HANOVER, N.H. -- Sandra Day O'Connor relishes her role as the nation's first female Supreme Court justice, but she urges young people to think twice before entering the legal profession.
'Derek Bok, president of Harvard... complained in part that he thought the best and brightest young people were going into law at the expense of other fields,' Justice O'Connor said Monday in her first New England appearance since being sworn in by President Reagan in 1981.
Justice O'Connor said she is 'delighted ' that the legal profession has the best minds from which to chose. But, she said, the recent surge in interest in the law has swelled the number of lawyers in the United States to 650,000 -- two thirds of all lawyers in the world.
'I think it's probably too many so I'm not one who encourages every young person to go into the legal profession,' she said.
Justice O'Connor told more that 1,000 Darmouth College students, faculty and area residents that young people should undergo testing to determine if they are suited for legal work.
She urged the students to question themselves extensively to determine why they want to enter the field. If they still want to be lawyers, she said they should then follow through.
The growing emphasis on litigation 'bogged down' the courts she said, adding that many business, domestic and probate matters could be settled by alternative means out of court.
Asked how she juggles her many roles -- as a justice, wife, and mother of three sons -- she said, with a smile, 'presently I don't handle it very well except to get to the Supreme Court and work. That is an all-encompassing task and I've given up trying to do much else.'
When she wants to relax, Mrs. O'Connor said she spends time with her children and cooks 'a good meal once in a while.'
A former Arizona Appeals Court judge, and member of the Arizona State Senate, Justice O'Connor said public service, experience, and a large dose of luck helps to get a person nominated to the Supreme Court.
'I never aspired to be on the court, I never even thought of it as a possibility,' she said.