Anyone do any Lawyering?

[never2late]

I am going back to college. The first time was a nightmare. To quote the simpsons

Dr Hibbert: But you can always fall back on your degree in... (reads chart) Communications?! Oh, dear Lord!
Lubchenko: I know! Is phony major. Lubchenko learn nothing. Nothing!

Not to trash communications majors, but I really hated all my classes, never got higher than a C in anything. I tried business, economics, then found myself in my 5th year watching all my friends leaving. So I got the degree. Anyway I have gotten diagnosed and at my therapists behest I returned to take a few classes. He thought it would improve my self esteem and give me an idea of what to do with the rest of my life. Well it has, i think. I have been taking Poly Sci classes, mostly Constitutional Law. I find it fascinating. I have been getting B's and really enjoying the material.

So my question is......... Is anyone here a lawyer or work in this field? I see a lot of things about ADDers being good as artists or entrepreneurs and stuff like that. I am just curious if there are any success stories out there in this field. Have a great weekend everyone!

[APSJ]

I am a lawyer, and work in a legal job, though not actually practicing. I know there are others on here who are practicing attorneys.

I think law school in some ways is very well suited to someone with ADHD, at least as I experienced it....the reading is mostly cases, which (excepting some of the civil procedure stuff) usually involve a narrative, and then the application of the law to the circumstances. I found these much easier to read then college textbooks.

I also found the way the courses are structured generally well suited to me...basically one exam for the whole grade, so not a lot of separate dates and assignments to remember, and the fact that you may be called on any given day to discuss the assigned reading for the day, and potentially subject to ridicule if you don't do so well provided enough motivation not to fall behind...maybe 65% of the time.

The actual work I did not find so well-suited to me....there's a lot of minutiae in a lot of areas, there are a lot of deadlines, some which can come on short notice, which doesn't lend itself to lots of last minute work. Some areas are better than others, for me, and I know some people who consider what I view as minutiae totally enthralling, but I would try to get some experience of the the actual work (volunteering, interning, shadowing, etc.) before embarking on this path, to be certain it's the right one.

I don't mean to be overly discouraging, but Sandy posted this in another thread, and I find it totally hilarious because I was basically talking like the girl before law school....and am much closer to the guy now...it didn't take long...but, even so, I don't regret law school, and am happier with my job than I'd likely be with anything I'd be doing if I hadn't gone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMvARy0lBLE

[cutcopypaste]

I think APSJ is right about law school being well-suited for an ADHD'er. Although I think the biggest reason for that is the one-exam-per-course system, which lends itself to cramming. I found it possible to work on my own terms (minimally) throughout the semester and "turn it on" when I finally got the motivation to study as finals approached.

I also agree that the practice of law is different than law school. There are more deadlines, there is more structure, and the work isn't always that interesting. I'm not so sure a law practice is a great field for ADHD'ers. In fact, I wasn't diagnosed with ADHD until I started running into difficulties at work and realized something wasn't right.

On another note, I found this story helpful. Maybe it will give you a little more insight. http://www.additudemag.com/adhd/article/825.html