About Larry: Lawyer, Law Tutor, Poor Avoider of Embarrassment

Call me . . . Larry Law Law.

Why, yes, “Law” really is my middle name!

(No, actually it’s not.  My real middle name, says my mom, translates from Korean to “God of the Raging Fire,” which was highly embarrassing in high school, especially after my mom chirpily told some female classmates friends of this translation, which they then copied via Sharpie on to the crotch of a pair of leopard skin briefs they gave me for Christmas.  Today I would be psyched but then I was embarrassed.  I had a flat top.  Anyway.)

I go by Larry Law Law because I am both a practicing lawyer (First “Law”!), and a long time adviser and tutor to law school students (Second “Law”!).  Pretty lame, right?

Anyway, this lame dude is a real person.  To prove it, here is me, in my work clothes, getting totally mauled by my kids:

 

 

 

They are why I wake up and go to work!.

To be clear, they are the “why” not in the motivational sense, but the actual cause of waking me up when I am still f’ing trying to sleep!!

But enough about me and my kids.

Larry Law Law: The Lawyer and Law Tutor

Here is what you want to know about my career, and that I am real dude who is qualified to write about what I’m writing about:

• Before law school, I went to Harvard, worked was an investment banker (good training for being abused at a big law firm), and a human rights activist (after being a banker).
• I graduated magna cum laude and Order of the Coif from New York University School of Law.
• Yes, I was on NYU Law Review.  Senior Notes Editor, baby.
• I was a TA teaching assistant in criminal law and international law.
• I tutored first-year students in contracts. I was a research assistant for a couple of professors as well.
• I clerked twice.  Once in the Federal District Court in Washington, D.C., and once in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (yes, that (in)famous Ninth Circuit. I got a work trip to Hawaii out of it!).
• I used to work at so-called “white shoe” Wall Street law firm (it was a Vault 20 / Am Law A List law firm in New York). I mainly did white collar defense work, mainly internal investigations, international arbitration, and some normal litigation.
• I also practiced at a boutique law firm in New York, also in international arbitration, investigations, and some weird family fights between squabbling New York real estate families which totally convinced me.
• I now work for the government!  I can’t tell you where or I’d have to kill you!  But, seriously, it’s not the CIA.  (But I guess I’d say the same thing if I did work there.)

Now, aside from my day job (I AM NOT READING YOUR EMAILS!), I am a tutor and coach to law students to do well on their final exams and advise them on their careers.

I have worked with law students from top 20 law schools like Harvard, NYU, Stanford, Berkeley, Northwestern, Texas, Michigan, etc., etc.  Many of these students got As and were at the top of their classes.

I think of the top law schools I have only not worked with Yale Law School.  So screw you, Yale!

I have worked with law students from online law schools like Concord and Northwestern California.

I have worked with students at more local law schools like Brooklyn, Cardozo, Florida Coastal, Fordham, Hofstra, New York Law School, Seton Hall.

Larry Law Law: The Real Person

So here is a bit more about me.

Here is a bit more about me, how I became a lawyer, and why I started this site.

First, about me beyond the resume:

• I speak Portuguese. My wife made me learn it.
• I speak German because I like making peoples’ ears bleed.
• I am tremendously outstanding at hurting people grievously by whipping them with towels. I was a swimmer and water polo player in high school.
• I love love love surfing (like board on water, not “How many testicles did Napoleon have?, surfing), but my skill lags my enthusiasm like a toddler and Usain Bolt.
• I had a flat-top haircut all through high school until end of senior year. I never kissed a girl until the end of senior year.  Coincidence?

I say all of this so you know I am real person.

This is NOT a crappy faceless website.  Or lawyer without a face.

It is an AWESOME website run by a lawyer with a face who just won’t show it to you.

I Became a Lawyer By Accident

I was not one of those freaks wanted to be a lawyer since he was seven years old.

I was one of those freaks who wanted to be on Wall Street since he was seven.

(A bit of brainwashing by my parents and Harvard, where everyone wants to be a banker. At least before Occupy Wall Street.).

I went to law school because my backup plan to Wall Street–doing a PhD in political science after joining the Peace Corps–no longer seemed as appealing after my post-Wall Street wanderings (a human rights group and a silent meditation retreat and travel).

Law school seemed like a compromise between studying something interesting and making a living. I was going to study human rights and international law in law school, thinking I would save the world after law school, but I reserved the right to go to a firm if I tired of eating generic cereal and ramen every day.

Of course, I didn’t save the world after law school.

Dreams crash-landed on reality.

I had debts to pay off, and soon a family.

So after clerking, I practiced law.

I did some very fulfilling human rights pro bono work on the side.

But mainly, I made a living.

Practicing law is really intellectually engaging.

But it can be tough — time consuming and high pressure. It can be rewarding, but don’t have any illusions; it is tough.

But I loved being an expert, being creative, and using my brain to help clients or solve problems.

So some time ago, I decided I wanted to help see other law students and young lawyers through this tough process.

I wanted to create a site that provided good, precise, practical, no-BS, real-world advice to law students, college students thinking about going to law school, and young attorneys.

I wanted to help people really focus on the things that matter to excel and to go on to tremendous careers as lawyers.

I wanted to create a site that really boiled down what people needed to know.

There is already too much out there to read.  And, with so much information, outright lies about law school and legal practice (or if not lies, very misleading idealizations of the law).

But I want to be a true guide through all of this.

The law is a cruel mistress. One who happens to be really, really terrible at sex and won’t leave you alone.

So let me be your adviser, your guide to helping you tame your cruel, terrible-at-sex mistress.

Let me help you master the law.