realize that, if I took time off in between, I'd never end up going back to school.  That decision was highly specific to my individual situation and makeup, however, and most people do benefit from time off (that is, time working), both personally and career-wise (work experience is often a factor that bumps people over the edge for their choice schools).

I was lucky that I received a lot of (need-based) assistance at undergrad; I was only maybe $20,000 in the hole (a small small amount compared to law school debt).  Law school generally doesn't offer need-based assistance, but merit-based assistance (based primarily on GPA and LSAT scores) is abundant.  I ended up at a very good school but paying the entire cost of my tuition, which was, again, a personally-specific decision.  I needed to make sure I got a job in the geographic area I wanted to be in (near my family), in the kind of work I wanted to do (if I had to, say, do criminal work in the city, as opposed to medmal in the suburbs, I wouldn't last a year), so it was worth it to go to a school that would open up a lot of career options, even if I had to pay more up front for it.