I used to be normal. With normal ideas about normal things. You know, everyday stuff. I knew that only people could be people. I knew that property divided broadly into “houses and similar,” “cars and similar,” and “other.” I understood the Constitution. And I didn’t have this recurring dream where I’m waiting for a train and fireworks are going off, but instead of pinwheel lights and colorful explosions, the fireworks spell out “No Liability Without Fault.” The law (and lawyers…) was something best left alone unless absolutely necessary, and when it was necessary, I imagined it looked a lot like Judge Judy’s courtroom. It was a simpler time, with simple ideas and dreamless sleep.

Then I started law school.

I’ll be honest with you. I had doubts when I saw my 1L schedule for the first time. I thought there was a significant chance I might die of boredom before ever taking the bar. Civil Procedure? Contracts? And what the hell is a tort? More importantly, why should I care? At least Contracts was at 8:30am. Just in time for first nap, followed by second breakfast.

That all changed, of course. Contracts turned into my favorite class. I learned what a tort is, and why. But I was still misunderstanding the assignment, so to speak. I thought I was learning about the law, instead of learning The Law, which I still considered impenetrable and monolithic. I thought maybe the first year was just preparatory, and we’d get to the good stuff later. I don’t know. I guess I was hoping for something like an induction ceremony with cowled heads, candles, and a secret handshake – some fixed point after which I would start Becoming A Lawyer. I didn’t realize at the time that I was already Becoming A Lawyer, and already learning The Law. 

It began with little things. I was reading an article about a discrimination suit brought against McDonald’s, and I thought to myself, “Wonder if that will survive the inevitable 12(b)(6)…” (It did.) I found myself scrutinizing sales ads for loopholes and talking about specific performance. I even started reading the fine print. All of it. 

Reality slammed home when I was talking to my non-law friend, which is another thing. I have non-law friends. That’s how I think of them now. It doesn’t change anything about our friendship. They just…don’t get it. Like my spring schedule for 2L. When I told my non-law friend (NLF) about it, the conversation went something like this.

“Hey, I got into all the classes I wanted! I’m so excited – they’re awesome classes.” (Ahem, with great professors. Best I’ve ever seen. Unparalleled, really.)

“Oh yeah? What classes are you taking?”

“Corporations, Administrative Law…”

“…um..like…on purpose?”

“Yeah! And Taxation I, Estate Planning…”

“Waitwaitwait. Tax? You’re excited about a class – a whole class – just about taxes?!”

“Well, no…”

“Oh, good! I was starting to think there was something wrong with you.”

“It’s just the first Tax course. Just federal income tax. There are lots of other taxes we’re not even going to cover! Like …”

You get the idea. Non-law friends; they just don’t get it. But then, neither did I a year ago. Among the many possibilities across infinite multiverses, it never ever would have occurred to me that I would be excited about taxation, corporations, and all the rest. Yet I am. Because I’m becoming a lawyer, and it really doesn’t matter whether it’s Administrative Law or Taxation. The Law is not like anything I ever thought or imagined. Increasingly, I’m convinced The Law is not really about law at all. 

It’s about people. 

In ways both good and bad. The law is flawed just like us, and in many of the same ways. It can be fair, and also unjust. Fractured by politics or solidified by unity of purpose. It is as rich and varied as we are. And underlying it all are existential choices about what we value, what we think is right, and how we ought to turn those beliefs into reality. That’s what my non-law friends don’t get, and what I find so exciting. I’m not taking “Corporations.” I’m learning about how we define important forms of community. I’m not taking “Taxes.” I’m watching in real-time how our government makes choices that affect how we live, how we save, and what we value. 

In Estate Planning, my first assignment involved acting as a (pretend) estate planner for a ‘client’ classmate. The goal was to get enough information to turn my client’s desired distribution of assets upon death into a viable plan of disposition. We had things we needed to ask, things we needed to discuss with our client – all the things an estate planner would do (as we understood it). And in the middle of my interview with my client/classmate, it struck me. 

This is law. Behind the laws of probate and intestacy, beyond per stirpes and representation, there are people worried in the most vulnerable way about the most personal event – the possibility of their passing. And the dignity of that purpose, the respect for these last, most vital dispositions – it awes me that I might be a part of that help, that security. Now, estate planning is my jam. It is the focus of my upcoming internship, and an important part of the lawyer I want to be. For you, it might be something else: securing financing for affordable housing, helping businesses get off the ground; the law is wide and deep. But it reflects who we are, and it reflects for me the lawyer I aspire to be.

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Michael Deere is a second-year student at BC Law. Contact him at deerm@bc.edu.