To Young Lawyers

• Author: Kenneth P. Nolan
• Pages: 11-15

To Young Lawyers

11

I never wanted to pick up fetid garbage in the sweltering sun.

Or tiptoe on iron 40 stories in the air. Or get the finger after I tick-

eted some yoyo doing 80 on the BQE. Instead, I taught high school

English to tough, listless teens. Then I attended law school at night

because I needed credits above my bachelor’s to maintain my teach-

ing license. Of course, it wasn’t until I finished my first semester

that I learned that the Board of Education wouldn’t accept law credits

for licensing purposes. Had I checked, I would never have entered

law school, become a lawyer, or been called the f-word by a federal

judge.

After screaming at bored bureaucrats about the unfairness, I

almost quit law school but was convinced to continue by a fellow

teacher and other veterans at John Jay High School whose insight

into literature and life was unique. This experience of not determin-

ing whether law school credits would satisfy my teacher require-

ment taught me the magic formula for a successful career—check

the facts and be nice to clerks.

My son became a lawyer because his college roommate’s dad

told him, “I don’t care if you sell pencils on the corner, Kenny, go

to law school. It’s a great education.” And it is. Expensive, too.

Well, not when I attended (luckily), but now it is for sure. My daugh-

ter has graduated from law school but, unlike my son and me, she