re: For future lawyers

Unfortunately, at least with respect to the current climate, the most intellectually stimulating and highest-paying jobs for lawyers are outside of the scope of traditional law practice. I am thrilled about this personally. I call this unfortunate, though, because the vast majority of law students are either oblivious to this fact, in denial, or have no other area of competency outside of law practice (however, even this is a stretch as law school hardly makes one "competent" enough to practice law).

I think legal academia is beginning to realize this, although it will be a very slow, very controversial process before anything meaningful is done about it. A legal education has many applications. The thought processes and analytical skills you learn in law school are second to none. However, with the huge glut of lawyers, simple supply and demand dictates the greatest opportunites will continue to be found elsewhere, outside of the scope of traditional practice.