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Does Law School Kill Your Entrepreneurial Spirit?

By Noha

I am absolutely struck by this NPR piece interviewing founder of LawScope and one of my favorite interviewees, Elena Kaspi. The piece is about the recession's impact on lawyers, and it has come at a perfect time in my career. I have recently volunteered to do something a bit riskier (more on that later) and it has made me realize just how risk averse my colleagues are. I highly encourage you to read this and think about your risk v. reward analysis. Kaspi says attorneys have been trained to be risk averse and I think she is right. I truly believe this risk aversion makes it difficult for some lawyers to jump start their careers, and I am not just talking about during tough economic times.

Students gain some very valuable tools in law school, the ability to think through issues and minimize risk. These tools are key to helping clients, but they can be your greatest asset or your greatest weakness. I had a discussion with an attorney/writer whose family immigrated from Korea when she was ten years old and she told me she felt that she was definitely more risk averse than her parents. And I am always amazed at a good friend of mine, a Georgetown Law grad, who watched her parents deal with the struggles that came with a failing business, and while she realizes that she wouldn't make the same mistakes her parents made, she is still extremely reluctant to take on such risks.

Is this something that law schools need to rethink in their curriculums? Could incorporating a business building aspect to law school curriculums help more women become partners, go out on their own, or transition to an alternate career that still uses their critical thinking skills.

Full post as published by Ms. JD on April 13, 2010 (boomark / email).