The Thursday Ramble: Why Did I Do That?

Debra at She Who Seeks, recently posted some lawyer jokes. It is okay she is one of the family, and we can make jokes about ourselves.  Her post and the comments on it, made me think back the moment that I decided that maybe law school and becoming a lawyer would be an option for me.  

I was in my late 20's, taking college classes and still trying to figure out what I wanted to be when I grew up.  In some ways, after two different careers I am still not sure of the answer to that question. 

There was a question on an exam about a contract entered into by a minor being void.  I answered that it was not void, and the professor marked that as a wrong answer.  I wrote a page long memo defending my answer. The law as stated in the textbook we were working with, said that a minor has the right to cancel the contract.  Being under age, is a valid defense against attempts to enforce a contract entered into by a minor. This defense belongs to the minor, not the other party to the contract. This means that the contract is voidable by the minor.  Not that the contract is void. The minor can bring a legal action to enforce a contract and the other party can not raise age as a defense. The fine line difference between void and voidable.   

The response from the professor was, "you would be a great lawyer!" He never admitted his answer was wrong, but my final grade was an "A" (the highest available.) 

And that started me thinking.  Maybe there was a place to use my talents. At the same time I was seeing people in my office who were getting legal advice from mortgage loan officers, and title company clerks, advice that was not always correct.  That bothered me.