Having an ambitious child who wants to go to law school is great news in a sense. After all, it’s rare that most kids have any idea what they want to do with their lives once they hit their twenties.
But, of course, there are also some downsides. For one, getting into the legal profession is challenging. Most schools are very selective, so they won’t necessarily take on students.
The other is the amount of work involved beforehand. Law requires studying numerous subjects and taking on a certain view of the world based on documents and case reports.
So, how do you manage an ambitious child who wants to go to law school? What are the secrets of success?
Support Them Academically
The first step, of course, is to support them academically. You want to ensure that your child can focus on subjects that will help them get onto a law degree, like the social sciences and English. Mastering these subjects sets them up for the sort of challenges they are likely to face once they start their courses.
If you can put them in an advanced placement course, that’s even better. These introduce them to legal principles before they get into college, giving them a head start over their peers.
Sometimes, you can also find private tuition groups that teach the basics of law to teens and younger children. These sessions ingrain legal principles in their minds and also let them know whether it is a subject they want to pursue.
Encourage Extracurricular Activities
Meanwhile, you can also encourage or facilitate their law-related extracurricular activities. Again, these can help prepare them for dealing with arguments and the pressure of the courtroom.
For example, you could recommend that they:
- Join the debating society at their school
- Run mock trials in drama class
- Set up a student government at the governors’ meeting
These additions can be helpful and have a significant effect on how they develop. Such activities ensure that their knowledge isn’t just book-based, but something more.
Promote A Balanced Lifestyle
As a parent, you also want to ensure you permit your child to have a balanced lifestyle. While they might be excited about the law and the possible career that could result from their studies, they need to remember to be children at the same time. After all, there will be plenty of time to put in 80-hour weeks at the office in the future when they become adults.
Ideally, parents should aim at balancing free time with study and extracurricular activities. A couple of things a week is okay after school, but every night probably isn’t sustainable for most kids.
Furthermore, the majority of children actually need downtime to consolidate their learning. They need space away from work that allows their brains to take on board new ideas, process them, and then store them away for the exam.
Provide Legal Field Exposure
Another approach is to find a way to get them real legal field exposure. Again, this will give them on-the-ground experience and show them what this type of work is like.
How you provide them with this exposure will depend on the circumstances. For example, some law firms run summer programs and take on young interns. These positions are usually unpaid and only last a couple of weeks, but they are a chance for kids to explore the field and see what they think.
Another option is to arrange meetings with legal professionals. Lawyers and attorneys will sometimes visit schools to explain what they do and how children can get on the track to a similar career.
Even providing kids with books on law can be helpful if they’re ambitious and seeking a high-profile career in the future. This learning can change their lives and provide more information on whether the legal profession is the right choice for them.
Discuss The Realities
Of course, if your child is excited, you’ll need to prepare them for the realities of studying law. While it might seem exciting at first, the daily grind of a degree is something that they will simply need to accept.
Law schools are often over-prescribed, which is something you can read about on this college forum for parents. Most institutions reject the vast majority of applications, simply because of the competitiveness of the industry and the fact that there are only a limited number of places and roles available.
The other issue is the work required to attain a law degree once your kids arrive and start classes. Most students spend at least 8 hours a day on their studies, and often longer, due to the competitive nature of classes.
Financial issues can also be a hurdle. Law school isn’t cheap, and paying back loans requires getting a decent salary at the end of the process. Attorneys often have to go into practice areas for money rather than because they are interested in them, which is a shame.
Consider Pre-Law Workshops
If going to a law company isn’t possible, you can place your child in pre-law workshop programs that contribute to their degree applications. These show genuine and sustained interest in studying law, which most candidates won’t have on their CVs.
Pre-law workshops usually occur over the summer and are available for older high school students interested in studying the law. These workshops provide numerous networking opportunities, and company reps will sometimes attend to identify precocious young talent.
Furthermore, many of these courses are run by practicing law professionals who understand the details of the business and what it requires to be successful. Many young children can learn a lot from these interactions, providing a basis from which to make decisions in the future.
Discuss Organizational Skills
Of course, law school isn’t a walk in the park, so it is critical that parents imbibe organizational skills in their children. Even small improvements can have a large effect.
Planners are probably the best place to start. These allow children to break large projects into smaller chunks so they become more straightforward to complete.
Organizational skills are better lived than learned, so no age is too early to start. Your child could begin planning their day today if they wanted, practicing the skills they’ll eventually need when they finally start attending law classes.
As mentioned, law school is intense, and every hour of the day counts. Students who don’t put in the work and get organized are far more likely to drop behind and, worse still, flunk out.
Explore Various Law Areas With Them
You also want to explore various areas of law with your children to see which interests them the most. The legal field is highly varied, with criminal law being quite distant from tax law.
Most professionals specialize in an area and stick with it. This approach means that they can get a name for themselves with specific case types while also focusing on what they know and can do well.
If you can get your kids to look at some of these areas, this will give them a better idea of what type of lawyer they’d prefer to be in the future. Then, they can use this to inform their options and electives at college, and also what they do right now.
If you want, you can get them to take an aptitude test, which tells them the area of law that suits them best. This way, they can do something they enjoy and are good at doing.
Foster Their Love Of Reading
Getting back to basics, it’s also an excellent idea to foster your child’s love of reading. Encouraging them to get stuck into books boosts their vocabulary and makes it easier for them to parse thick tomes when they finally arrive at law school.
Generally, it doesn’t matter what they read, as long as it is something that engages them. Non-fiction and fiction are both options, as are history books that relay a truthful account of past events.
Getting them into writing is even better, as it is a large component of working as a lawyer. Communicating with clients and understanding what specific legal phrases mean are critical for making cases and putting together defenses.
These days, you can get books on tablets and smartphones. However, the best option is still physical books since these don’t have any distractions.
Encourage Critical Thinking
Finally, if you have an ambitious child who wants to go to law school, it is critical to get them thinking critically. Encouraging them with activities like puzzles and games like chess can contribute to their overall abilities.
In law, one of the primary tasks is to find complex solutions to difficult problems within the confines of the law. These critical thinking games attempt to do just that, which is helpful for a lot of parents who might be feeling stuck.
So there you have it: some of the ways you can get behind an ambitious child who wants to go to law school. Reading advice on forums and providing them with extracurricular activities is essential if you want them to have the highest chances of success.
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