Secrets Unleashed

By Naushaba Khan

Nearly 60 students attended the seminar on Wednesday to question a panel of six law students and former or practicing lawyers on the worth of attending law school.

On April 24, the Associated Student Government's Judicial Board hosted an event in conjunction with the Law School advisors, students and some practicing lawyers.

The event was directed toward the undergraduate side of the developing Law School Shadowing Program.

"You don't have to be in a hurry. The average age of a law student is 25-26 years old," said Lawrence Nelson, a pre-law advisor at Santa Clara.

In addition, the commitment is an expensive one.

"The average debt from going to law school is about $125,000," Nelson said.

The six interviewees seemed in agreement with the idea that deciding to attend law school is a critical decision that should be thoroughly explored before the critical decision to attend is made.

"If money was no object, I think law school provides the best training for a number of professions," said Christopher Leslie, the general council from Hitachi Data Systems. "If money is a factor, you've got to commit 100 percent. There are some fundamental decisions you have to make at the front end."

Brian Buckley, a pre-law advisor at Santa Clara, agreed.

"You should make sure you know for certain," said Buckley. "The part about the money can definitely not be overestimated."

However, as Nelson stated, the critical decision of attending law school is not one that needs to be made immediately following graduation.

"If you're working hard to keep your GPA up, study for the LSATs and apply to law school all at the same time, you may be spreading yourself too thin." Nelson said. "As difficult as it may be, admission is based on numbers, and it may be more effective to wait a year or two to perfect that LSAT score."

And, the challenges apparently do not cease with the enrollment process, but continue through law school training.

The panelists commented on the numerous benefits a student can gain by going through with law school.

"You'll learn to write well, to think, to analyze and to see things from different sides," said John Ottoboni, the general council at Santa Clara.

Contact Naushaba Khan at nkhan@scu.edu.