18 famous people with law degrees
Law school sounds boring to most people. Lots of reading, stuffy professors, and endless tests about cases from 100 years ago.
But plenty of famous folks went through law school before getting rich and famous doing completely different stuff. Some actually practiced law for a while before switching careers.
Turns out legal training helps with everything from writing books to running countries. Here is a list of 18 famous people with law degrees.
Barack Obama
Obama went to Harvard Law and made history as the first black president of the Harvard Law Review in 1990. He graduated magna cum laude in 1991, then worked at Chicago law firms before jumping into politics.
Harvard professors still talk about how smart and mature he seemed compared to other students.
Michelle Obama
Michelle also went to Harvard Law School and worked at the same Chicago firm where she met Barack. She was actually his supervisor when he was an intern there.
After law school, she moved into nonprofit work before becoming First Lady.
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Gerard Butler
Butler studied law at Glasgow University in Scotland and briefly worked as a trainee lawyer at a big firm. He almost missed his final interview because he got drunk after his last exam.
Somehow still got the job but hated it and got fired. Good thing since he went on to star in movies like 300.
John Grisham
Grisham graduated from the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1981 and practiced criminal law for about ten years. He wrote his first novel A Time to Kill while working as a lawyer, often scribbling during courtroom breaks.
Never planned to be a writer but witnessing trials gave him ideas.
Rebel Wilson
Wilson got a Bachelor of Laws from the University of New South Wales in Australia along with a theater degree. She originally wanted to be a lawyer or politician but changed her mind after getting malaria in Africa and hallucinating about winning an Oscar.
Decided acting was her calling instead.
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Amal Clooney
Clooney graduated from NYU School of Law and worked at a top global law firm taking on major clients like Enron. She focuses on international law and human rights cases.
Married to actor George Clooney but made her own name as a high-powered lawyer representing governments and famous clients around the world.
Gemma Chan
Chan studied law at Oxford University and got offered a job at the prestigious London law firm Slaughter & May. Instead of taking it, she went to drama school and became an actress.
Says her law training helps with memorizing scripts and reading her own contracts.
Julio Iglesias
Iglesias was studying law in Spain in 1963 when a car crash left him paralyzed for three years. Taught himself guitar during recovery and discovered he had musical talent.
Finally completed his law degree in 2001, long after becoming a famous singer.
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Rashida Jones
Jones earned her law degree from Harvard but got turned off from legal practice after watching the O.J. Simpson trial. She couldn’t believe he got off and decided the justice system was too broken to spend eight years studying.
Made her acting debut in 1997 instead.
Andrea Bocelli
Bocelli studied law at the University of Pisa while his parents encouraged him to have a backup plan. He was born visually impaired and went completely blind at age 12 from a football accident.
Made money playing piano in bars while in school, then worked as a lawyer for one year before pursuing music full-time.
John Cleese
Cleese studied law at Cambridge but never actually practiced. He got into comedy by joining the famous Footlights amateur theater club at school.
Met his future Monty Python partner Graham Chapman there and started writing sketches instead of legal briefs.
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Jeff Cohen
Cohen played Chunk in The Goonies as a kid, then got his law degree from UCLA School of Law in 2000. Unlike most child actors, he used his Hollywood connections smartly and founded an entertainment law firm called Cohen & Gardner in Beverly Hills.
Ozzie Nelson
Nelson graduated from Rutgers with a law degree in 1930 but practicing law during the Great Depression wasn’t exactly a growth industry. Decided entertainment was a better bet and created The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet radio and TV show with his family.
Tony La Russa
La Russa bounced around minor league baseball teams before getting his law degree from Florida State University in 1978. Got offered a coaching job right around graduation time and said he’d rather ride buses in the minors than practice law.
Became a major league manager shortly after.
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Geraldo Rivera
Rivera graduated fifth in his class from Brooklyn Law School in 1969 and worked for civil rights organizations in New York. His legal work representing Puerto Rican activists in East Harlem opened doors to television reporting.
Started as a local reporter before becoming a national TV personality.
Steve Young
Young earned his law degree from Brigham Young University’s law school while playing quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers. Won the Super Bowl MVP in 1994, the same year he got his law degree.
Never practiced law but says the legal training helped with business deals and his broadcast career.
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Hill Harper
Harper went to Harvard Law School and graduated in 1992, same time as Barack Obama. Instead of practicing law, he chose acting and appeared on shows like CSI: NY and The Good Doctor.
Also became a bestselling author and cancer survivor who served on the President’s Cancer Panel.
Francis Scott Key
Key was practicing law when he wrote The Star-Spangled Banner in 1814, and kept practicing law afterward too. Being a lawyer probably helped him negotiate his way onto the ship where he witnessed the battle that inspired the national anthem.
Legal work was steady income while poetry didn’t pay much.
Books Beat Briefs
Law school might seem like a weird path to fame, but legal training teaches useful skills like research, writing, and thinking on your feet. Plus lawyers learn to argue their point and handle pressure, which comes in handy whether you’re performing on stage or running for president.
These 18 people prove law degrees open doors to lots of different careers, even if most of them never set foot in a courtroom again after graduation.
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