Current Trends - The Rise of the Nontraditional Law Student - Episode 274

Hey there, Legal Tea Listeners – This is your host, Jenny Rozelle. Welcome back for another episode. Episode 274 – today is a “current trends” topic where we talk about things going on currently that are relevant and pertinent to my estate and elder law world, and/or maybe things I’ve seen on the news or stumbled across on social media. Today, we're talking about the nontraditional law student, and more specifically, the different pathways that exist for people who want to become lawyers but whose lives don't necessarily fit into that traditional law-school mold.

When you picture somebody going to law school, what do you picture? Maybe somebody graduates from college at 22, takes the Law School Admission Test, applies to law school, gets accepted, and then spends the next three years doing nothing but reading cases, briefing cases, taking exams, and generally wondering why they ever thought becoming a lawyer was a good idea. Then they graduate, take the Bar Exam, become a lawyer, and start their career. And listen, that absolutely is one path to becoming a lawyer. But it is not the only path. There are law schools throughout the country that offer evening programs, part-time programs, and other formats designed for people whose lives don't fit neatly into that traditional model. Maybe you work during the day. Maybe you're a parent. Maybe you're changing careers. Maybe you're already established in another profession. Maybe you have financial responsibilities that make quitting your job and becoming a full-time student unrealistic. And I think those people are worth talking about because there can sometimes be this assumption that if you don't follow the traditional path, you're somehow doing law school “wrong.” I don't buy that.

In fact, I was one of those people. My path to becoming a lawyer was anything but traditional, and when I look back on it now—especially sitting here as the owner of the law firm where this whole journey started—it is honestly kind of wild to me. I actually put some content out on Twitter/X about nontraditional law-school paths, and someone asked me to turn it into a podcast episode, so here we are! But I don't want this to be a giant “let me tell you all about Jenny” episode. My story is really just an example of this broader idea. I want to talk about what the nontraditional law-school path can look like, why it matters, and particularly why I think it matters to areas of law like estate planning and elder law.

I graduated from Butler University—Go Dawgs!—and I had wanted to be a lawyer since I was in second grade. This wasn't some random career pivot. But I was also practical enough to pause after college and think about what law school actually meant. Because law school isn't just an educational investment; it is a financial investment, too. I was the first person in my family to earn a bachelor's degree. I didn't come from a long line of lawyers or a family where everyone knew exactly how professional school worked. My family came from a long line of people who worked hard—really hard—but I didn't have this built-in roadmap for how to pay for law school, navigate the admissions process, or step away from the workforce for three years. So I hit pause and thought, “Okay. You've wanted to be a lawyer forever. But how are you actually going to do this?”

My answer was to go to work. And this is where my story gets particularly interesting: I started working at the law firm that I now own, and I started at the front desk. I answered phones, greeted clients, took payments, and eventually transitioned into more paralegal-type work. I was learning the legal profession from the inside before I ever became a lawyer. I was seeing how attorneys interacted with clients, how the firm operated, and how the pieces fit together. Eventually, I told the firm's founder that I wanted to go to law school, and she became a tremendous mentor to me. She pushed me to take the LSAT, helped me through the application process, and ultimately served as a reference. She didn't just tell me I could do it; she held me accountable to actually doing it.

Through that process, I learned that Indiana University had an evening law program, and that was what made law school possible for me. I could work full-time during the day and attend law school at night. Now, I know somebody listening is probably thinking, “Jenny, that sounds absolutely terrible.” And you know what? You're not wrong. There were plenty of people who would have said, “You're crazy. Law school should be your number-one priority.” And if I could have made law school my only priority, would that have been easier? Absolutely. But that wasn't my reality. I was a full-time employee. I had financial responsibilities. I had a job I cared about. And I also knew that if I could get through law school, there was a very good chance I could continue building my career at the law firm where I already worked.

So I worked during the day and went to law school at night. And, Legal Tea Listeners, “making it work” is a very generous way to describe what those years felt like. There were nights when I would leave a full day of work, get in my car, and drive to law school so tired that I barely remembered the drive. I was working, going to class, studying, taking exams, and trying to maintain some semblance of a life outside of work and school. There were absolutely moments when I felt like I was barely keeping my head above water. My mindset became, “This is temporary pain for long-term gain. Get through it, girl. You can do this.” And I kept putting my head down and going. The program was designed to take four years, and I finished in three. My now-husband, Justin, was doing the same thing—working full-time as a high school teacher while attending law school at night. We actually met in law school, fell in love, and apparently decided that the best possible relationship strategy was to work full-time and go to law school together. Probably romantic. Probably also a little insane. But we graduated together after three years.

And I think that's an important part of the conversation about nontraditional students. An evening or part-time program isn't necessarily an easier route. You're still doing the work. You're still learning the law. You're still taking the exams. You're just fitting that work into an existing life. For some people, that makes law school possible when the traditional model simply wouldn't be. And I think that's a really important distinction: different does not mean easier, and nontraditional does not mean less committed. In some cases, you're actually asking someone to maintain an entire career, family, or other set of responsibilities while simultaneously pursuing a professional degree.

My story took another interesting turn after the Bar Exam. The founder of the law firm where I had started at the front desk began thinking about slowing down and eventually retiring. She ultimately approached the attorneys about taking over and buying the firm. By that point, I had been with the firm for nearly ten years. I had sat in almost every seat in the building—front desk, paralegal-type work, marketing, law clerk, attorney—and I knew the systems, the clients, the culture, and the business. The one hat I hadn't worn was business owner. But when the opportunity came, I had a pretty unusual advantage: I already knew the organization from the ground up. I ultimately bought the firm, and about seven years later, we're still here, having grown it, changed it, navigated a pandemic, built a team, and moved through what I affectionately call versions 2.0 and now 3.0. And this year, we're celebrating the firm's 25th anniversary, with the founder and her husband actually coming back to celebrate with us. Talk about full circle.

But again, my personal story isn't really the point. What I think is interesting is what it illustrates about the profession more broadly. There are a lot of people who don't fit the traditional law-school pipeline, and there are a lot of reasons we should care about making sure there are legitimate pathways for those people to enter the profession. And I think that becomes particularly important when we start talking about estate planning and elder law.

Because—and this is something I think about quite a bit—we need lawyers in these areas. We have an aging population. We have families dealing with caregiving, incapacity, Medicaid, guardianship, probate, trusts, estate administration, and all of the complicated legal issues that come with aging and death. And yet, like many areas of the law, we also have attorneys who have been practicing for decades and who will eventually want to retire. That's not a bad thing. It's the natural progression of a profession. But it does mean that we need people coming behind them.

And here's where I think the nontraditional law student becomes particularly interesting. Maybe the next generation of estate-planning and elder-law attorneys isn't going to look exactly like the generation before it. Maybe someone working as a paralegal right now decides they want to become an attorney. Maybe someone in another profession discovers an interest in elder law later in life. Maybe a parent who has spent years balancing family responsibilities decides that law is the next chapter. Maybe somebody already working in a related field realizes that becoming an attorney would allow them to serve families in a different way. If we have educational pathways that allow those people to pursue law without completely blowing up their existing lives, we potentially open the door to more future lawyers entering areas of practice that need them.

And there's another piece of this that hits very close to home for me because I lived it. The founder of my firm eventually reached a point where she was ready to slow down. She had built a law firm, built relationships, built a client base, and practiced for decades. And when she was ready to retire, she had the option of passing that work to someone she knew and trusted. In my case, that happened to be someone who had literally started at her front desk. I think we're going to see more of those conversations as attorneys in our profession reach retirement age. What happens to their clients? What happens to their practices? What happens to all of the institutional knowledge they've accumulated over decades? Sometimes the answer may be a sale to another law firm. Sometimes it may be a merger. Sometimes it may be a gradual transition. And sometimes, ideally, it may be passing the practice to someone they've known, mentored, and trusted.

That is another reason I think bringing more people into the profession matters. It's not simply about producing more lawyers and putting more names on bar rolls. It's about succession. It's about continuity. It's about making sure clients aren't left wondering what happens to their lawyer when that lawyer decides it's time to retire. And in estate planning and elder law, those relationships can be particularly significant because clients often work with the same attorney for years, sometimes decades. They may come back when a spouse dies, when a parent becomes incapacitated, when Medicaid becomes an issue, when a trust needs to be administered, or when their own estate plan needs to change. The relationship matters, and having a healthy pipeline of attorneys coming into these practice areas can help support that continuity.

So when I talk about the nontraditional law student, that's really the larger point I want to make. This isn't just about giving someone who is 35 or 45 or 55 permission to say, “Maybe I can still go to law school.” It's also about the future of the profession. It's about recognizing that talent doesn't always show up in the traditional package. Sometimes it's already sitting in a law firm's front office. Sometimes it's working in another profession. Sometimes it's raising children. Sometimes it's coming from a completely different career. And sometimes that person just needs a pathway that works with the life they already have.

I don't want to romanticize it. Working full-time while attending law school was hard. There were times I was exhausted and overwhelmed, and there were absolutely sacrifices. A part-time or evening program can take longer, and even when it doesn't, you're still juggling a tremendous amount. So I'm not suggesting that everyone listening should go to law school. Please don't hear that. Law school is a massive commitment of time, money, energy, and opportunity cost, and anyone considering it needs to do their homework and make that decision for themselves. What I am saying is that if the only reason you've ruled it out is because you don't fit the traditional picture of a law student, don't make that decision without first looking at what options actually exist.

Because there is more than one way to become a lawyer. There is more than one way to build a legal career. And there is more than one way for the profession to bring new people into the fold.

For me, that path took me from a front desk, through nighttime law school, through the Bar Exam, into practicing law, and eventually into ownership of the very firm where I started. It wasn't the traditional path, but it was a path that worked for the circumstances I had at the time. And looking back, I'm incredibly grateful that I didn't feel like I had to force myself into somebody else's definition of what becoming a lawyer was supposed to look like. That unconventional path ultimately gave me something I wouldn't have had otherwise: an understanding of the legal profession and the business of law from virtually every seat in the building.

And maybe that's the takeaway I want to leave you with today. If you're considering law school and your life doesn't look like the traditional law-school picture, that doesn't automatically mean the door is closed. Do the research. Understand the commitment. Look at the evening and part-time options that exist. Think carefully about the financial and personal sacrifices. Find mentors. Figure out what works for your life. And if you decide to pursue it, know that you may be helping create something bigger than just your own career. You may eventually become the person who takes over a practice from an attorney who wants to retire. You may become the lawyer who fills a need in an area like estate planning or elder law. You may become the person who brings the next generation of clients and ideas into the profession.

My path started at the front desk of a law firm. It took me through nighttime law school while working full-time, eventually led me to ownership of that same firm, and has now given me the opportunity to watch the profession continue to evolve. It sure wasn't the traditional path, but it worked. And sometimes you don't need the traditional path. You just need a path that works.

Alrighty guys, it is time to wrap this episode up! Next week, we’re back to the “celebrity estate planning” type of episode – and on next week’s episode, we are going to dive into the estate of Coach Bob (Bobby) Knight – the IU basketball coach known for throwing the chair across the gym floor. And since this podcast is based out of Indiana, it’ll be a special one to do! Until then, Legal Tea Listeners, be well and talk soon!

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