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I want to pursue law school, but I don't know where to start. I once had this ambition in college but abandoned it with my eagerness to get out into the real world. Now the thought keeps lingering.

I have a bachelor's degree in journalism, I've been with my paper for less than a year, but in this time I've been promoted from one of the smallest beats to one of the biggest beats.

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With a law degree, my dream job would be to serve as a legal adviser for a major news organization.

I know I need to take the LSATs and then get admitted. Ideally I'd like to go part time, take one or two classes each term, while working full time, though I'm open to exploring other options. My biggest concern is supporting myself through the program. There's only one major law program in the state which doesn't have a part-time program, just a slower one that's over a five-year program instead of three.

I've sent off for more information at the school here, but I would be willing to relocate if a good opportunity presented itself -- especially in a school with a First Amendment Law concentration.

I love everything about my current job, but the pay stinks and I feel like I could be doing more. I've always been interested in legal issues in journalism. Thank you very much for your advice,

Jessica

As career choices, journalism and law seem to be first cousins. I have seen a lot of journalism students go onto law school and a few attorneys come over to journalism.

Joe Grimm

It can work. The Detroit Free Press uses an excellent media attorney who used to be a night city editor at The Detroit News.

Pay attention to your ability to transfer from one school to another. Law students do it, most commonly after the first year, but this is the exception, rather than the rule. If you begin the five-year plan with one school, you might be committing yourself to staying in that area for five years. Make sure the job is one you want to keep for that long. This does not sound like the case where you are. I suggest you start your law studies after you first get to a better paper in a city with more law-school options.

Any amount of law school will help your journalism, but you'll need the full treatment to practice. So, I would start law school without trepidation, but I would try to start it in a place where I planned to stay for a number of years.

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Coming Friday: This student feels his journalism school is overshadowed by a big-name J-school nearby and he wonders how he can compete with that.

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