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Career Spotlight: So You Think You Want to Be a Lawyer?
Law is one of the most commonly considered paths for humanities and liberal arts students, yet one of the least understood in terms of what practicing it actually looks like.
Introships students recently had the chance to hear from two very different sets of legal voices: Beth Wilkinson, a federal prosecutor turned partner at Paul Weiss who went on to found her own firm where she tries big cases in the courtroom, and four attorneys at Kaufman & Canoles, a full-service Virginia law firm.
We're sharing some of the best insights from both conversations to help those of you who think law might be in your future. This is a longer newsletter than usual because for those of you to whom this is relevant, this is really important stuff.
Beth got interested in law early and had almost no idea what it actually involved. What the job looks like in practice, she'll tell you, is nothing like what she imagined. The four attorneys at Kaufman & Canoles brought a different but equally valuable perspective: Alfred "Ran" Randolph, a partner who has been with the firm since graduating law school in 1987; Joe Houchin, a litigator; Rakesh Parikh, an M&A attorney in the Richmond office; and Darden Copeland, a corporate associate in the Norfolk office with six years at the firm.
Together, they covered the things most students never find out until they are already in law school.
"Lawyer" is not one job
One of the most important things to understand before deciding whether to pursue law: the profession looks almost nothing like itself across practice areas, and the two most common paths inside a firm point in completely different directions.
Transactional lawyers help companies and individuals buy and sell businesses, structure deals, and navigate commercial agreements. The work is proactive: you are helping your client achieve a goal, serving as the quarterback of a deal across legal, tax, employment, and regulatory issues all at once.
Litigators get called in when something has already gone wrong. A lawsuit filed, a client arrested, a dispute blown up. The work is reactive and high-stakes.
Neither path is better. Ran, a history major with zero business background, chose M&A because he liked the people in that group during his summer associate experience. "I'm not sure there's one path to selecting what kind of practice," he said. "It's just sort of what feels best to you, and you'll know it when you see it." And if you start somewhere and realize it is not right for you, switching is more common than students expect. "Nothing is forever," Ran said.
Is this actually the right path for you?
The attorneys did not sugarcoat it. Law is demanding, high-stakes, and the pressure is real. But all of them described finding genuine meaning in the work, and pointed to some clear signals for how to know if you are wired for it.
You need to like problem-solving under pressure. Rakesh described genuinely enjoying when a revised purchase agreement lands in his inbox at 10pm. "I enjoy figuring out, okay, they made this change in the document — how does that impact my client?" That instinct, finding a hard problem interesting rather than draining, is probably the most important self-selection signal there is.
You need to be comfortable in a service profession. "At the end of the day, your job as an attorney is to represent your client," Darden said. "Taking on the issues or questions or goals that they have and trying to make them a reality." If that framing energizes you, that is a good sign.
You have to be comfortable carrying worry your clients don't see. As Ran put it: "Part of the job of being a lawyer is worrying for your clients. You gotta know when to worry them and when to just hold it inside yourself and worry for them. Inherent in being a lawyer is there's an element of worry for your clients that you just have to bear. It's part of the job." That's not a warning so much as a signal. If that sounds like something you could take on, you're probably wired for this.
You don't need to know you want to practice law forever for law school to be worth it. Beth makes a nuanced point worth sitting with for anyone who is interested in law but not fully committed: "Even if you don't want to be a lawyer long term... the skills that you learn are useful in almost everything you do. If you wanted to be a politician, but you train as a lawyer and you learn how to debate and how to build consensus with people, those skills are great skills for politicians." Law school teaches you to think analytically, communicate precisely, and understand how decisions get made, skills that translate into policy, business, government, and beyond.
Beth is equally direct about who should not pursue law: "If you don't like writing, I don't think being a lawyer is a great job. There's just too much writing and analytical writing one has to do." She also cautions against going to law school simply because you are good at school or unsure what else to do: "Don't go become a lawyer just because you don't like math."
How to get there
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Get exposure before you apply. Courts are open to the public. Go watch proceedings. Undergrad internships at law firms exist and are worth pursuing. Real experience strengthens your personal statement in ways that are hard to replicate otherwise.
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Take the LSAT seriously. "Scholarships for law school are highly, highly contingent on good LSAT scores," Darden said. If possible, invest in a tutor even if your practice scores feel solid; a few extra points can mean the difference between significant debt and a full scholarship.
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Understand that law school grades matter more than you might expect. This surprised Beth even after decades in the profession. "The thing that surprised me the most is how much grades matter in the legal world." If you want to be a lawyer, commit to working hard in law school and going to the best school you can get into.
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Work on your communication. Ran spent 15 years leading associate recruiting at the firm. "Communication skills are just so critical, and that's not only written communication ability, but the ability to sit down and interact with other people with confidence. I can tell in 5 minutes whether they're a good fit, and usually that's because of their comfort level with communicating with me."
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Reach out to a lawyer. If you are seriously considering law school, ask someone for 30 minutes. As Rakesh noted, "lawyers like to network a lot." Most will say yes.
Alumni Spotlight: Hearing Directly from the People Who Have Done It
Tate Crawford (Davidson College '25), now a Rotational Analyst at Greystar, came away from Introships with something she couldn't have found on her own: direct access to professionals across industries willing to share what their work actually looks like.
In her words: "The program gave me the chance to explore a variety of career paths and hear directly from professionals about what their day-to-day really looks like. It was an invaluable way to learn from people with diverse experiences and backgrounds."
We hope you found this helpful. Feel free to reply with questions or feedback, and stay tuned for more from Introships on LinkedIn and Instagram!
Joe Fiveash & Sean Wetmore
