[MRM]

I am growing more concerned that your daughter doesn't really want to be a lawyer. Don't get me wrong, I am not trying to discourage her. I am trying to make sure she is doing something she wants to do, not complete law school because she got the idea to do it once and everyone's told her she should ever since. My expeience, and the experience of less happy lawyers on this board is instructive. I love being a lawyer. I can't stand the idea of being anything else, even on bad days. I still get a thrill every time I represent someone. I can still hardly believe that someone pays me real money to represent them. That's what makes me be a lawyer.

Fortunately my skills and iterests are perfectly alligned for being a lawyer. I read a million words a minute, I speak well and can articulate issues and ideas quickly, I can't spell or count worth beans, but I can see the big picture without losing the forest for the trees. It's not so much that you have to be smart to be a good lawyer, it's a particular kind of smart. It's almost like a knack that you're born with or not, just like some people are born able to run fast, and others can't catch their own shadow no matter how hard they train. I also can't run, but I'm a ferocious high jumper.

If your daughter has a burning desire to be a lawyer she should go to law school. If she likes the idea of being a lawyer, she should take a couple of years of and join the Peace Corp and use that time to decide what she wants to do with her life. If she wants money and prestige, she should go to business school or go to work for a land developer.