Much Older Applicant- Advice Needed! Forum

[josephsilva67]

Hello all,

I'm 51 years old and strongly considering applying to law school. As a bit of background, I currently work in Los Angeles in the entertainment industry. I had always wanted to attend law school; however, circumstances at the time necessitated entering the job market immediately out of undergrad, and raising a family became a priority. Now, with savings and grown children, money isn't that much of an issue - and I'd like to pursue this goal.

I started studying for the LSAT this past August, on weekends and at nights where I could, and ended up scoring a 168 on the November test. I managed to dig up my undergraduate transcripts, and have a GPA of 3.60. Due to my family and wife's career, I need to stay in the Los Angeles area. This means I'll likely end up at one of UCLA, USC, or UC Irvine depending on how the cycle goes (if I'm assessing my chances correctly).

My main question is how schools would evaluate a candidate that is much older than the norm. How would this impact my chances when it comes to job placements? Are firms likely to look down upon a candidate that clearly wouldn't be able to be in it for the "long haul"? I suppose I would only be able to work in the legal world for about 15 years, since I want to retire when I'm 70. Any insight you could provide would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for all your help in advance!

[nixy]

What do you want to do with your degree? I’m the last to say anyone is too old, but I suspect you’d have a hard time with traditional biglaw firms, as they are very hierarchal and might have a hard time envisioning you starting at the bottom and taking orders from people who could be your children (to be clear, I think this isn’t the case for most older applicants, but as old as 50+ is pretty uncommon). That said, if you have connections in your field (like you want to do entertainment law, which is a bit of a unicorn job generally but you probably have the chops for), you could perhaps do well in a smaller context (more boutique-y or solo-ish). So if you’re more entrepreneurial and willing/able to work your connections, you might do well. And TBF there might be firms willing to hire you (assuming you get the grades), but you would be a very unusual applicant. The older students (that is, in your age range, not just in their 30s) I’ve known have tended to go into local/municipal government or niche areas related to their previous experience.

(I’m going to leave aside any concerns about money/taking on debt as I figure you’ve probably worked that kind of thing out already.)