LawStudentMom is now Dr. Mom!

I got the word a few days ago! I'm graduating law school. I take the California Bar at the end of July 2004. My sister says I will never pass the second phase (after the 3-day bar-test): the Moral Character Examination. She says that when they find out that I hang out in the Democratic Underground, I'm in trouble! This is Chimp's and Arnie's America!

A lawyer degree is a doctorate degree? I never realized that!

Congrats, LSM! :toast:

Rather than Doctor?

but technically, even MD.'s are not real doctors, given the amount of education required to get a doctorate (i.e. dissertations etc)

Esquire is an old English term meaning "shield bearer" which was adopted for use in the US....and even the term "juris doctor" has a great deal of debate around it since there are much higher law degrees one can get beyond JD.

They give you a moral character exam? What the heck's that about?

As to the Moral Character Exam ... an appointee of the state looks into my background. By the way, they have the right to ask which organizations I belong to! I stand proud!

A friend of mine, who passed the bar last year, said that the Pennsylvania equivalent of the Moral Character Exam was all about whether you pay your bills. You could be the president of NAMBLA, but if you're current on your debts, all is forgiven; conversely, stretches of poverty, bad debts, bankruptcy and other such "crimes" are weighed heavily.

Is that how it works in your state?

--bkl
Looks like law school is out for me

:-)

Good luck on the Bar.. it about made my niece crazy!


:party:

Just finished up my first year. Congrats on making it all the way through! Good luck on the Bar.

Even if you're put on Probation at one school - start at another! Never give up! Luckily, I never was put on Probation. The key to law school is hanging in there and surviving.

That is something to be proud of.
You could always come to FUNDAY on June 19 -- that should ensure your zeroing out on the moral character thingie (we have moral types and we have characters -- rarely both).
Interestingly enough, my buddy Andy the Right Wing Republican's sister, Debbie (who is a liberal Democrat), graduated from law school and never even took the bar exam. Beats the hell out of me why not.
Again, my heartiest congratulations.
John
It is now 25 days, 16 hours and 26 minutes to FUNDAY. Dave F will be here, too -- he's also a real lawyer, with his JD from USC as a matter of fact, and keeps us out of jail pro bono (except for beer).

:wow: Congradulations!!! You earned it. :toast:

That's an incredible accomplishment. Good luck on the bar exam. Are you taking a refresher course?

Congratulations!!!! I've heard the CA bar is a beast, but I'm sure you can pass it with flying colors. Take some well-earned time off before jumping into BAR/BRI or whatever. GOOD JOB!!!

Remember the Doonesbury character Joanie Caucus who got into law school and then got her degree? It was an ongoing story to encourage (older) women to go to law school.

Joanie - I think they're similarities (I'm 45 - went back when I was 41). Trying to be a good example for my kid (whose 7-1/2)(I start everything late). In the middle of a bar review now. Thanks for all the good words!

I worked for a family law attorney and thought about law school, but put it off because I thought, at 36, I was too old.

I'm starting work on an MSW in the fall, but maybe I should do law school afterward. I could pick up where my attorney left off. Who knows. She did wills, probate, divorce and GAL work. Now she's just doing GAL.

I turned 40 on my second day of law school, and I'll be 42 going on 43 next May when I finish. One of my very best friends at school is in her early 60s! She was a social worker, then got a master's in law, then decided to get a law degree. I admire her so much!

Finishing law school is quite an accomplishment. Take it from someone who watched DH about come unglued at times during his years in law school.

BTW, DH, the conservative party pooper, says people with just a JD don't get to be called "doctor." One has to get an SJD for that. And before that, there's your Master of Laws (LLM).

Pooh on him. You go, Lawyer Mom!

:yourock:

This paralegal congratulates you :toast:

Gonna get an LLM next? :evilgrin:

Then the SJD. First, I want to see if they help and/or decide if I want to teach eventually. Hey - I was a social worker for 7 years. Do some time as a social worker, and somewhere along the way, go to law school! Social workers make good lawyers, I say. We've learned to work with everyone, and we lost some of that judgmentalness we used to have.

You are awesome!

Good luck on the bars...and that character thingy :evilgrin:

To You! :toast: