[blindlaw] career transition to Law...

[Michael Fry]

Hi Bill,

I highly recommend you do not quit your job to go to law school.  I
sincerely think that it'd be a bad idea.  It sounds like you've got a very
good thing going on especially in these though economic times.  If I were
you, I wouldn't start a new career at this point in my life.  Trust me,
there a lot people on this list that would prefer to have your job instead
of being a lawyer.

It's just my opinion but if I didn't tell you, I'd feel negligent, I think
your perception of being a lawyer is rosier than the reality and you
currently have a really good job.

Mike

On Sat, Mar 7, 2009 at 2:12 PM, Bill Spiry <bspiry at comcast.net> wrote:

> Hi folks.
>
> . I am considering making a pretty big career change, returning to school
> for my JD. I'd appreciate talking to someone, a successful blind attorney
> who might have come to the law with similar circumstances to those I'm
> wrestling through at this time.
>
>  The short of it is as follows:
>
> .         I'm 48 years old. I've been a senior Human Resources manager for
> the last 20 years, most recently Director of Human Resources for a
> municipality for the last 9 of those years. As you might expect my work
> involves complex employment and labor issues routinely, I've negotiated
> more
> collective bargaining agreements and dispute resolutions than I care to
> remember during my career, and have been very engaged with the laws and
> regulations of the profession in employment, labor, and the ADA, as well as
> risk and other disciplines. Its often my experience that I have more
> extensive knowledge of the laws involved with my work than the attorney's I
> consult with.
>
> .         I am an HR generalist, but my sweet spot has always been dealing
> with the most difficult and complicated disputes and employee performance
> and discipline issues.  My strongest competencies involve providing counsel
> in complex and sensitive employment issues, guiding managers and employees
> back to the core facts, fairness considerations, and desired outcomes
> needed
> to bring resolution.
>
> .         I'm burned out with the internal politics of HR management in
> government employment. As an executive, I'm tired of battling to justify
> the
> strategic importance of good HR management in the face of internal
> popularity politics, regardless of how effective my team has been bringing
> best practice to the table and helping people.  I'm tired of being the guy
> who has to take the body blows for internally unpopular decisions directed
> by City Managers and elected officials. After 20 years of this, I expect I
> can find another executive position where things will be fresher again, but
> fundamentally I believe this is one of the crosses I'll continue to bear as
> an HR professional regardless of the organization. It's the nature of the
> beast. I have liked the work, but dislike the BS. I have decided to leave
> this position either to go to law school or to seek a position elsewhere
> with a fresher start.  I guess fundamentally, I'm looking for more
> independence. I suspect my core competencies would serve me well helping
> people as an attorney, but the difference would be having the credentials
> to
> be heard and taken seriously.
>
> .         The law has always been of interest to me, I completed 3 law
> school courses in labor and arbitration many moons ago during my Grad
> studies at the U of MN and did very well, and have actively sought
> continuing education in the legal aspects of my profession. I considered
> entering law back then, but I was still transitioning into my blindness and
> frankly intimidated by the accessibility challenges I faced. So, I followed
> an alternative path.
>
> .         I've lost my vision to RP, mostly as an adult. I was not
> introduced to skills for blindness until around 19, and really didn't start
> to take the need for those skills seriously until my vision continued to
> degenerate and I entered grad school a few years later.  I no longer have
> any functional vision.  I've had a couple of rounds of Braille training
> over
> the years, but my skills are limited and my use of it is limited to
> administrative functions such as labeling and brief notations. I am skilled
> in the use of screen readers user (JAWS and SA), and perform the vast
> majority of my information and document based work using electronic
> materials.
>
> .         I have a family, wife and three teenage kids. My wife is
> supportive of me in this transition. We think we understand that there will
> be significant sacrifices we'll have to make over the next few years if I
> do
> enter law school. I suspect however that the reality of how much work it
> will be and how tight things will become is still a bit under the radar for
> us.  That's why I want to be pretty certain that it's the right decision.
>
>
>
> If you feel you could offer me some wisdom from your own experience, and
> would be willing to talk with me, I'd appreciate hearing from you.  Please
> drop me a response offline to my email address below. From there we can
> arrange to talk if appropriate.
>
>
>
> Thanks guys.
>
> Bill
>
>
>
> Bill Spiry
>
>  <mailto:bspiry at comcast.net> bspiry at comcast.net
>
>
>
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