29 Reasons Not to Go to Law School, 4th Ed.

by Ralph E. Warner

Offers a humorous look at law school, shares the comments of former students and lawyers, and describes the disadvantages of being a lawyer

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1982

About the author

Ralph "Jake" Warner, co-founder of Nolo in 1971, was a trailblazer in the do-it-yourself law movement. He helped make legal guidance widely accessible through books, software, and online resources. A prolific author and editor, Warner wrote titles like Retire Happy and Save Your Small Business. He earned his law degree from Boalt Hall at UC Berkeley and his undergraduate degree in history from Princeton.

Reviews

[Karla Mae Bosse · Rating 5 out of 5]

A graduate school comparative literature professor gifted me this book the year before I matriculated at law school - a T-15 school no less. I read it with a bit of dread, but was convinced it wouldn’t apply to me. More than $150,000 and 22 years later, of which I spent 15 years clerking and practicing law at a big corporate law firm, then representing low income clients at legal aid, then domestic violence victims, then criminal defendants as a public defender, then the state and neglected children as a prosecutor, and finally a year of solo practice mostly doing contract work for the state public defender agency - I’ve revisited the book and can confidently say it is 100% accurate. I quit practicing law 7 years ago and wish I’d never gone down the path to law school. I can never in good conscience recommend it to any young idealistic person - it’s a soul killing path. I can count the happy lawyers I knew on one hand and don’t need all the fingers. So many struggling with substance abuse and depression, so many divorces, so many suicides and midlife massive heart attacks - most of them widow makers. Just don’t do it.

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was definitely a book of its time. Published in 1982, the facts and insights were a little outdated but overall, still a fun book. I don’t think it would have been appreciated nearly as much for someone before law school, than after being in law school. The cartoons and drawings were also humorous and spot on.

[Sarah]

hilarious...there's nothing like a healthy dose of humor to keep a person grounded! i find that i am now even more determined to go to law school and succeed without selling my soul. ;)

[Jane]

I need to write a book - something like "law school is fun!"

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

a lot of fun! v. snarky from people who survived and stayed in the profession and some who didn't. a salmon fisherman writes of the joy of keeping his law texts.