This is very true. If you are in the bottom 50% of pretty much any law school other than Harvard or Yale, good luck finding a legal job. If you are in the bottom 75% of most law schools, good luck finding a job. And if you are in any % of lower-tier law schools, good luck finding a job. There are a glut of law schools and the country just doesn’t need as many lawyers as law schools produce. Law schools know this but it doesn’t stop them from suckering kids in with the promise of a six figure salary and being set for life once they graduate. Its a crime and a fraud what law schools do to a lot of gullible students. But then again, its a crime and a fraud what most universities do to most kids. The whole system — undergraduate, graduate, law school, everything — is rotten to the core.
Last I heard all you have to do is to pass a state bar exam and have some kind of formal training.
Would you like to subpoena some fries with that?
A lot of colleges (including law schools) have free tuition for the children of faculty.
This is a little known benefit of teaching at the college level along with tenure.
I have four children and I have estimated this one benefit alone is worth about an easy million for just their undergraduate degrees. And this is a top notch private college by the way
Waste? No more than any other Doctoral Degree and less than most.
All this depends on the philosophy that making a lot of money is the only reason to enter a career. Maybe some people would rather be a lawyer than a plumber and can’t get into or afford Harvard or Columbia. Going skiing is a waste of money too, except some people like to go skiing.
The whole thing hinges on the definition of “good” law career.
I have a friend who graduated five years ago from a state university law school in the top half (barely) of his class. He got picked up as an associate and earned $40K a year, which isn’t a bad salary for where he lives. After he saw that he wasn’t going to make junior partner any time soon, he and two friends formed their own firm. They aggressively marketed their firm and are doing well. Mostly corporate work for smaller companies. He says he is going to make over $100K this year.
If you define a “good” law career as moving up the ladder of one of the big firms in New York, Washington, Chicago or Los Angeles, then they are right, pickings are slim. But if you are an entrepreneurial minded individual, then you can still do well in law.
Interesting article. Several friends of mine from college went on to law school. The results have been mixed. One went to a very small (tier iv) school but is doing quite well in her legal niche - trademark and intellectual property. But I also have a friend who graduated from another smallish law school who could not get hired on by a decent firm and is currently working a non-legal job for less than 30K a year. In retrospect, he probably could have done better for himself if he’d just gone the paralegal route. Less debt, anyway.
I did a deal a few years back
A big one in my little universe
50k in contract work for the firm I hired
One of the big 5 in Nashville.....250 member firm
We were in one of their conference rooms working late on my deal doing numbers and negotiating points with seller etc....running up legal and CPA tabs
One lawyer was Georgetown law another Vandy and another Virginia or Tulane
What passes for southern Ivy League
I was teasing them about how smart they all were considering I was lowly Ole Miss BA who did take the LSAT in 1979
A young associate piped in he was university of Memphis school of law and he got paid same as they did until any of them made full partner
So there you are....be at the top and of your class and do moot court and law review and you’ll get picked up regardless
If u go to a name school and excel you’ll be the cream but otherwise the schools matter less
Go to Harvard and lead class and Cravath Swain and Moore will pick you up fresh at 200-250 a year and expect you to bill 90 hours a week
Enjoy that
My daughter is in #26. It seems to be shaping her head in ways I’m proud of.
There used to be a lot of public sector law jobs, but not anymore. Most are contracted out. Lawyers with a lot of loans would work in the public sector for a certain number of years, then their loans were forgiven (thanks to us taxpayers). At that point, they had the experience and financial stability to find a job paying a lot more in the private sector. That stepping stone has is largely gone.
A field where there are some legal jobs available is in the natural gas/shale extraction energy division. Lawyers can find work researching property titles for land that’s being leased. This is a portable position because you don’t have to be licensed in the state in which you are doing the research. Pays a decent per diem rate plus travel expenses to the county courthouses where the information is found.
Ladies and gentlemen, can you find it in your hearts to send $5, $10 or $6,000,000 to THE SEND A LAWYER TO PLUMBER SCHOOL FOUNDATION? Won’t you please help save another good kid from a life of bickering and avarice? In law school, they learn how to stir up the s**t. At plumber school, they learn how to make the s**t go away.
I agree with a lot of this article, but as a firm lawyer, here’s how I’ve seen it play out over the years:
If you’re from a top 10 law school, you’re overwhelmingly likely to get a good job. You may not get the job you want, but you’ll get a good job. Financially, going to law school will be worthwhile.
If you’re in the top 50% of your class from another top tier law school, you’re also going to get a good job. It may take a little time, but you’ll get a job that made going to law school worthwhile.
Other than that, if you’re not in the top 10% of your class, you really shouldn’t bother to go to law school. Your job will likely not pay enough to make the investment worthwhile. You’ll be in debt up to your eyeballs with a job that doesn’t pay appreciably more than a non-lawyer job. If you have an overwhelming desire to work in a law firm (why???) save the money, become a paralegal.
A friend of mine who is a law professor just shakes his head at the number of lawyers we churn out in this country. We have too many law schools making too many promises that won’t pan out.
So this babe had a SERIOUS BLOG about how terrible it was to go to law school.
...and guess what happened: BIG LAW SCHOOL bought the blog from her, and then promptly SHUT IT DOWN. But she got the word out. Graduate in the top 25% of the top 10% of law schools...and you will land that “partnership-track” job. Not be in that (very small) class...don’t bother - learn how to use a 1/2” ratchet.
The same thing is occurring with MBA’s. Go to a top 10 school and you are virtually guaranteed a high paying job with a prestigious company or investment firm. Do well in a top 10-20 school and you may be placed with a mid sized company or bank. Beyond the top 20 schools, you’ll be competing with undergraduates and the salary premium, if any, will not justify the investment.
Wake Forest University last year announced it was ending its full time MBA program. Virginia Tech ended its full time MBA program in 2013. Other second and third tier schools are considering dropping their full time MBA programs.
Ultimately market forces work. It will only be a matter of time before universities are shutting down law schools.