Jump into public interest law now…not later

As an undergraduate student thinking of going to law school to become a public interest/civil rights/human rights lawyer, I’ve been talking to a lot of attorneys in the recent months. Informational interviews galore. I literally scoured the Northwestern University alumni database and searched for attorneys, both in the corporate and public interest area. I then sent them emails asking if they were willing to chat, and most of them responded immediately and were more than happy to speak about their career paths. I highly recommend conducting as many informational interviews as possible – it gives you an excellent understanding of the field you’re getting into, and what types of career paths people follow.

It was no surprise that corporate lawyers didn’t seem to love their work. Those I spoke with seemed okay with their life, and generally resigned to it. They spoke about the great benefits, salaries, and cushy lifestyle – but none of them actually seemed enthusiastic about whatever they were doing. As I said, this is not surprising.

But what particularly interested me was when I spoke to public interest attorneys, they were highly fulfilled by their work, but they generally told me straight off the bat – “If you want to do public interest work, don’t even start working at a corporate law firm. Just start doing the work you want to ultimately be doing. Period.” I always wanted to find out whether corporate law experience can be helpful in other areas of the law, but apparently, it’s really not.

This is interesting to me because in the field of finance and consulting, for example, private sector experience seems to be valued even in the non-profit world. Organizations like Acumen Fund, various social enterprises, microfinance institutions, and international development organizations all highly value private sector experience. This seems to be the case because business practices can be really useful when it comes to management of non-profits, or even in areas such as marketing, operations, logistics, and so on. Social enterprises also really draw on business practices, so having private sector experience can be valuable in this arena. And of course, work in the financial services field can be parlayed to some extend to work in the microfinance arena.

However, I always thought the same thing about law. I had imagined that working in corporate law would give you a very strong legal training, because firms have so much money to train you well. I thought that working in such a fast-paced environment and getting exposure to corporate law work would equip you with some basic skills that would make you a better attorney. Apparently, though, that’s not at all the case. In the public interest legal field, it’s better to jump into public interest work from the get-go. Start interning, volunteering, taking classes in, and doing clinics in the area of public interest law you’re interested in – whether it’s provision of legal services to the poor, immigration and refugee law, criminal defense work, or international human rights law. Private sector experience is useless, and often it makes you less desirable because public interest employers will think you’re not committed to the sector. On the other hand, it’s possible to transition into the corporate law sector even if you started out in the public interest sector.

I didn’t know any of this before I spoke to people, and it’s definitely shaped my thinking. I always thought it would be fine to go work at a firm for a couple of years, pay off my loans, and then devote my time to public interest work. But, apparently, that’s not the best route to take, as the training provided by big law firms may take the form of an organized program — but it does not allow young associates to gain the level of responsibility that many public interest employers generally provide. Moreover, the skills developed in the corporate law arena (e.g. mergers and acquisitions, securities) aren’t necessarily transferable to the public interest area you might be most interested in.

A word of caution to other aspiring public interest lawyers, from a helpful guide from Yale Law School (I recommend anyone interested in this area of work to read this guide!):

If I work at law firms after I graduate, can I make a switch later to public interest work?

It is possible, but several facts conspire against you. First, you grow accustomed to the money. Just as you cannot imagine making $160,000 a year now, after you’ve made it for a few years you will not be able to imagine making $50,000. You will have expenses that seem necessary. Family and friends will tell you that you are insane. You’ll wonder if it’s fair to the spouse and kids (who, by the way, have been hanging out with other folks who made $160,000 to $2 million). Second, you will then have an uphill battle in actually getting a public interest job. Your resume does not demonstrate commitment to public interest; your experience from a corporate law firm may not demonstrate the needed skills or knowledge. Quite frankly, everyone is a little suspicious about whether you are serious about the cause and if you’ll stay. These can all be overcome by making sure you do lots of pro bono work during private practice, maintain
and cultivate contacts in the public interest community, and continue to live a simple life…but most people working in private practice find it difficult to do these things.

So, the lesson is: do the work you’re interested in now, not later. Don’t postpone it. You’ll get stuck in a life you aren’t passionate about, and you’ll never be able to accomplish your big dreams if you give them up for a high salary and cushy job. In some fields, it might be possible to get your private sector experience AND become a leader in a public interest organization. You might still be able to rise in prominence and affect people’s lives. But if you want to be an attorney, this isn’t the best way to go. So suck it up, get on a loan repayment program, and don’t postpone your dreams. Start living them now; otherwise, it may not even be possible.

Related posts:

1. Where are the Millennial public interest lawyers the world so desperately needs?
2. Plight of the Public Interest Law Student {Guest post by Sarah Pierce}
3. Paid by “BigLaw” firms, young lawyers turn to public interest work
4. Why Penelope Trunk is wrong about public interest law
5. What does race have to do with it? The case for South Asians in public interest law