Lawyer Q&A | questions about law school and lawyer life

guys honestly work life balance i'm still figuring it out it's it's a process because it changes [Music] what's up you guys it's your girl angela with the aspiring boss welcome to my channel hello if you're new today's video we gonna get into this q a so i did a poll on the community tab on instagram asking you guys the questions for q a and also did some questions on instagram and i got some good questions it's saturday and i have a lot to do today so i'm gonna try to get through as many questions as i can and if you have more then we can do a part two but yes let me go ahead and pull up the questions um i'm gonna start with youtube pull up the questions from the community tab while i'm pulling those up subscribe if you haven't already okay so i got the questions up and i didn't specify whether i was gonna share people's names so i'm not gonna say names just in case some of these questions are like two three four questions so we gonna see what we can get through so first question is why did you pick corporate law what's your schedule days on and days off how many vacation days do you have in houston or missouri um also i'm so glad i found your channel i'm still figuring out what field i want to go in i enjoy being binging your videos when i should be doing homework girl like i think it's okay to binge videos and watch videos that are informational i appreciate the support very much appreciated this is why i'm doing this content for all of you guys who think you might want to be a lawyer or something and you want to kind of really get you know the t on it so thank you okay so your first question i'm gonna answer is why did you pick corporate law so i did a whole video on this um so i will link it up here but the short answer of corporate law is for one i knew i didn't want to be a litigator although i can be very extroverted and i probably would have a ball in the courtroom you know talking to the judge like you know putting on a story putting on a show especially like you know you think of like criminal law like that aspect of being a litigator but all the other aspects just aren't me when i think of like the doc review and writing memos all the time and analyzing case law it's just not my jam um it has it's not my jam it's really what law school is and luckily i can be good at it but it was my jam and then another reason um is because i knew i wanted to work with businesses i knew that the knowledge that i'm obtaining now would be with me forever no matter what happens in my life if i decided to leave the law firm tomorrow and go work for a company i could if i would decide to start my own business so much of what i'm learning is just helpful in so many other areas of my life and people around me people i know i have several business owners in my family my boo is a business owner so really knowing how to drive contracts how to form companies and and things like that i just thought was super valuable and could take me anywhere in life so that was a big reason why i chose corporate law but again i did a whole video on it go watch it what's your schedule days on and days off um okay so i recently started doing work week in the live vlogs and so go check those out but basically you know monday through friday standard like you gonna wake up you're gonna work um it's not a nine to five though so you're most likely gonna work in the evenings like go watch my work week in the live vlogs y'all will see me up at midnight working sometimes it's just a profession and you also work weekends so there is no set schedule for lawyers there is no clocking no clock out like i start my day when i feel like starting my day you know unless i have a call or something scheduled in the morning if i want to start my work day at 7 30 i can but if i have an appointment or errands to run i can start it at 9 30 too so there is no schedule when you're a lawyer it's just not that's not how it works um it might be different for people who work for a company um but for law firms you you just you're not gonna have a schedule so the next question is how many vacation days do you have so i am not gonna answer this question personally about me because i don't know what information i can divulge you know from my firm like you know benefit salary whatever but i will answer it generally from my experience for my knowledge um it just varies firm to firm but a lot of times you know lawyers are going to have more freedom in like what they designate is how many vacation days they want to take honestly it really just depends on the firm um there's some pros and cons to that and like i said i i can't i don't want to speak personally from my experience but i can speak on a general level that it's not that rigid but again there's pros and cons to it and that's all i say on that the next question was houston missouri uh missouri uh although i am a texas girl all the way you guys i did not make the decision to move out here lightly houston while i love houston it's a great city great food wasn't home you know i'm not from houston i went to law school there and got a job there i have some really great friends there but none of my family is there um missouri is now home i'm lucky that i'm marrying into a family so i'm happy here so i'm gonna have to go with casey all the way baby and we are the home of the super bowl champions and i think we're taking it again this year so yes i have to say kansas city all the way all right so the next question asks what is it like being a black lawyer okay that's a really general question like i need you to give me more like in what context but what i assume that you mean is what is it like being a black lawyer in a you know profession where we're such a minority and i will say sometimes it could be a little bit lonely right as much as we like to pretend like you know it's 20 20 people don't see color blah blah blah like the climate look at the climate like there are definitely a lot of racial issues that we have to overcome even beyond racism like just comfort right when i first started my career i had this mentor he was a black partner very successful guy and one time he basically put it into perspective for me like we like we're talking about the experience of being a black associate because at this point i was the only black associate in the firm and so he basically said the equivalent would be like you taking one of your white associate friends to your family reunion now for some of you guys it's not might not make sense because i know that more than black people are watching this right now before like but just think about that like right like how awkward that would that be for some people to go to your family reunion but i will tell you there are a lot of black bar associations like associations for you know lawyers and they put on these conferences and things like that and when i tell you i go to those and when i look in the room and everyone is black at black lawyer it's so just my like it's crazy because it's something i'm just not used to seeing i'm always used to being one of you and i'm like dang this is what white people get to experience every single day but yeah like i'm not going to even sugarcoat it like yeah it could be lonely and it could be frustrating and you can feel like you are just different and sometimes it's not even that anybody's not supportive of you or whatever sometimes it's just you don't feel comfortable but you're guarded and i that period so next question do you think both the prosecution and the defense are right so i don't really know what this question was trying to get at but i will say this hopefully it's helpful i don't know anything about criminal law but i have heard people say the best defense attorneys are prosecutors first like they learn how to be a really good defense attorney by being a prosecutor so hopefully that was helpful because i don't really know i wouldn't really understand the question the next question is do lawyers always follow the law or some led by ego i mean they're human i'm there's definitely some people who are led by ego i mean yeah the next question is is there racism in law and i i'm thinking you mean in the profession of course there is look at the world we live in like there is no profession there is no field that is you know accepted from the fact that racism is very real people still experience it people are still erases so of course like that's going to be in every profession for sure like yes what are the salaries like benefits so i get this question i've gotten this question before and it's really hard to address because you guys salary is gonna be different for so many reasons region right a person in new york is gonna be making way more money than a person in nebraska like that's just what it is the best thing i can tell you to do is research you know average loss salaries in your area for what you want to do if you're a partner in the law firm you're going to get paid based on how well the law firm does because you're a part owner in that law firm if you own your own law firm well depends on how much work you got that year so it's a really hard question benefits i can't like i can imagine that any firm you're going to get you know health insurance life insurance dental vision all the all the basic things so yeah um i'm i'm pretty happy with the benefits all right so the next question is is there ever homophobia in law school and this is kind of like the racism question like look at the world we live in there definitely is did i ever experience it no and by experience obviously that would mean me seeing it because i'm a straight cisgendered woman but one of the people that i hung out with the most in law school especially early in my law school career was a gay man and we did a lot together and he was well blighted and you know i didn't see anybody treating him differently because he was a openly gay man but it would be naive of me to see that and assume that people weren't homophobic that they weren't homophobic people because as a black woman nothing gets under my skin more when people try to tell me that racism isn't real you know what i mean like i've experienced it i've seen it and regardless of whether you think you've seen it because you have a black friend it's still real so i would never want to be that person who's like oh i had a gay friend and nobody was homophobic to him it's just the world we live in second part of the question is are you an ally of course i am i'm a black woman what would i look like judging somebody based on who they are like no yes i am an ally all right so next question uh well it's not really a question it's a comment i'd love to hear more law school stories or tips on how to succeed in law school sis just go to the playlist i got a law school playlist of videos just watch all those videos and if there are videos that you do want just comment in this video like what types of videos you want to see or you can dm me on instagram but yeah look at the law school playlist okay so the next comment is from like i can't say my friend because we don't know each other but she's definitely been supporting the channel and definitely we would be friends if we knew each other and again i don't want to say her name because i don't know if she's comfortable but hey girl um she said why m a do you have interest in other areas of law if you're not an attorney what do you think you would be so ymna i kind of kind of already addressed that in an earlier question so you know refer to that but do you also have interest in other areas of law i do um and that's a that's a really why i like mna because i've said this before in another video but with m a you get exposure to other types of law like you literally are like the deal quarterback and you have to work with real estate ip tax finance everybody and so you get exposure to that and it's really cool because it has allowed me to know things that i wouldn't know otherwise so yes i have other interests in other areas of law but i will say like it's still all very transactional i really just don't have any interest in litigation unless y'all just let me go to the court and like you know talk to the judge so if you weren't an attorney what do you think it would be that's a good question um i've never had any other career like this is my first career but i will say i would likely be a serial entrepreneur and here's why i say that i have a lot of interest and although i've tried to dabble in those interests being a lawyer this career this profession doesn't allow for a lot of flexibility being an entrepreneur i can have my hands in multiple things would allow me to do all the things i want to do so like you guys know i'm interested in real estate i have a big passion for children like mentoring kids is my jam that's i have to in some point in my life work some sort of program or non-profit into mentoring young children especially like you know minority children or people who are disadvantaged also we want to do small business consulting i would be a serial entrepreneur and do it all this question any experience in real estate law uh yes so i started my career as a real estate and finance attorney so yes i do do you think getting a master's in real estate or accounting before law school would be helpful for someone interested in going into the housing field um no i mean not that it wouldn't be helpful but i wouldn't i've said this before in another video but if you want to go to law school or if you want to go to any like professional school medical school whatever i just don't think you should waste your time getting a master's go for that jd go for that md unless for a lawyer unless you want to be a tax lawyer then yes you should go for the llm and take the cpa exam and stuff like that but unless it's very specific just go to law school you don't need to get into more debt to like i never understand why people you know go get all these degrees and they go to law school just go straight to law school because let me tell you this as a lawyer law school and no other school is really going to prepare you like actually practicing it's just what it is you it's a learn on the job type of profession so just go to law school student loan repayment any tips pre-coping and copic tips i'm not sure if you deal with loans sorry for all the questions no girl i appreciate the questions okay keep the questions coming i appreciate the questions but i very much do it student that is probably my biggest um restraint at this point if i didn't have student debt i mean you guys i yeah i would be a lot more ahead in life covet tips okay so i know for people who have government loans you can stop paying your student loans right now but honestly i would keep paying them because you don't have any interest right now so you're just it's money all thrown at the principal i would say find something that works for you but i am not one of those people who like ah i'm gonna die with my student loans that's just not me i just don't see i don't know any wealthy people who have that mentality and i know i want to be wealthy and i don't want to leave my kids with any burdens i want to leave them with assets and wealth all right next question i think i want to be a lawyer but i'm worried about being in debt like the income to debt ratio if you don't work in corporate law how can you make money i don't know where this concept of you know working in corporate law is the only way to make money like i like in my corporate law i assume you mean big law because obviously that's where you start off making the bigger books but so many people surpass big law like you think of these personal injury lawyers who get that big asbestos case or something you know make a ton of money so i don't want you to think that there's only one path to go down for a lawyer to make money or you think of solo practitioners you know yeah all that revenue it's yours i mean obviously you have to take pay operating expenses but yeah you're not working under anybody's hourly rate so don't limit yourself to thinking there's just one track for with respect to like income to debt ratio um one thing you can do when you're looking into law school is law schools will have the statistics on what their average graduate makes you know post law schools i've been told being a lawyer is a bad idea if you can't go to top 14 and work in big long your opinion uh sis watch my video um i'll link it up here because i can't remember what the title was but didn't go to a top 14. very mediocre i'll set score above average gpa graduated with two offers from the top firms in houston no no i don't agree um but also continue to watch my video well i will say the better the school the easier it is okay so i'm not gonna act like going to a good school doesn't put you in a better position because that would be untrue next question is how is work-life balance do you think it's doable to raise a family and do this job also congratulations on your engagement oh thanks girl um so work life balance okay you guys honestly work life balance i'm still figuring it out it's it's a process because it changes you guys as you get more senior you realize that the stress that you thought you felt as a first and second year was not really stressed and you kind of missed that and i think it'll only continue to be like that as i get more senior because with more seniority comes more experience with more experience comes more responsibility so i'm still figuring that out one thing i try to do is have a plan and have a schedule and really try to stay on top of things so i'm not dealing with fire drills that ruin my whole plans right you hear these horror stories and i just try to avoid that by like staying on top of things and trying not to procrastinate so i don't end up in these situations but i will say like you guys just watch my some of my vlogs like literally sometimes my days get up work stop to eat dinner and then go back to work so i will say i have not figured it out during the weekdays i mean i have been like working out and stuff like that trying to do things to make time for me but what that usually means is i just have to work later but on the weekends i really do try to like limit my weekend work like fridays usually fridays i try to stop working look like i don't usually work you know super late on a friday and then saturdays i try not to work or make very minimal like first thing in the morning and then sundays i set aside a few hours so i will say like i'm still i'm still figuring it out girl then the second part of the question was like do you think it's doable to do this job and raise a family and again i don't want to speak for everybody's situation right because there are some lawyers who are in-house and they literally say that they work a 9-5 so i can only speak for my situation and work in a law firm i think that it's doable but i think it's really hard and you have to make sacrifices if you've been watching my channel you're not seeing my bonus babies but i am a bonus mom and so i have a little insight into what it's like but i know it's nothing compared to actually you know being a birth mom who all the responsibility is on you i see women in my firm do it and they seem that they're doing it well i do think you'd have to adjust your schedule like right now if i had a child to get to daycare and or get to school and feed and bathe and clothe every single day my schedule would look a little bit different because i'd have to probably wake up at 4am i was just talking about one of my best friends about her life post baby and she's just had to adjust her schedule to make sure she can do it all so i think it's doable but i do think it's tough um because the job is demanding like i i even think about this sometimes where i'll be talking to people or people will be requesting that do something or you know emailing me and asking me questions about certain things at all times of the night or on the weekend and it's just like a lot of times like they don't know whether you have kids or not like they don't care they want it done i do think it's hard but i do think it's doable i see people do it every day i think when i do get to that point it will just be a point where me and my husband have to really work out a system and a routine okay so this question says why is law school a worthy pursuit for you so i'm gonna answer this question for me so this would be different for anybody else but for me it was worthy a worthy pursuit because it was my dream it's what i wanted to do um and i knew that i'm just the type of person like i know i put my mind to something i can be successful at it and i knew that this career could translate into so many things you guys when people think of a lawyer they think of like what they see on tv but you guys the this degree opens up so many opportunities that like endless opportunities and although i went to law school very naive a lot about a lot of things i knew that being a lawyer would open up endless possibilities for me i knew that that is why it was a worthy pursuit for me then the next question is tips on confidence in the workplace you guys this is such a good question shout out to you uh girl for answering asking this question such a good question i've struggled with it a lot in my career especially early in my career because being a lawyer again you don't learn how to be a lawyer in law school especially a transaction lawyer it's completely foreign and so you're always second guessing and questioning and just questioning your abilities like as a young lawyer that's just what it is and now that i've been practicing for about four years now i've really started to come into my own trying to learn my own style really thinking and and really just feeling confident and so one thing that helps me i did a video on imposter syndrome i'll link it up here you guys go check that out because impostor syndrome is so real but one thing that really helps me is for me to remember who i am like remember the things that i accomplished remember that i earned the right to be here okay this is not something this is not a fluke this is not luck i earned this right and if i put the work in sometimes it won't be perfect but if i did my best i'm comforted in that so sometimes you gotta fake it till you make it to two right like sometimes you aren't confident but don't let people see you sweat one thing i stopped doing that i used to do is say sorry like oh sorry like no just answer the question like you don't have to say sorry or diminishing myself like somebody says like oh great job like oh it was an easy project no i did a great job thank you all right so this next question is going to be the last question you guys this video is looking so long i might even have to cut out some of the questions because if i post a 40-minute video y'all not gonna watch it next question um since you work in a social group in kansas city do you have any tips on how to connect with like-minded individuals i started a black paralegal group on facebook but realize i didn't know any black prepare legal since the reason for the group looking for ideas to get people to join things one thing you can do is like promote in other groups so like one thing when i moved to kansas city i was totally new did not know anybody but my boo and his family right so i had to find a way to meet people and and do things and look for people and now i just really look for groups for just like-minded people for that reason so i would look in other groups and make those connections in other groups and make sure they know about it also one thing i'm in a bunch of like groups on facebook for kansas city specifically there is a black owned business group there's um black businesses in kc there's a bunch of groups make sure you let people know in there but yeah look at other groups and talk to people and connect with people in other groups and invite them to join your group so i hope that is helpful all right you guys so that's all the questions i'm gonna be able to answer today thank you so much for submitting your questions i really hope you guys found some of this stuff helpful if you have any more questions or video ideas comment them down below i always look at my comments i read my comments i try to address your questions and videos and things like that sometimes i've already answered them and so make sure you guys look through my playlist so i've went through my videos and created a playlist i have a lawyer live playlist if you're more interested in like my life now as a lawyer and advice for the current practice of being a lawyer and i also have a law school advice and tips playlist where it's all about law school and preparing to be a lawyer so make sure you guys check out those videos but that is all i have for y'all i will see you guys in the next video thanks so much for watching okay just do me one quick favor before you leave go ahead and hit that subscribe button and hit the notification bell so you get notified every single time i upload okay i will see you on the next video bye

Channel: The Aspiring Boss

Views: 15,010

Keywords: lawyer, law school, law student, corporate law, big law, law school advice, Q&a, law career, legal career, attorney, corporate lawyer, lawyer day in the life, corporate lawyer lifestyle, transaction law, litigation, litigator, types of lawyers

Id: ixJNUrw-OHs

Length: 23min 59sec (1439 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 18 2020