Frequently asked questions: privacy lawyer edition

“Can I go to law school if I majored in X in undergrad?”

Yes. I don’t care what it was, yes. My major was Peace Studies. My brilliant colleagues majored in Trumpet Performance, Sociology, English, and Chemistry. You’re fine.

“Do I need to know how to program to do tech law?”

No, but you need to get comfortable doing research and asking questions - even if they feel like dumb questions. Treat your relationship with IT and technologists like a collaboration. You need both your expertise to succeed.

“Is privacy REALLY its own area of law?”

Yes. And also no. Yes in that it is a particular specialty and you can’t just step in and know what you’re doing. No in that it touches on a bunch of other “established” legal disciplines (contracts, property, civil rights, etc.).

“How do I outline well?”

Test a few methods and go with what works for you - not what your classmate does. My friend did handwritten outlines, another broke portions onto notecards to reorganize, I typed my notes in bullet points and cleaned them up before finals. Experiment.

“Do I have to do journal/mock trial/moot court?”

I recommend doing at least one, but which one depends on what you want to do after school. Journal is huge for clerkships and writing-heavy areas (hello). If you’re planning to litigate, the others may be more useful.

“Law school just started and I feel like an idiot.”

It takes a while to adjust to new ways of learning. It’s learning to read cases, take notes, answer cold calls, and speak essentially a new language. It’s a lot. It will get easier. You deserve to be there.

“I don’t know what kind of law I want to do.”

I didn’t know privacy law existed when I started law school. It’s fine. When you get to pick classes after 1L, take things that look interesting, practical or not. You will find interests and unexpected talents. You’ve got time.

“I’m afraid I won’t be in the top of my class.”

You are with a collection of people who are all used to being one of the smartest. But math dictates that half of you will be in the bottom half of the class (damn you, math. And curves.)

Cont.

You will still have a degree. You take the same bar at the end as everyone else. You can join and lead organizations, be an editor, be a research assistant, work a ton of pro bono, etc. There are so many ways to show your talents and interests. Rank is not everything.

“I don’t know what things like journal and moot court and clinics really mean and I feel dumb asking.”

I knew no lawyers growing up and had to learn all the terms from scratch and felt so slow and behind everyone. Ask! Find a nice-seeming professor, talk to career services.

Law school secret: most faculty (there are always some...special ones) at your school WANT you to do well. It makes the school look good! Ask questions, go to office hours, reach out. You make connections AND feel more confident in what to do.

(Feel free to ask questions and I’ll answer them in the thread, have to release some energetic pups, but will return shortly.)

"Can I be a good lawyer if I get nervous speaking publicly?"

People think that being a lawyer is arguing in court, but that's only one part of a specific type of law (litigation). Most lawyering is research, reading, writing, and editing. Tons of lawyers NEVER go to court (hi!).

"What is lawyer life like? I hear it's crazy-busy."

It is. Gotta be honest with you. Hours and task amounts will vary depending on where you work (big law, smaller firm, in-house, government work, law enforcement, politics, interest groups, etc.), but it will be busy.

Firms tend to work on a billable hour structure, so you have to hit a certain amount of hours you can bill to clients in a day. For example, I may be a the office from 8-6 (10 hours), but only bill 7-8 hours (other time is checking email, meals, bathroom, checking Twitter, etc.).

Different firms require a different baseline for billable hours in a year. You have to factor that in and it can mean long days or working weekends to hit the number of billable hours you need, depending on focus level, what projects are available, how much rest your brain needs.

Other work is different. Government work tends to have more set and regular office hours, but you will have surges of work and longer hours around certain deadlines. In-house may have more flexible time, but you need to respond very quickly whenever your company needs something.

Hours are likely to be long in your first few years of practice especially, but you can find things that work for you. Allow yourself a learning curve and, again, ask questions! Lawyers love talking about themselves - ask them about their jobs and ask for advice!

"What kind of classes should I take if I KNOW I am interested in privacy?"

Privacy really goes EVERYWHERE, so most things will relate in some way. I do a lot of contract writing (and data protection addenda), we deal with international law, state law, property, 4th amendment...

If there is anything about privacy, coding, or cybersecurity, take that. Policy is incredibly important. Clinics on tech, policy, advocacy are all great. Tech journals will help you get publications out there AND will let you deep dive on a topic.

"How else do I show I'm interested in this area?"

GO TO CONFERENCES. You can often get in free or HIGHLY discounted as a student and they are invaluable for information and networking. Write about what you like! Read about it! Do a clinic so you have some practical experience!

"You said networking. I...I do not want that."

Look, I HATE networking events with a passion. The pressure is AWFUL and I am bad in crowds. BUT, if I think of it as learning about things I like from interesting people willing to share their time with me, it's GREAT.

If you're not a crowd person, do one-on-one or small group interactions. Most experts I know love talking to students. It's new people excited about what they do! It's flattering for them! They want to share knowledge and bring you in! Be curious, be yourself. You'll do great.

"I'm not sure I'm cutthroat enough for this."

The best lawyers ARE NOT cutthroat - they're decent people. You develop a reputation in your practice. People who are kind and supportive and good humans do very well because people want to work with them.

They get recommended for jobs. People want to collaborate with them. They zealously argue their cases, work for their clients, and negotiate, but they are not jerks. If you're a jerk, you better be EXCEPTIONAL at what you do. It's the only way people will put up with that.

On that note, don't be a jerk to your law school classmates. Legal communities tend to be like small towns - everyone knows each others' reputation and background. If you're rude, sloppy, hard to work with, entitled, etc., it gets around.

If you're a jerk in law school, suddenly you're applying for a job at a local firm and the partner asks their associate - a former classmate of yours - what they think. If you were obnoxious in law school, guess how that goes.

"When do I become an expert in privacy?"

NEVER.

This area of law changes CONSTANTLY. There is ALWAYS a new regulation, new enforcement, new guidance, etc. You may get REALLY GOOD at a certain regulation and then a new law comes into play or a new judgment and you have to TOTALLY CHANGE what you are doing.

If you're interested in privacy law, you have to be comfortable with it changing. You have to be ok with learning new laws quickly and adapting and coming up with plans and approaches and advice. You need to be able to make good arguments AND be open to learning more.

If you really really like routine and certainty, this is a TOUGH field for you. If you like learning quickly and adapting and thinking on your feet and new challenges - WELCOME.

ANYWAY, I need to eat a burrito bowl and do some more work, but feel free to ask questions, deliver rants, etc. any time.

Privacy attorneys never sleep (though that's mainly the too much caffeine and mental fixations, for me).