She's never quite been famous for her superior acting abilities and now Katie Holmes is poised to take her career in an entirely new direction.

Reports are running rampant that Tom Cruise's ex-wife has put acting on hold entirely and has enrolled in law school.  As in, she wants to practice law.

Why? According to "sources," Holmes wants to make a better life for her daughter, Suri, and thinks that she'll be a better role model as a lawyer than as a starlet who's always being chased by the paparazzi. (Um, Katie? Methinks that even as a law student they're gonna be following you around town.)

“Katie started acting when she was a teenager, and she’s grown tired of that world,” a source told the National Enquirer.

“She expressed a keen in­terest in law while splitting from Tom Cruise, and now that the divorce is finalized, she has the time, the money and the opportunity to go to school."

Has Holmes even gotten an undergrad education? We know that she was accepted to Ivy League school Columbia University when she graduated from high school back in the 90s but she defferred enrollment to play Joey Potter when "Dawson's Creek" got picked up. So who even knows whether she ever got her degree.

One thing we do know is that her dad, Martin, is a divorce attorney back in her home town of Toledo, Ohio, so maybe a career in law is something she's long aspired to. Wouldn't it be easier at this point though to just play a D.A. on "Law & Order?" Just sayin'...