It's a Terrible Time to Go To Law School
You have to be crazy to go to law school nowadays. Consider these statistics:
- Number of law students who graduate annually: 45,000
- Decrease in the size of the legal profession since 2007: 7.8%
- Typical starting salary, if you can actually get a job at a law firm: $40,000+
- Average law school debt: $100,000
- Increase in the number of students taking the LSAT since 2007: 20.5%
- Increase in the number of law schools in the last ten years: 9%
Top 10 occupations where there are job openings now:
- Medical, dental, and public health
- Management, administration, clerical, and office services
- Engineering and architecture
- Trades and labor
- Accounting budget and finance
- Biological sciences
- Procurement and purchasing agent
- Social science, psychology, and welfare
- Information technology
- Safety, health, and physical and resource protection
Typical jobs that law grads wind up in:
- Legislative staffers
- Regulatory policy-makers
- Arbitrators
- Mediators
- Not-for-profit organizations
- Consulting firms
- Waiters and waitresses
Larry, you frequently have good insights. In this case, I think you missed the most important thing about being a lawyer- it is fun! I have been practicing for almost 35 years. Yes it is hard work, but I enjoy most of what I do. I love fighting the IRS, State Taxing authorities and helping my clients have more successful businesses.
The real problem is the people that go to law school for the "money" or prestige. You are right that they should choose a different path.
Ron Cappuccio
Nothing I would call a bright outlook...
Greetings from Vienna, Europe.
I think, however, that the number of applications to law school as dropped. People are beginning to recognize the difficult of getting a job after law school. Still, you have to wonder about two things: (1) if the number of applications decreased, surely that means less competition if you want to get into a law school; and (2) the economy HAS to be better in three years, right? RIGHT??