Why I Don’t Regret Going to Law School

I was recently invited to speak to a group of sharp, curious undergraduate students at the University of British Columbia. The event, hosted by the UBC Pre-Law Association and titled “Life Beyond Private Practice,” brought together four lawyers—none of whom currently work in private practice—to talk about our career paths and answer questions from students considering law school.

To my surprise, more than one student asked a version of the same question: “Do you regret going to law school?” When I asked why, they explained that they’d been repeatedly warned against it. Law school, they were told, was something people often regretted.

To be honest, I heard the same thing 20 years ago when I wrote the Law School Admission Test. But then, as now, my answer is the same: no, I don’t regret it—not for a second. In fact, I still use what I learned in law school every single day, even outside the boundaries of traditional legal practice in a law firm.

Law school taught me grit.

Like many law students, I’d worked hard before law school. But nothing compared to the volume, pace, and intensity of what law school demanded. I studied law at the University of Oxford, where you’re evaluated entirely by final exams at the end of the program. Everything—years of study—boiled down to a few three-hour tests.

That kind of pressure builds more than academic ability. It builds endurance. It taught me how to keep going, even when I was tired, overwhelmed, or unsure. That work ethic carried directly into my first job as a litigator at a boutique law firm in downtown Toronto, where I had to manage multiple files, tight deadlines, and high expectations. Law school taught me how to grind, and that’s a skill I still use every day.

I learned how to find the signal in the noise.

Legal education is also a crash course in information overload. Cases, articles, textbooks, commentary— there’s more to read than time to read it. So, you learn to focus fast: What’s relevant? What’s binding? What’s the actual takeaway here?

That skill—the ability to rapidly digest and distill complex material—is one of the most valuable tools I have. As a senior executive in the BC Public Service, I deal with massive amounts of input: briefing notes, legal opinions, PowerPoint decks, verbal briefings, long email threads. The ability to cut through it all and find what matters? I owe that to law school.

I learned how to communicate clearly and directly.

Law school drilled into me the importance of writing with clarity—no jargon, no fluff, just the point. Whether drafting factums, briefing notes, or emails, I learned that plain language isn't a shortcut. It's more effective and it’s more persuasive. Today, that skill saves me time, builds trust, and makes me better at my job. People are busy. If you can get to the heart of the issue quickly and cleanly, you make it easier for others to understand and act.

And most importantly, I learned to never forget the human element.

Law school can feel abstract: cases, principles, precedents. But every case is about people—often in crisis, often at their most vulnerable. As a young litigator, I worked with survivors of violence, professionals facing regulatory discipline, people going through bankruptcy proceedings, and individuals caught in the criminal legal system. These weren’t just legal files—they were lives.

That awareness—of emotion, motivation, harm, and consequence—still shapes how I work. Whether I’m giving advice, solving problems, or leading a team, I try to stay grounded in the human impact. If you’re paying attention, legal education doesn’t just sharpen your thinking—it sharpens your empathy.

The value goes far beyond the courtroom.

Yes, law school is vocational. It prepares you for a specific profession. But its utility stretches much further. It trains you to think critically, argue clearly, and make decisions with care. It gives you tools that are useful in any field where precision, judgment, communication, and analysis matter.

No, I don’t regret going to law school. In fact, I’m grateful for it. And I believe that the advice to avoid law school misses the bigger picture. It gave me skills that I use every day, in every role I’ve had since. That’s not regret. That’s value.