Considering finishing degree, then law school.

[pbkmaine]

Happy in CA nailed it on the head for my train of thought - I've worked in the law offices.  I've been the paralegal, I've been the legal secretary, I've been the office manager.  And no matter how satisfactory the compensation is, or the fact that I've got my hands in the action, it's not the same.  It's a constant source of frustration that I'm not the attorney.  Not in the sense of being higher class, or smarter, or more authority.  It's simply that I see and know what they're doing, what their job entails vs the other support positions, and *that's* what I want to be doing.  And as someone said, that may have changed in the 20+ years since I was working in law offices.  THings have changed, I'm sure.  But, after all these years, it's still the draw for me. 

After all the conversation and discussion and me doing more research, I will concur that the online Concord approach is not a good route.  And after lots more thinking on that, I may be willing to make the required changes so that is isn't the only route available to me.  There's still so many more steps to take before I even get to the point of deciding yes or no to pursue law.  There's still undergrad requirements to finish up and secure the BA.  I've heard from one program here in Oregon on that, and it's very unlikely I'll go with their program.  We will see, hopefully this week, what the other program can offer.  That could be a game-stopper right there. 

Then there's the issue of what my husband decides to do with his career.  Come back home and work full time here as a general contractor.  Work for someone else around here.  Follow the big money up to Spokane.  Something totally different?  It will be months before those decisions shake out, and that will have huge impact. 

If I decide to complete BA and potentially consider law school, I will have to retake the LSAT.  I did great on it last time (97th percentile), but can I repeat that?  IF yes, then I can open more doors.  If no, then I am out of the running, because I wouldn't have the scholarship base to make a brick and mortar school feasible. 

Then, even if I do get the killer LSAT and great scholarships, there's still the question of will hubby be on board, and willing to come home to be SAHD while I go to brick and mortar.  That's certainly not a sure thing. 

So, there's SO MANY variables here.  I am really in the very beginning stages of this.  And with that said, I talked to my tax prep buddy (owns a couple of H&R Block franchises), and we talked a lot about me pursuing an Enrolled Agent designation.  Do tax prep during the season, no major educational requirements to sit for the exam, online prep courses available at reasonable cost, and I could even represent clients in tax court.  Maybe that's all I'm looking for - some more mental stimulation, some income, and a little bit of "litigation", LOL.  I don't know.  There's a lot to think about, and I'm open to it.  But I have to say, the desire to be an attorney has been with me from the time I was a kid, and has never left.  The ideas of helping the downtrodden in an area that is traditionally so out of reach for them, and so hard to penetrate, and so hard to get help in, is very much a draw.  Elder law is something that I could be REALLY passionate about.  The idea of practicing in remote areas (thinking Alaska), to help individuals with their legal needs, natives that probably have very little or zero other avenues, THAT gets my juices flowing.  No, biglaw isn't my thing.  Big cities, even small cities don't hold much allure.  Championing the underdog, promoting justice, helping people who have no other shot - that gets me fired up.  :-) 

And yeah, it doesn't necessarily pay the bills, but by that stage of our lives, it's more about me re-entering the workforce primarily for my fulfillment and secondarily about adding more funds to the stashe.  KWIM?  Anyway, thank you all for the continuing advice, both for and against, and the reality checks!  I am thinking, thinking, thinking!!  :-) 

MouseBandit

CPA here.  If you want to deal with complex issues (you mention tax court), you might consider looking into the CPA.  It would require some additional education and a difficult test but you were talking law school so you may want to consider as an alternative.

I'm familiar with the enrolled agent designation and typically they are employed at strictly tax prep practices and/or as staff at CPA firms.  Generally speaking, tax prep practices are going to have less complicated issues because they handle fairly simple returns.  If you want to fight the IRS, you'd be better served in a CPA firm.  Being brutally honest, I've represented many a client with the IRS.  If it's complicated, the enrolled agent is going to be in a supporting role (think paralegal) at best.  If I have a massively complicated issue or needed to go to tax court, I might bring an attorney in on the team to get the best result for the client.

I would have to disagree. I am a CPA myself, worked much of my career in the Big Four, and the two best tax preparers I ever met were enrolled agents. I had one of them do my taxes for years, because tax prep is not my area. He was oceans better than most CPAs.

[Midwest]

Happy in CA nailed it on the head for my train of thought - I've worked in the law offices.  I've been the paralegal, I've been the legal secretary, I've been the office manager.  And no matter how satisfactory the compensation is, or the fact that I've got my hands in the action, it's not the same.  It's a constant source of frustration that I'm not the attorney.  Not in the sense of being higher class, or smarter, or more authority.  It's simply that I see and know what they're doing, what their job entails vs the other support positions, and *that's* what I want to be doing.  And as someone said, that may have changed in the 20+ years since I was working in law offices.  THings have changed, I'm sure.  But, after all these years, it's still the draw for me. 

After all the conversation and discussion and me doing more research, I will concur that the online Concord approach is not a good route.  And after lots more thinking on that, I may be willing to make the required changes so that is isn't the only route available to me.  There's still so many more steps to take before I even get to the point of deciding yes or no to pursue law.  There's still undergrad requirements to finish up and secure the BA.  I've heard from one program here in Oregon on that, and it's very unlikely I'll go with their program.  We will see, hopefully this week, what the other program can offer.  That could be a game-stopper right there. 

Then there's the issue of what my husband decides to do with his career.  Come back home and work full time here as a general contractor.  Work for someone else around here.  Follow the big money up to Spokane.  Something totally different?  It will be months before those decisions shake out, and that will have huge impact. 

If I decide to complete BA and potentially consider law school, I will have to retake the LSAT.  I did great on it last time (97th percentile), but can I repeat that?  IF yes, then I can open more doors.  If no, then I am out of the running, because I wouldn't have the scholarship base to make a brick and mortar school feasible. 

Then, even if I do get the killer LSAT and great scholarships, there's still the question of will hubby be on board, and willing to come home to be SAHD while I go to brick and mortar.  That's certainly not a sure thing. 

So, there's SO MANY variables here.  I am really in the very beginning stages of this.  And with that said, I talked to my tax prep buddy (owns a couple of H&R Block franchises), and we talked a lot about me pursuing an Enrolled Agent designation.  Do tax prep during the season, no major educational requirements to sit for the exam, online prep courses available at reasonable cost, and I could even represent clients in tax court.  Maybe that's all I'm looking for - some more mental stimulation, some income, and a little bit of "litigation", LOL.  I don't know.  There's a lot to think about, and I'm open to it.  But I have to say, the desire to be an attorney has been with me from the time I was a kid, and has never left.  The ideas of helping the downtrodden in an area that is traditionally so out of reach for them, and so hard to penetrate, and so hard to get help in, is very much a draw.  Elder law is something that I could be REALLY passionate about.  The idea of practicing in remote areas (thinking Alaska), to help individuals with their legal needs, natives that probably have very little or zero other avenues, THAT gets my juices flowing.  No, biglaw isn't my thing.  Big cities, even small cities don't hold much allure.  Championing the underdog, promoting justice, helping people who have no other shot - that gets me fired up.  :-) 

And yeah, it doesn't necessarily pay the bills, but by that stage of our lives, it's more about me re-entering the workforce primarily for my fulfillment and secondarily about adding more funds to the stashe.  KWIM?  Anyway, thank you all for the continuing advice, both for and against, and the reality checks!  I am thinking, thinking, thinking!!  :-) 

MouseBandit

CPA here.  If you want to deal with complex issues (you mention tax court), you might consider looking into the CPA.  It would require some additional education and a difficult test but you were talking law school so you may want to consider as an alternative.

I'm familiar with the enrolled agent designation and typically they are employed at strictly tax prep practices and/or as staff at CPA firms.  Generally speaking, tax prep practices are going to have less complicated issues because they handle fairly simple returns.  If you want to fight the IRS, you'd be better served in a CPA firm.  Being brutally honest, I've represented many a client with the IRS.  If it's complicated, the enrolled agent is going to be in a supporting role (think paralegal) at best.  If I have a massively complicated issue or needed to go to tax court, I might bring an attorney in on the team to get the best result for the client.

I would have to disagree. I am a CPA myself, worked much of my career in the Big Four, and the two best tax preparers I ever met were enrolled agents. I had one of them do my taxes for years, because tax prep is not my area. He was oceans better than most CPAs.

If you are referring to w-2 returns and lower income returns with less complexity, I have found enrolled agents do a great job.  If you are preparing pass through entities and more complex personal returns, that accounting degree often comes in handy.  If you have an accounting degree and work in tax, it is likely you will have a CPA.Typically, there are more interesting problems and audit issues on higher income tax payers.

The big 4 tax people (former and current) tend to be quite competent.  If you put them on a return with earned income credit, the enrolled agent might be more competent.  If you hand them an LLC with multiple states and divisions and some aircraft flowing into a personal return, I suspect the inverse would be true.  The LLC is much more likely to be audited.  If she wants to fight the IRS, she might have more fun as a CPA.

[Zamboni]

This is not an advert for US News and I'm not paying the $30 myself to see all of the data this year, but if you want to figure out real employment data, then you really need to pay for US News and World reports "Law School Compass". In the "Careers" section of that report, there are key data points that show legitimate employment. Real jobs will be categorized as one of the following:
full-time, long-term
JDs employed by firms of 251-500 attorneys 
JDs employed by firms of more than 500 attorneys 
You can also see bar passage rates and states where the bar was taken.
Be wary of other employment categories.

With a little research you can figure it out, but I'm not going to out the particular school where I have the inside scoop. To be fair, I think the schools are really trying to help their graduates find a match with an employer. To be cynical, they are also using this type of "program" to pad their published employment statistics, which helps keep them highly ranked, which helps generate a large qualified applicant base, which helps them have large classes and generate more revenue. Education is a business, and you should believe school marketing about as much as you believe other advertisements.

[onlykelsey]

If you end up in Spokane (or elsewhere in Washington), you could try qualifying to sit the WA state Bar through the Law Clerk program -- law school not required, but a BA and a job working for a lawyer or judge with 10 or more years of experience who is willing to mentor you is:

http://www.wsba.org/Licensing-and-Lawyer-Conduct/Admissions/Law-Clerk-Program

Maybe you could find someone who works on tribal or rural issues who needs help and would be willing to sponsor you.

That's a really interesting idea!

[Dee18]

Another lawyer here, now working as law prof.  The one area where we see unfilled law jobs is small, rural practices, because most new grads want to be in cities.  That's the good news for your plan.  The bad news is that I have witnessed rampant age discrimination for our older grads, especially our women over 40.  So if you decide to proceed, I think you should expect to have to create your own practice.  Not living in a rural area myself, I am not sure how hard that would be.  It's tough in the city where I live because there is so much competition. 

[obstinate]

This is not the worst idea, but it's pretty bad. An online law degree is not worth the paper it's written on.

[mousebandit]

Lol, yeah, I'm becoming persuaded on that!  I am waiting to see how the degree completion plans play out, and if we move to Spokane.  If both of those are positive, then I'll consider retaking the LSAT and see how I do.  If I can get high score again, I'll consider applying at Gonzaga.  But it'd have to be a very high score to get enough scholarship and offset costs.  They have a full ride scholarship that would suit me well, but I'd have to have very high LSAT again to even be considered I think.