My [22/F] boyfriend [22/M] says that I'm abusive.

It's not abuse to de-escalate. It's actually rather healthy to get away and then discuss after you've cooled down. So he's full of it, and he's probably just gaslighting you 1) to win an argument or 2) to control you. Bad sign.

Regardless, here's some insight on the law path from my humble experience:

If you go to law school, you are going to need support. Law school sucks. And being a lawyer is a lot of work-- like more than most jobs that are considered a lot of work. I take my work home with me every damn day. I work at least 60 hours per week, and I work on Saturdays and Sundays. It is very tough on a relationship even when your SO is supportive.

Working as a legal assistant for a while will give you a good idea about whether it is something you really want to do. I HIGHLY recommend this to anyone considering law. It looks great on TV, but law sucks most of the time.

Once in a while, law can be pretty fucking amazing. Especially when you've made a huge difference in people's lives-- few other careers allow you to do that in such a direct way. Whether the sacrifices (mainly, most of your time) are worth the reward is up to you. Personally, the greatest sacrifice for me is time with people I love.

Kudos to you for doing the smart thing and checking it out before you jump in. A lot of people go straight through to law school and burn out because they weren't expecting it to be so hard. I took some time in-between undergrad and law school, and I thought I knew what I was getting into. I still feel very burnt out a lot of the time. I don't know if I can keep it up, and that's the honest truth. But I also can't afford to quit.

If you go forward with a JD, you need to be very up front with any potential partner about the time constraints you will have. They will last until you retire, if you retire. It sounds like your current BF just hates lawyers, so I guess that's not the real issue (he sounds like a dick, TBH). Assuming you guys don't work out (his attitude sounds like break up time to me), these are the things to keep in mind with future partners if you do decide to become an attorney.

/r/relationships Thread