The Truth About Law School: What You Need To Know Before You Commit

by Rachel B. Wickenheiser

Thinking about law school? Wondering what makes it so hard?

Want to know what it's really like?

In this conversational and action-oriented book by a Harvard Law grad, look behind the curtain at law school and legal practice—it may not be what you think.

If you like reading and writing, you've probably thought about law school at some point. You may have taken law courses in college, or you’ve been told that you'd make a good lawyer. Maybe you hope to make a difference (or at least a lot of money).

But there’s a lot you don’t know.

In The Truth About Law School, you'll

How to make sure that law school is the right choiceWhy law school can be detrimental to your healthWhat practicing law is like from current and former lawyersHow to find and connect with lawyers in your areas of interestWhat to do next if you decide law school is not for you
Law school is a big commitment. Read this book to make sure you know what you’re getting into before you take the leap!

147 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 4, 2022

About the author

Rachel is a recovering lawyer. After graduating from Harvard Law School, she clerked for a federal judge, worked at two elite law firms, then served in government until she left law. She now teaches pre-law courses and advises law school applicants. She lives with her husband and their two cats in Pennsylvania.

Reviews

[Will Meyerhofer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is bracingly honest, written with a quick-witted, succinct style that doesn't waste a word. You can read it in a few hours. The message is tough and dead-on accurate: Stop and do some research, and self-contemplation, before rushing into law school. I love how Wickenheiser states flat out that most people enter law school not just because it looks like basically more college followed by good money but (and this is often the bigger factor) because they can't think of anything else to do and that realization panics them.

That was me. And it was a lot of folks like me who also wound up at a top law school and then deep in the god-awful bowels of biglaw, suffering and miserable and, well, I mean it (and so does Wickenheiser) SUFFERING and MISERABLE, truly and seriously suffering and miserable. Because this isn't a joke. People go into heavy debt and wind up depressed and anxious and filled with regret. Lives get ruined because, well, because there wasn't a book like this you could read. And now there is.

So please read this utterly necessary, in fact mandatory, well-researched and brutally honest book. Please. Really.

[Melissa DeFabritiis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Offers a very biased view of the legal profession from someone who is open about the fact that she hated life as a lawyer. I would have appreciated her dialogue in conversation with someone who enjoys being a lawyer for a more holistic view of the legal field.