Hi all!

Right off the bat -- I'm a 38 year-old with a kid, chronically underemployed and trying to finally have a coherent career. I have a degree in Philosophy (minor in Physics) but was always living mostly hand-to-mouth and taking whatever opportunities or lack thereof came my way. I have recently set my sights on finding remote work as a legal assistant, ideally in WA or CA where I might be able to eventually pay my dues and practice law independently.

Am I insane, or do I present a worthy value proposition to lawyers and firms in WA or CA? Is it realistic to hope to eventually satisfy the Law Office Study Program requirements? Please feel free to tell me I'm insane, though ask you back up your reasoning.

I have no background as a legal assistant, per se, but have 6+ years as an academic ghostwriter, which included one client for whom I did (to the extent possible remotely) the coursework for several of their school classes. This included Housing Law, for which I wrote a 40-page research paper on LIHTC as it plays out in NM; beyond that, other courses for which I did the coursework included Wildlife Law, Sales & Leases, and Constitutional Law and the Regulatory State. I relied heavily on Lexis+ for much of this.

As mentioned, I have not worked as a legal assistant, per se, but managed an art gallery for the past few years until the owner died last month. Meanwhile, I also have two close friends, both practicing lawyers, who could serve as personal references.

Possibly relevant: I was actually trying to springboard off of this into law school, but those efforts sputtered out due to needing a) a free(ish) ride and b) a law school with a mostly online program. I got a respectable 160 on the LSAT, though feel I would've gotten much higher if I had reached the point of doing timed trials of the logic games. But alas, life got in the way and I couldn't afford to de-prioritize income generation any longer.

Any feedback on this train of thought?