Why am I applying to law school?

I understand that this is a common interview/application question. It's probably useful to address it a bit. I'm not saying this is the whole answer.

I guess the first thing to say is that I want to be a lawyer. I spoke to a lawyer once whose first bit of advice to me was, 'Don't go to law school if you don't want to be a lawyer.' I think it's good advice. A lot of people treat law school as a general degree. It's versatile, useful, trains you to use important skills. But I don't have the money or the time to get a degree that might come in handy some day. I want to be a lawyer, specifically a prosecutor.

Why am I interested in criminal law? I wrote my master's dissertation on prosecuting international crimes. This naturally lead me to the more realistic goal of domestic prosecutions. I think it has the right mix of what I like about the law: it enforces laws; it pursues justice (ostensibly); it has real goals which are achievable; each case has a distinct beginning and end point.

This is only a partial answer. More to follow.