A Successful Career in Law with a partially part-time JD

[Goblin King]

I originally PM'd a user with the questions I'm about to post here because I was ashamed of posting on the larger forum. On second thought, I doubt anything you guys will say will make me more ashamed of myself than I already am and I think I would benefit from several perspectives!

I’ve requested to do my JD part time. The reason being that my mental health is presently at an all time low. I thought I made enough progress to handle the stress of full time law school, but at the moment even the slightest bit of emotional strain triggers my anxiety. Normally I would’ve resigned myself to try and get better and apply another year because I really want to be a lawyer. However, I’ve already secured an apartment in Halifax and told everyone I know that I’ll be moving. It would be unbearably embarrassing to back out now. So, my plan is such: 

1. Split the first year of my JD into two while working part time in a non-stressful job with the government. 
2. Do the rest of the degree full time. 
3. Apply for jobs in 2L (my third year). 
4. Hopefully secure articles at a small firm. 
5. Eventually open my own solo practice. 

Splitting the first year into two gives me a chance to both self-fund part of my JD and get the help I need over two years. If I don’t feel up to doing my second year full time then I’ll finally conclude that I am not up to the stress of the profession and go do something else. 

I have a few questions that I was hoping you guys could answer, especially those of you with inside knowledge of the hiring process at small to medium sized firms in major urban centres. Let’s assume my resume came across your desk. I’m applying for a summer position. You see my 1L half-time grades and they’re average. You see my first semester full-time  2L grades and they’re average as well. I write a decent cover letter explaining my health condition and how it’s improved. Would I be a compelling candidate for the job?  Would working part-time give the impression that I can handle stress (even though I couldn’t at the time)? These and any other insight you might have into my position (particularly alternate paths for people with law degrees) would be appreciated. 
 

Edit: "compelling" might not be the right word. Close to or as competitive as others with my stat profile would be a better way of phrasing it.

Edited August 8, 2021 by Goblin King

[CleanHands]

Paging @capitalttruth. He could probably be helpful here; my understanding is that he was doing something similar.

[Diplock]

Sorry you're going through this. I'll start off with the good news, which isn't normally my approach but the way you've structured this suggests that makes the most sense. Leaving aside any other consideration, if you happen to do your first year in two part-time years, and then otherwise progress normally and without issue through law school, there's no particular reason anyone is going to hold that against you in the future. I mean, there's always the variable of never knowing what the heck a specific person might think. And you might not be in the ideal position when applying for 2L summer jobs because all you'd have is your part-time first year behind you at that point. But honestly - whatever. Not everything is ideal all the time. In general, I think you're really over-thinking this and the situation is not that big a deal going forward IF all if your assumptions are accepted.

That said, it's actually everything else about your situation that leaves me with questions and concerns. To get the simple and obvious one out of the way, schools do seem to be pretty tight about allowing part-time study. You say you've "requested" this at the moment. I would hope and strongly recommend that you confirm you'll be allowed part-time study before you go further down the road of counting on it. I mean, I have no reason to believe it won't be allowed. But I also know it's not a routine thing where all you do is ask for it and you get it. So please, confirm.

Next issue. Looking for a way to start law school this year, despite being in a state where "even the slightest bit of emotional strain triggers my anxiety," is bad planning. You say you've found an apartment already and that it would be too embarrassing to back out now that you've told everyone you are going. Man, that is some really shitty, short-term thinking you've got going on there. It is really inappropriate of me to diagnose you here. But if I were going to do that, I'd say that the very mental health problem you are trying to work around is affecting your decision-making in how to approach it. Which means you need to concentrate on getting help right now, and not make life-altering decisions based on feeling awkward explaining yourself to other people.

Anyway, that's my take. As sometimes happens, the direct answer to your question isn't hard. If you start law school part-time, beset by crippling anxiety, and if that situation somehow fixes itself and everything is fine going forward, it isn't going to hurt you in the long run, no. But let's just say there are some pretty optimistic assumptions baked into that answer. And the real question you should be asking is whether it's a good plan to try to power through this in the first place. Which it isn't.

Get help. Get better. And worry about law school after that. I probably shouldn't speculate on what kind of schedule you'll need to figure out to get help and to address your problems. But law school starts in a month. So realistically, you might want to reorient yourself to asking for deferral instead of part-time.

Hope that's received in the positive spirit in which it is intended.

 

Edited August 9, 2021 by Diplock

[Whist]

Is deferral not an option to try for? If your mental health is falling apart this badly, I'm not sure part time studies would necessarily fix it. Also, it may be worth examining with a professional what kinds of anxiety you're having - i.e., if it's due to life stressors in general or if specific triggers are the issue. I think embarrassment is the least concerning possible outcome to worry over.

I was in a situation a little earlier this year where I'd secured an apartment, but wound up too physically ill to move at the time we'd set. I was able to provide a doctor's note and they let me off the hook just fine. Not sure if your landlord/company would be as chill, but worth considering. It's possible your law school may consider it as well past the deferral deadline if a documented emergency like this has come up. 

[Yogurt Baron]

When I first read this, I wasn't sure if you needed encouragement from the least successful law school applicant in the history of these boards, but now that I've seen a couple of responses, I do have a couple of things to say that might be helpful.

1. Boy, do I understand the "I told everyone I'm going to law school this year, and so I have to do it, because I could not survive the embarrassment of going back on what I said" feeling. That's a trap that a lot of people fall into. I've seen it hundreds of times; hell, I've lived it hundreds of times. And it turns out that telling people, "Oh, I decided not to do that this year" is much less daunting and scary than it sounds. Your loved ones, they'll love you no matter what; that annoying guy who was treasurer of the pre-law club and whose judgment you simply could not bear, you don't actually occupy that much space in his brain. I understand the feeling; I don't at all want to sound dismissive of the feeling; but I've felt the feeling, I've known tons of people who've felt the feeling, we've all come through the other side, and you would too.

2. Just echoing Diplock here: I have the kind of disability that they have telethons for, and through undergrad and grad school, I was always able to go part-time as an accommodation very easily. But when it comes to going part-time, law schools are less flexible than just about any other school program I can name. I hope they'd let you study part-time, but based on my own experiences, it's not something they do that readily.

I'm rooting for you to succeed. Based on your contributions here, I think you're going to do great, as soon as you're at your best. But if I were you - and I say this as someone who's been exactly where you are - I'd take the year to focus on my health.

[123]

16 hours ago, Goblin King said:

but at the moment even the slightest bit of emotional strain triggers my anxiety.

Even if you're taking half the courses, exam weeks are still going to be stressful. 1L at Dal involves a lot of 100% finals with failsafe midterms. That's the most stressful part. Given that the exams are 100% of your grade, it's also really the only part of 1L where you need to perform. You might alleviate the total amount of stress with fewer exams. But preparing for and writing each individual exam is going to be an acute emotional strain. If you're not in a place to deal with that, I don't think law school is a good idea this year. 

11 hours ago, Diplock said:

If you start law school part-time, beset by crippling anxiety, and if that situation somehow fixes itself and everything is fine going forward, it isn't going to hurt you in the long run, no.

16 hours ago, Goblin King said:

I write a decent cover letter explaining my health condition and how it’s improved. Would I be a compelling candidate for the job?  Would working part-time give the impression that I can handle stress (even though I couldn’t at the time)?

I agree with Diplock. It's not an issue if it resolves itself. 

But if you don't get better, I don't think you can explain away your health condition in your cover letter. That's because I'm not looking for someone who is just healthy. A  clean bill of health is not a qualification. What I'll need in a student is someone who can alleviate my workload by handling work relatively independently. I'll be looking for someone who has demonstrated through ECs (and to a lesser extent, academic performance) that they can do the work.  If everyone else uses their applications to demonstrate interest and skill, your explanation that your health has improved doesn't really advance the ball for you. It doesn't show that you're keen, skilled, and have either direct or transferrable experience. That's what I'll be looking for. If you don't have enough to convince me that I can trust you with client work, you aren't going to be competitive with the other applicants. 

For me, that's the issue. Your job application probably won't be the only one to land on an employer's desk. These positions are competitive, meaning that going into law school, you want to be relatively certain that you can take advantages of the academic and extracurricular opportunities put in front of you. Because your peers will be doing so. Based upon what you've written, I worry that you're not in that place right now. Instead, you seem focused on devising a plan to just get through the first year of law school. That's not ideal. You don't want to set yourself up to survive. You want to be placed to thrive -- to maximize your time in law school, by picking up the skills and experiences that will best set you up in practice. It doesn't sound like you're there. That puts you at a disadvantage. 

I agree with everyone else. You seem smart and insightful. I like the content and style of your posts, and based upon what's here, I think you could be a great addition to the profession. But if you're not in a space health-wise to leverage your talents, I think you're doing yourself a disservice. That doesn't mean you won't eventually figure it out. I have mental health issues. So do lots of lawyers. But mine don't interfere with my work performance. If they did, I wouldn't have wanted to start law school before working them out more.  

 

Edited August 9, 2021 by realpseudonym

[Goblin King]

Everyone here has been helpful and supportive. I really appreciate that, especially those posters who challenged the validity of embarrassment as a reason to pursue expensive professional training. The consensus seems to be that I should take at least year off to get better.  Part of me thinks that I've been at similar low points before and performed well despite being in extreme discomfort, but I also know that law school is a new level of challenge.  I certainly have a lot to think about. Thanks again. 

[123]

55 minutes ago, Goblin King said:

Part of me thinks that I've been at similar low points before and performed well despite being in extreme discomfort

Only you can know you work and how your mental health responds to stress. If you've been able to work through your anxiety in the past, I don't know that you need to assume that law school will necessarily change that. My answer, at least, assumed that you struggled to work through stress-induced anxiety, based upon your reports that "the slightest bit of emotional strain triggers [your] anxiety." If you're able to work through whatever you're feeling, that might change my view of your situation.

I suppose your decision also depends upon what else you'd be doing and how that alternative would impact you. In my case, stress does damage my mental health. But so does inactivity and inertia. I get really depressed if I'm not keeping my mind active. I've seen this in clients too. Jail, not being able to work for lack of status, etc can exacerbate underlying mental health conditions, in part, because the clients are limited in their ability to occupy themselves with work and study. An anxious and depressed mind shouldn't necessarily be left to focus on its own anxiety and depression. I'm not sure if that's the case for you, but structure and purpose can help with mental health recovery. I guess you have to decide whether law school is the best place for that.  

[Goblin King]

12 minutes ago, realpseudonym said:

If you've been able to work through your anxiety in the past, I don't know that you need to assume that law school will necessarily change that. My answer, at least, assumed that you struggled to work through stress-induced anxiety, based upon your reports that "the slightest bit of emotional strain triggers [your] anxiety." I

I guess the calculation in my head is how miserable am I willing to be to achieve something I want. I'm able to fulfil my external obligations when I'm in crisis mode, but I'm in severe discomfort.

14 minutes ago, realpseudonym said:

An anxious and depressed mind shouldn't necessarily be left to focus on its own anxiety and depression. I'm not sure if that's the case for you, but structure and purpose can help with mental health recovery.

Yeah, there's certainly this aspect as well. Part of my pathology is not being able to set boundaries and take care of myself when working on some goal. Maybe it's time to learn that and maybe law school will be a good test. Either way, I think for all the good advice I received, this is too personal a call to rely on external information. 

[123]

Mental health aside, I think that when in doubt re law school, wait. If I were to redo it, I would've taken additional years off to work and travel before going to law school. You lose some earnings. But law schools will be happy to collect your tuition money in the future. And I do sometimes wish I had explored more in life prior to taking on debt and the fiduciary obligations of my practice. 

[capitalttruth]

On 8/8/2021 at 7:42 PM, Goblin King said:

I originally PM'd a user with the questions I'm about to post here because I was ashamed of posting on the larger forum. On second thought, I doubt anything you guys will say will make me more ashamed of myself than I already am and I think I would benefit from several perspectives!

I’ve requested to do my JD part time. The reason being that my mental health is presently at an all time low. I thought I made enough progress to handle the stress of full time law school, but at the moment even the slightest bit of emotional strain triggers my anxiety. Normally I would’ve resigned myself to try and get better and apply another year because I really want to be a lawyer. However, I’ve already secured an apartment in Halifax and told everyone I know that I’ll be moving. It would be unbearably embarrassing to back out now. So, my plan is such: 

1. Split the first year of my JD into two while working part time in a non-stressful job with the government. 
2. Do the rest of the degree full time. 
3. Apply for jobs in 2L (my third year). 
4. Hopefully secure articles at a small firm. 
5. Eventually open my own solo practice. 

Splitting the first year into two gives me a chance to both self-fund part of my JD and get the help I need over two years. If I don’t feel up to doing my second year full time then I’ll finally conclude that I am not up to the stress of the profession and go do something else. 

I have a few questions that I was hoping you guys could answer, especially those of you with inside knowledge of the hiring process at small to medium sized firms in major urban centres. Let’s assume my resume came across your desk. I’m applying for a summer position. You see my 1L half-time grades and they’re average. You see my first semester full-time  2L grades and they’re average as well. I write a decent cover letter explaining my health condition and how it’s improved. Would I be a compelling candidate for the job?  Would working part-time give the impression that I can handle stress (even though I couldn’t at the time)? These and any other insight you might have into my position (particularly alternate paths for people with law degrees) would be appreciated. 
 

Edit: "compelling" might not be the right word. Close to or as competitive as others with my stat profile would be a better way of phrasing it.

Thanks for the ring @CleanHands, I need to get back on here. Summer has been going somewhat slow!

I hope you are doing well! I am finishing my 1L year part time this year, and did the other half last year. I am just finishing a summer job at an NGO, and I wasn't questioned about my decision to do part time studies. I also had an interview with the provincial government for a summer position, proving further evidence that part time studies is not as big a deal as you may think. I never had to write any cover letters detailing my health condition. It may have been an issue with some private firms but I didn't apply to too many so I can't quite comment on that.

Overall, though, I don't think part time studies will be a barrier to your success. The best thing to do, to eliminate potential barriers to success, is to identify the source of your anxiety and work on that. If the source of your anxiety is being overwhelmed from course work, then perhaps a part time program for 1L would work. I chose to do part time for that reason, and I can say I am thriving with that option. However, your anxieties may relate to different issues within law school and I think it's important to address them so that not only you can feel better but think about a plan for your education going forward. I think most school's accommodations offices are very understanding and are willing to work with the student to identify an individualized education plan. In my case, I am a student with long standing disabilities and I had to approach my school's accommodations office with extensive documentation. To qualify for these accommodations, and figure out a plan for your education that is as minimally stressful as possible, I would go to a doctor for a diagnosis and then proceed to your school's accommodations office. 

I wish you the best of luck! You have the resilience to overcome this. Believe in yourself!