I think it’s paternalistic to discourage students from going to law school. No one is really educated anymore without going to grad school. Anyone that graduates from law school is markedly more valuable in any endeavor than previously, to themselves and to the market.
There is no human endeavor that doesn’t need accountants, bankers and lawyers. Of course, there should be no federal grants for students to go to grad school either.
Probably true, but the issue is: How many? The US has 1.22 million lawyers while Japan has 23,119, yet they seem to function ok in business. If we adopted the British system of civil law where, if you sue someone and lose, you pay their legal fees plus your own, the demand for lawyers in the US would drop dramatically. If you're dumb enough to drive a car with a steaming cup of hot coffee between your legs, do we really need to subsidize the lawyer who wants to sue McDonald's because of your stupidity?
I had a fascinating conversation with a business associate of mine who immigrated from Asia some years ago and is now a U.S. citizen. He said the most basic human professions are medicine and engineering, and illustrated it by pointing out that in many countries of the world these are the ONLY two professional fields that exist for young people.