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It's not an issue. Yes, it may slightly limit your chances at something like being a federal judge (because by the time you have the requisite experience someone appointing you might want someone younger). But I don't think you're old enough for that really to be an issue - you'll have 15+ years of experience before you're 50, you'll be fine. And most people don't end up federal judges anyway.

Besides, you're going to run into this issue no matter what you do, unless you stay in your current career. But it won't matter. People change careers all the time.

tjf1 wrote:

BlendedUnicorn wrote:You're not too late but I'm also almost certain that getting into family law (or any law, really) isn't worth leaving the workforce for seven years.

Admittedly, that was another one of my worries as well. I know it is pretty low on the totem pole as far as law goes, but due to personal experiences, as well as experiences from people close to me, it is something I'm quite passionate about.

So (excluding my interest in family law), I won't be in too bad of a spot at 33? I won't be looked at as too old? (not that 33 is "old" but in regards to this field, having entry level qualifications at that age worries me)

I don't think the issue they're pointing out is that you want family law, so much as it's that you'd be giving up 7 years of earning potential (and in particular in some of the most important earning years of your life) to change careers.

I'd maybe recommend doing the UG stuff PT/full year, at least. If you still want law school/etc. after, then you'd only be missing out on 3 years of earnings (or you could keep working and go PT).

Being 33 when you're a first year will be a non-issue (or at least not enough of an issue for you to consider not making a change); don't worry about it.

elendinel wrote:

tjf1 wrote:

BlendedUnicorn wrote:You're not too late but I'm also almost certain that getting into family law (or any law, really) isn't worth leaving the workforce for seven years.

Admittedly, that was another one of my worries as well. I know it is pretty low on the totem pole as far as law goes, but due to personal experiences, as well as experiences from people close to me, it is something I'm quite passionate about.

So (excluding my interest in family law), I won't be in too bad of a spot at 33? I won't be looked at as too old? (not that 33 is "old" but in regards to this field, having entry level qualifications at that age worries me)

I don't think the issue they're pointing out is that you want family law, so much as it's that you'd be giving up 7 years of earning potential (and in particular in some of the most important earning years of your life) to change careers.

I'd maybe recommend doing the UG stuff PT/full year, at least. If you still want law school/etc. after, then you'd only be missing out on 3 years of earnings (or you could keep working and go PT).

Being 33 when you're a first year will be a non-issue (or at least not enough of an issue for you to consider not making a change); don't worry about it.

This is accurate. Best earning/best career development and lol @ THE LAW leading to a more meaningful career.

elendinel wrote:

tjf1 wrote:

BlendedUnicorn wrote:You're not too late but I'm also almost certain that getting into family law (or any law, really) isn't worth leaving the workforce for seven years.

Admittedly, that was another one of my worries as well. I know it is pretty low on the totem pole as far as law goes, but due to personal experiences, as well as experiences from people close to me, it is something I'm quite passionate about.

So (excluding my interest in family law), I won't be in too bad of a spot at 33? I won't be looked at as too old? (not that 33 is "old" but in regards to this field, having entry level qualifications at that age worries me)

I don't think the issue they're pointing out is that you want family law, so much as it's that you'd be giving up 7 years of earning potential (and in particular in some of the most important earning years of your life) to change careers.

I'd maybe recommend doing the UG stuff PT/full year, at least. If you still want law school/etc. after, then you'd only be missing out on 3 years of earnings (or you could keep working and go PT).

Being 33 when you're a first year will be a non-issue (or at least not enough of an issue for you to consider not making a change); don't worry about it.

I must admit I am quite unsure about how schooling works as I have very little experience with it (only went to a two year college straight out of high school), and I did that much on my own with no guidance. Are you suggesting that I do undergrad part time for the full year (which I'm assuming means summer classes too)? If so, that is a viable option I have not thought about yet. It would be nice to be able to still earn somewhat of a "passable" living while in school.

tjf1 wrote:

elendinel wrote:

tjf1 wrote:

BlendedUnicorn wrote:You're not too late but I'm also almost certain that getting into family law (or any law, really) isn't worth leaving the workforce for seven years.

Admittedly, that was another one of my worries as well. I know it is pretty low on the totem pole as far as law goes, but due to personal experiences, as well as experiences from people close to me, it is something I'm quite passionate about.

So (excluding my interest in family law), I won't be in too bad of a spot at 33? I won't be looked at as too old? (not that 33 is "old" but in regards to this field, having entry level qualifications at that age worries me)

I don't think the issue they're pointing out is that you want family law, so much as it's that you'd be giving up 7 years of earning potential (and in particular in some of the most important earning years of your life) to change careers.

I'd maybe recommend doing the UG stuff PT/full year, at least. If you still want law school/etc. after, then you'd only be missing out on 3 years of earnings (or you could keep working and go PT).

Being 33 when you're a first year will be a non-issue (or at least not enough of an issue for you to consider not making a change); don't worry about it.

I must admit I am quite unsure about how schooling works as I have very little experience with it (only went to a two year college straight out of high school), and I did that much on my own with no guidance. Are you suggesting that I do undergrad part time for the full year (which I'm assuming means summer classes too)? If so, that is a viable option I have not thought about yet. It would be nice to be able to still earn somewhat of a "passable" living while in school.

Yep that's what I mean; you'd still be part-time, so you'd be able to keep your job/a job, but you'd graduate before you would if you were PT with no summer classes (maybe even at the same time you'd graduate if you were full-time), so you minimize on the amount of time "lost" by going PT rather than FT. It's not easy to do (speaking from experience), but because of the amount of schooling you want to get done and since you sound like you want to hit the ground running as soon as possible, it'd allow you to graduate from everything in pretty close to 7 years, without losing the income.

You could also go PT in law school and do the same thing; normally people would advise against it because there aren't a lot of PT programs that reliably funnel people into biglaw (like, maybe only two), but if you're sure you're okay with family law and if you're sure you never want to pursue biglaw, then a lot more part-time LS programs become less risky (especially if you can swing a scholarship). I interned at an org that did family law stuff (child-related cases) and pretty much everyone doing trial work had come from a PD/DA office; you don't need to go to a T14 to get into a well-known PD/DA office.