Jill, Derick & the Kids: Moving On!!

[3 is enough]

My take on the “minimum wage” comment is that they got a nice lump sum, probably enough for a down payment on their house and possibly even tuition payments as well. 
But if you take that sum and divide it by all the hours Jill appeared on tv, dating back to the earliest days of the Duggar shows, then it does amount to being paid minimum wage.

[Kiss my mutt]

I’d rather him have a menial job while he’s working toward completing his education, than someone like Jeremy who fancies himself above an honest day’s work living the life of a grifter and playing pretty boy on the ‘gram. 
I pivoted quite a bit in my life so I can’t throw any shade on that. He’s still plugging away and has shown he can actually graduate and hold down a “real” job in the past before JB got his hooks in him which he’s extricated himself from. 
I can’t assume I understand the inner workings of someone’s inner thought life but for all intents and purposes, Jill and her boys appear to be in a much better place. 

[rue721]

Yeah, University of Arkansas is either the cheapest or nearly the cheapest law school in the country. That was the kind of thing I looked up when I was trying to decide where to apply. On top of that, it's pretty likely they gave him some kind of grant or financial aid if he had a decent application. It also wouldn't surprise me if Miss Cathy were helping with money toward tuition and books, maybe even enough so Derick is essentially not paying any educational expenses out of pocket right now. The Dillards seem to value education, and she wouldn't be the first parent to do that. 

Also, I think that the girls get the "dowry" of a first house, or some amount of money to go toward a first house (a down payment maybe), because all of the married girls have a house to their names pretty early in marriage, and it's clear that none of their husbands could have afforded to buy these houses on their own.

I guess the Dillards have savings from Counting On, Walmart, and their missionary work, and it's enough to scoot by with some help from GrubHub? I agree that that seems unlikely, but that seems to be what Derick is claiming, anyway.

I don't really think it's that crazy -- familial help with education and a first down payment is pretty standard middle class stuff nowadays. And I think Derick is trying to pretend he's totally boot-strapping it out of pride, which is cringe-worthy but also standard middle class stuff.

[JoanArc]

17 minutes ago, 3 is enough said:

My take on the “minimum wage” comment is that they got a nice lump sum, probably enough for a down payment on their house and possibly even tuition payments as well. 
But if you take that sum and divide it by all the hours Jill appeared on tv, dating back to the earliest days of the Duggar shows, then it does amount to being paid minimum wage.

$200,000 breaks down to $10 an hour for Jill's tenish years on the show. Derick : King of Not Technically Lying.

[Ohiopirate02]

7 minutes ago, JoanArc said:

$200,000 breaks down to $10 an hour for Jill's tenish years on the show. Derick : King of Not Technically Lying.

I see that is before taxes.  

 

15 minutes ago, rue721 said:

Yeah, University of Arkansas is either the cheapest or nearly the cheapest law school in the country. That was the kind of thing I looked up when I was trying to decide where to apply. On top of that, it's pretty likely they gave him some kind of grant or financial aid if he had a decent application. It also wouldn't surprise me if Miss Cathy were helping with money toward tuition and books, maybe even enough so Derick is essentially not paying any educational expenses out of pocket right now. The Dillards seem to value education, and she wouldn't be the first parent to do that. 

Also, I think that the girls get the "dowry" of a first house, or some amount of money to go toward a first house (a down payment maybe), because all of the married girls have a house to their names pretty early in marriage, and it's clear that none of their husbands could have afforded to buy these houses on their own.

I guess the Dillards have savings from Counting On, Walmart, and their missionary work, and it's enough to scoot by with some help from GrubHub? I agree that that seems unlikely, but that seems to be what Derick is claiming, anyway.

I don't really think it's that crazy -- familial help with education and a first down payment is pretty standard middle class stuff nowadays. And I think Derick is trying to pretend he's totally boot-strapping it out of pride, which is cringe-worthy but also standard middle class stuff.

They shouldn't have any savings from their missionary work though.  The money from their donations should have gone to paying for their expenses as missionaries not as a future down payment for their home in Arkansas. If the saved that money and used it to live in once they moved back, then that opens them up to fraud charges.  

If Derick was employed by SOS while he and Jill were in El Salvador, the salary would have been peanuts.  It also would have been used to pay for Jill's medical bills from her two births.  Derick made a huge stink about TLC not paying those bills.  According to him, he and Jill had to pay those themselves.  

[JoanArc]

10 minutes ago, Ohiopirate02 said:

I see that is before taxes. 

Oops, yes. Ouch.

Quote

If Derick was employed by SOS while he and Jill were in El Salvador, the salary would have been peanuts.  It also would have been used to pay for Jill's medical bills from her two births.  Derick made a huge stink about TLC not paying those bills.  According to him, he and Jill had to pay those themselves.  

Yeah, since TLC forced Jill to get pregnant twice, get the worst prenatal care she could, and be filmed giving birth, right? The show is either Just documenting their lives, as Jessa says, or they're really cheap actors. Which is it, Derwood?

[Normades]

1 hour ago, Zella said:

Yeah that's my thing with Derick. He has no problem calling out Jim Bob about his finances (and, you know, I'm sure Jim Bob's finances are sketchy as hell), but Derick has never been transparent about his own, even when he was actively soliciting donations. I get the impression he is someone who can never take what he is more than willing to dish out. 

I can give Derick a pass on not wanting to reveal all of his financial information.  He's not on a tv show telling everyone that he "buys used and saves the difference."  He also hasn't been selling people on an unsustainable lifestyle to puff up his ego while his own children suffer.  If they got some kind of reimbursement for the years Jill was on the show, good for them.  I'm glad they seem to live a reasonable lifestyle and aren't out blowing it on fountain pens, trendy cafes, and pocket squares.

[Zella]

11 minutes ago, Normades said:

I can give Derick a pass on not wanting to reveal all of his financial information.  He's not on a tv show telling everyone that he "buys used and saves the difference."  He also hasn't been selling people on an unsustainable lifestyle to puff up his ego while his own children suffer.  If they got some kind of reimbursement for the years Jill was on the show, good for them.  I'm glad they seem to live a reasonable lifestyle and aren't out blowing it on fountain pens, trendy cafes, and pocket squares.

But a big part of his grievances that he's publicly aired have been allegations about financial impropriety while he refuses to address the really shady shit he seemed to do with donations he received. That's a double-standard on his part, and I don't think it reflects well on him. He's the one who brought it up and then he doesn't want to play ball. It's inevitable that when you start making claims and allegations, you need to be prepared for the same critical lens to be turned on you.

I mean, he can't even keep his story straight on whether or not he had a contract, so I don't find him particularly credible or innocent! If he hadn't done all that, I would agree that he has a right to privacy on his finances. But to me, he's forfeited it. It wouldn't surprise me that if anyone did a bit of forensic accounting on Derick, it would reveal that donations for his missionary work were misused, as @Ohiopirate02 noted. 

Edited February 4, 2021 by Zella

[Minivanessa]

8 minutes ago, Normades said:

I can give Derick a pass on not wanting to reveal all of his financial information.  He's not on a tv show telling everyone that he "buys used and saves the difference."  He also hasn't been selling people on an unsustainable lifestyle to puff up his ego while his own children suffer.  If they got some kind of reimbursement for the years Jill was on the show, good for them.  I'm glad they seem to live a reasonable lifestyle and aren't out blowing it on fountain pens, trendy cafes, and pocket squares.

I'm not a Derick fan, but I agree with this. He's been annoyingly coy about the deets on SM but still it's not like the public has some right to know this stuff. 

[Mindthinkr]

Derick could have gotten some grants. Pell, TAP or applied for financial assistance that he doesn’t have to pay back. 
I’m not necessarily defending him, but I don’t want to assume the worst. Whatever he has or hasn’t done, he has given Jill the means to feel secure enough to open up more into living a life that is fuller. 

[Zella]

Just now, Mindthinkr said:

Derick could have gotten some grants. Pell, TAP or applied for financial assistance that he doesn’t have to pay back. 
I’m not necessarily defending him, but I don’t want to assume the worst. Whatever he has or hasn’t done, he has given Jill the means to feel secure enough to open up more into living a life that is fuller. 

I may be wrong on this--I had a weird financial aid situation myself and actually never even filled out a FAFSA form--but I think Pell grants are usually for undergrads. I don't think he'd be eligible for that for law school. 

The U of A law school does offer its own scholarships and grants in what they refer to as "financial assistance from several sources." I think it's quite possible that he received something from them, especially if he had good undergraduate grades and a good LSAT score. 

[3 is enough]

Does anyone recall how much their house cost?  I remember reading about it when they bought it. IIRC, it was less than $200K, and from the house tour Jill did on You Tube it was evident that they passed on any upgrades. With interest rates as low as they are, and if they had a decent down payment their monthly payments would not be that high.  I know there are unanswered questions about where the money is coming from, but they really aren't living lavishly.  For example, we joke about them watching movies ,etc on laptops, but that means they aren't paying for cable, just internet service.  They probably don't have a landline. And I assume the property taxes in their area are not too high. (Zella?)

[Ohiopirate02]

8 minutes ago, Zella said:

I may be wrong on this--I had a weird financial aid situation myself and actually never even filled out a FAFSA form--but I think Pell grants are usually for undergrads. I don't think he'd be eligible for that for law school. 

The U of A law school does offer its own scholarships and grants in what they refer to as "financial assistance from several sources." I think it's quite possible that he received something from them, especially if he had good undergraduate grades and a good LSAT score. 

While Derick could have gotten some kind of scholarship to help defray the cost of law school, I can't see Jill not broadcasting that on her social media. Or even Derick for that matter.

[JoanArc]

10 minutes ago, Zella said:

I may be wrong on this--I had a weird financial aid situation myself and actually never even filled out a FAFSA form--but I think Pell grants are usually for undergrads. I don't think he'd be eligible for that for law school. 

 

Correct. Jill could get one though...someday.

[jacourt]

could the births have been covered by medicaid?

 

[Ohiopirate02]

2 minutes ago, jacourt said:

could the births have been covered by medicaid?

 

The medical bills for the births would have been for Jill, and she would never have qualified for Medicaid.  For Israel,  Derick was still employed by WalMart and his insurance would have covered part of the cost for an emergency c-section.  The Dillards would have had to pay their portion of the bill.  Jill could have applied for Medicaid when she was pregnant with Sam, but I don't think they did.  She and Derick would have had to show their income in order to qualify which would expose the donations they collected to the state and then factor in their Counting On involvement.  Jill also would not have considered applying for Medicaid because she had no intention of seeking proper prenatal care and she expected to have a home birth.  

[Suzn]

1 hour ago, JoanArc said:

$200,000 breaks down to $10 an hour for Jill's tenish years on the show. Derick : King of Not Technically Lying.

$10 for 2,000 hours a year for 10 years = $200,000.  If they got a payout like that, it would take a tricky mind like Derick's to describe it as minimum wage.

There are various financial situations suggested in the previous posts and some variations could be right.  Also, the idea that it is no one's business is right, but Derick has done and said many things that negate his right to privacy.  He has solicited for donations and he has made many claims about their finances.  If you want privacy, then STFU!  Instead he makes claims about being victimized by TLC and JB and he credits their ability to buy a new house, pay for law school and pay for living expenses by help of the magic budgeting fairy - no hint of loans, grants, family help, nothing beyond a minimum wage payment, a part time job and magic beans.

[Growsonwalls]

I think Cathy could have paid for some of the house. 

Jill as an "influencer" also gets income from sponsored posts. She has a good amount of followers (1.7m) so she'd get paid a couple thousand per sponsored post.

[Absolom]

There is no way Jill worked 2000 hours a year on the show.  That's close to full time hours.

[crazy8s]

7 minutes ago, Growsonwalls said:

I think Cathy could have paid for some of the house. 

Jill as an "influencer" also gets income from sponsored posts. She has a good amount of followers (1.7m) so she'd get paid a couple thousand per sponsored post.

If I remember correctly, Cathy was listed on the purchase of the vacant lot as a co signer or something. several years before they built the actual house.

[3 is enough]

2 minutes ago, Absolom said:

There is no way Jill worked 2000 hours a year on the show.  That's close to full time hours.

That's assuming they got $200K.  What if it was only $75K- so $7.50 an hour for 1000 hours a year for 10 years?  I assume that when filming was going on the days were quite long so it's possible Derrick was counting the hours the crew was there, not necessarily how much time they were on camera. All of these reality shows only use a fraction of the footage filmed.  But they probably had to be physically present while waiting for their turn to be filmed, which would bump up the hours worked number.

I think it is safe to assume we will never know how much they got, or how he came to the minimum wage assessment.  Plus it is very plausible that his mother is helping out or he got some tuition assistance.  Still, they are living in an area of the country with a relatively low cost of living, they aren't exactly living a luxury lifestyle, so his claims of living off savings and part time work are much more feasible than if Jeremy claimed the same thing in L.A.

[Suzn]

I'm stopping commenting after this.  The point I wanted to make is only that any one of an infinite number of financial arrangements could account for Jill's and Derick's situation and all Derick does is make contradictory and vague statements.  He should not tell so much and at the same time tell nothing.  No, it is not our business but he has never hesitated to tell things that indicate him as a victim and/or genius budgeter.  If he can't or won't be transparent, then he needs to shut up.

[GeeGolly]

If I'm remembering correctly Derick did a Tweet or an IG post a while back about the horrors of taking out loans for school. He got attacked pretty badly and Miss Cathy jumped on there to defend him.

Other than the one year at Walmart and his current Grub Hub job Derick hasn't worked since we 'met' him. The majority of their income was from TLC/JB. I'm guessing they went off those years of support/income in determining what money was "owed" them, or owed Jill. I look at Derick's comment about minimum wage the same way I look at all his comments - as bullshit.

I wouldn't be surprised if Derick and Jill got around $300,000 out of JB. Maybe even $500,000. $300,000 would be $30,000 a year over 10 years. And while I agree Jill didn't work full-time during that time, saying its minimum wage is just a way for Derick to continue to make himself and Jill victims and JB an asshole. 

[Zella]

1 hour ago, 3 is enough said:

Does anyone recall how much their house cost?  I remember reading about it when they bought it. IIRC, it was less than $200K, and from the house tour Jill did on You Tube it was evident that they passed on any upgrades. With interest rates as low as they are, and if they had a decent down payment their monthly payments would not be that high.  I know there are unanswered questions about where the money is coming from, but they really aren't living lavishly.  For example, we joke about them watching movies ,etc on laptops, but that means they aren't paying for cable, just internet service.  They probably don't have a landline. And I assume the property taxes in their area are not too high. (Zella?)

According to the property records, they paid $188,000.  It's also showing their estimated property taxes as approximately $1600-2000, depending on whether they get a homestead credit. Real estate prices and property taxes here in general tend to be quite low, though land prices are rising. 

[Quof]

3 hours ago, BitterApple said:

but somehow that "minimum wage" has translated into purchasing a house and three years of debt-free law school

I expect the "minimum wage" means "if she were paid 24/7 for the years she was on television. 

[MargeGunderson]

Agreed that it’s Derrick’s right not to be transparent about their financial situation, but considering how much of it he has voluntarily put out there for the public to consume it’s disingenuous for him to think no one will ask questions about it. Especially since he hasn’t been shy about asking people to donate to support their missionary activities and also the year he spent getting some sort of certificate from his church. Why asking people to fund these sort of things is okay but taking out a loan is horrible is totally perplexing to me. 

[ginger90]

I’m thinking if it ended up working out to minimum wage for hours “worked”, it was as an adult, not when she was a child. 🤷🏼‍♀️

[JoanArc]

5 hours ago, Absolom said:

There is no way Jill worked 2000 hours a year on the show.  That's close to full time hours.

She....raised at least 3 kids and cared for a dozen more. She worked that many hours, easy.

[Absolom]

30 minutes ago, JoanArc said:

She....raised at least 3 kids and cared for a dozen more. She worked that many hours, easy.

Skipping the phrase on the show.  We were discussing how much she should have been or was paid from the TLC earnings.  Rearing her parents' children is yet another matter for Jill to bring up with her parents.

[Growsonwalls]

They went out to let Israel see the NASA space station. I love Izzy. He seems like such a smart, serious, nice little boy. 

[andromeda331]

9 hours ago, MargeGunderson said:

Agreed that it’s Derrick’s right not to be transparent about their financial situation, but considering how much of it he has voluntarily put out there for the public to consume it’s disingenuous for him to think no one will ask questions about it. Especially since he hasn’t been shy about asking people to donate to support their missionary activities and also the year he spent getting some sort of certificate from his church. Why asking people to fund these sort of things is okay but taking out a loan is horrible is totally perplexing to me. 

Yes, they asked for donations for the missionaries. Even though they were getting money from TLC and living in a house they weren't paying for by JB wouldn't explain to anyone what the donations went to. During that time they were flying back and forth a lot of the time. Derick claimed anyone unhappy would get a refund but didn't and he still never explained where any of the donations went too.  Then went onto the class for a useless certificate at the church I forget the price but the class wasn't cheap. 

Edited February 5, 2021 by andromeda331

[floridamom]

Derick's useless church certificate cost $12,000.

[Absolom]

2 hours ago, floridamom said:

Derick's useless church certificate cost $12,000.

Which he was trying to get other people to pay for him to do. 

[BigBingerBro]

[Normades]

16 hours ago, GeeGolly said:

I wouldn't be surprised if Derick and Jill got around $300,000 out of JB. Maybe even $500,000. $300,000 would be $30,000 a year over 10 years. And while I agree Jill didn't work full-time during that time, saying its minimum wage is just a way for Derick to continue to make himself and Jill victims and JB an asshole. 

Making JimBoob look like an asshole is like shooting fish in a barrel. 

[Tikichick]

If Derrick is open to the idea, legal work involving forensic accounting can be very lucrative, as well as interesting and rewarding to those with an aptitude and an interest.  A lawyer with an accounting background, let alone even a bachelor's degree, has a bit of a leg up in that area, as he could charge a better rate than attorneys who have to retain the services of an accountant to even do preliminary investigative work in a case.  Derrick might not have the accounting expertise to dig into very large and complex cases without the services of more educated accountants, but an attorney who can suss out a lot of the preliminaries without the client needing to foot the bill for a very expensive expert immediately is a valuable commodity.    

Most attorneys don't have the accounting background.   Many attorneys don't enjoy these types of cases because they find the process tedious, even if the overarching scope of the case involves more of the satisfying litigation and championing for the little guy who's been done wrong.  If Derrick pursued accounting and actually doesn't find accounting itself tedious he could pursue this aspect of the law, either with an eye to helping victims via the accounting and flashier litigation, or he could choose this arena and decide he enjoys the investigation and research aspect and manage to push most of his cases over the finish line along that route and trying to avoid his clients having to go to trial.  

Edited February 5, 2021 by Tikichick

[Tikichick]

1 hour ago, BigBingerBro said:

Not only are their boys dressing better, but I can't help but notice that even in this circumstance Derrick is actually dressed better than what we've seem sometimes in the past.   Here we have a situation where I could overlook his clothes looking like he had slept in them and not only are they not rumpled, the t-shirt clearly looks like it just was taken from the package. 

Hasn't she posted photos in years past where Derrick's shirt is all rumpled and stained, even when they're out and about?  The recent pics of the boys all show them looking much more pulled together as well.   Something has shifted seismically in that home. 

[doodlebug]

17 minutes ago, Tikichick said:

If Derrick is open to the idea, legal work involving forensic accounting can be very lucrative, as well as interesting and rewarding to those with an aptitude and an interest.  A lawyer with an accounting background, let alone even a bachelor's degree, has a bit of a leg up in that area, as he could charge a better rate than attorneys who have to retain the services of an accountant to even do preliminary investigative work in a case.  Derrick might not have the accounting expertise to dig into very large and complex cases without the services of more educated accountants, but an attorney who can suss out a lot of the preliminaries without the client needing to foot the bill for a very expensive expert immediately is a valuable commodity.    

Most attorneys don't have the accounting background.   Many attorneys don't enjoy these types of cases because they find the process tedious, even if the overarching scope of the case involves more of the satisfying litigation and championing for the little guy who's been done wrong.  If Derrick pursued accounting and actually doesn't find accounting itself tedious he could pursue this aspect of the law, either with an eye to helping victims via the accounting and flashier litigation, or he could choose this arena and decide he enjoys the investigation and research aspect and manage to push most of his cases over the finish line along that route and trying to avoid his clients having to go to trial.  

Alas, I don't think Derick is interested in putting his accounting degree to work.  He's said a couple of times that, as an attorney, he wants to represent those whose rights are being threatened.  Of course, his definition of who those people might be is a little different from mine.  I have a feeling he is looking to work at FRC or some likeminded conservative Christian outfit with political goals such as outlawing gay marriage and legal abortion. 

Edited February 5, 2021 by doodlebug

[Tikichick]

34 minutes ago, doodlebug said:

Alas, I don't think Derick is interested in putting his accounting degree to work.  He's said a couple of times that, as an attorney, he wants to represent those whose rights are being threatened.  Of course, his definition of who those people might be is a little different from mine.  I have a feeling he is looking to work at FRC or some likeminded conservative Christian outfit with political goals such as outlawing gay marriage and legal abortion. 

I've read those comments here before.   Working in the legal arena for quite a few years now around a lot of lawyers I know that plenty of them went into law with different plans in mind than the type of law they ended up specializing in.  Plenty fully admit that they either had very little understanding of how much wider the practice of law stretched than they originally imagined.  Others tell me that over the course of law school they learned that they either weren't suited or didn't actually like the type of law they had expectations of practicing when beginning law school.  It takes something particular to be the courtroom litigator we imagine from onscreen.   Some find they are better suited to be the details, research, strategy cog in a pipeline because they don't shine in a courtroom.   Some find a passion for things like working to protect children on all sides of a foster care situation.   Some love tort law and the intricacies of contracts, etc.  Some actually like family law and working to help people navigate the process of divorce.   

A lot changes over the course of law school and interning and clerking.   Obviously I have no idea what Derrick's situation may or may not be.

[JoanArc]

13 hours ago, Absolom said:

Skipping the phrase on the show.  We were discussing how much she should have been or was paid from the TLC earnings.  Rearing her parents' children is yet another matter for Jill to bring up with her parents.

Pardon me for contributing to the discussion.

[Nysha]

On 2/4/2021 at 6:44 AM, Fosca said:

He just needs to find a place where the presence of haters will be a badge of honor.  I'm sure there are plenty out there, and I'm sure he'd rather work for a place like that anyway.

There's always Josh's old job.

[skatelady]

4 hours ago, BigBingerBro said:

Whoa. Whoa. WHOA. Is this t-shirt IRONED??? 

[Dehumidifier]

23 minutes ago, skatelady said:

Whoa. Whoa. WHOA. Is this t-shirt IRONED??? 

New from the package.

[Normades]

1 hour ago, Dehumidifier said:

New from the package.

That was my first thought, too. 

[Barb23]

On 1/21/2021 at 7:46 PM, BigBingerBro said:

She should have gone with a lighter color or anything else to help the coloring mishaps. 

Maybe John David was unavailable to do them. (I typed John "Boy" at first and had to fix it.)

[QuinnInND]

https://www.instagram.com/p/CK7SponggBq/?igshid=1i9r44hmcofaa

[louannems]

On 2/4/2021 at 1:39 PM, Quof said:

I expect the "minimum wage" means "if she were paid 24/7 for the years she was on television. 

Except that the book the Duggar girls "wrote" said they were filmed 2 to 3 hours a day for 2 to 3 days a week.  So not much of their real life at all, just carefully planned outings and activities for the show.

Edited February 6, 2021 by louannems

[drafan]

2 hours ago, QuinnInND said:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CK7SponggBq/?igshid=1i9r44hmcofaa

He's playing with really nice Melissa & Doug wooden toys.

((Sam is adorable...I just love his little squishable face.))

[Twopper]

1 hour ago, louannems said:

Except that the book the Duggar girls "wrote" said they were filmed 2 to 3 hours a day for 2 to 3 days a week.  So not much of their real life at all, just carefully planned outings and activities for the show.

it can easily take most of a day to film those 2-3 hours depending on location and probably re-takes, especially when there is a small army of children.   There's a lot of stand around and wait while camera  get adjusted. 

 

8 hours ago, Tikichick said:

A lot changes over the course of law school and interning and clerking.   Obviously I have no idea what Derrick's situation may or may not be.

I think if he wants to use his accounting background, then he has a little bit of an advantage if he works for a firm.   a lot of run-of -the mill work involves some degree of accounting knowledge.   It is a definite plus if you go into solo practice.  I started out with minor in accounting, did some tax work which involved reading a lot of  court cases which led me to law school.   I then found out I would rather write appellate briefs.  It will be interesting to see where he ends up.   I am not too sure his family connections are a plus, even in ultra-conservative circles.

[emmawoodhouse]

10 hours ago, Tikichick said:

I've read those comments here before.   Working in the legal arena for quite a few years now around a lot of lawyers I know that plenty of them went into law with different plans in mind than the type of law they ended up specializing in.  Plenty fully admit that they either had very little understanding of how much wider the practice of law stretched than they originally imagined.  Others tell me that over the course of law school they learned that they either weren't suited or didn't actually like the type of law they had expectations of practicing when beginning law school.  It takes something particular to be the courtroom litigator we imagine from onscreen.   Some find they are better suited to be the details, research, strategy cog in a pipeline because they don't shine in a courtroom.   Some find a passion for things like working to protect children on all sides of a foster care situation.   Some love tort law and the intricacies of contracts, etc.  Some actually like family law and working to help people navigate the process of divorce.   

A lot changes over the course of law school and interning and clerking.   Obviously I have no idea what Derrick's situation may or may not be.

He stated his desire to work for the voiceless fairly recently, easily just a couple of months ago. He didn't call his clients voiceless, I can't remember the branch of law that would represent. Oops! 😁