There’s no way around it, because no matter where you turn or how much you try to ignore it, the U.S. is seeing some tough economic times. Yet, despite the fact that job growth in many sectors is slow, law schools seem to be doing nothing less than ignoring this fact and hammering away at the idea that going to law school is a great idea.
Though the concept it sells is quite appealing, this may not be entirely true. Come to law school, and, despite the often-faced six-figure debt at the end of the road, don’t worry too much because you’ll be making plenty of money for the rest of your life to pay it off and live the American dream.
The reality is that the job market in this sector is vastly oversupplied. According to the Washington Monthly, there are about 45,000 graduates annually vying for less than 30,000 legal jobs. Those numbers are not too appealing, and yet law schools sell degrees to future juris doctors like hotcakes.
I tried being an attorney once. In high school I participated in a program called Youth in Government and opted to be defense counsel, arguing for a defendant in front of a mock Florida Supreme Court.
I remember spending countless hours at the local law library looking up cases relevant to my own, hunting down statutes that would help define my position and preparing a brief impervious to the scrutiny of those desk-pounding state attorneys. I also remember thinking to myself that this kind of work is awful and gee, someone would have to pay me a lot of money to do this day in and day out.
I recognize and acknowledge that this was most certainly much different from practicing real law, and that many people very much enjoy that type of work. I know plenty of law students, and I do get the sense from many of them they are satisfied with their hard work transforming into a practiced craft. However, I rarely see them jumping for joy at the thought of their next assignment. Mostly, I hear a lot of complaining about how heavy the books are and note how much more jaded their tone becomes as they wrestle another year of law school under their belt. The financial security that comes with having a law degree is a large, attractive motivator in deciding on whether or not to pursue a career in the legal field. Now, however, the debt taken on by pursuing said path is getting riskier every year.
But there is a silver lining. It is directed at the rest of us non-legal types. All this competition and pressure coming from law graduates descending upon the legal sector means competition for the incumbent employees whose very jobs are being vied for. That means driving down the costs of legal fees or getting better quality service than otherwise for the same price. This isn’t too appealing for the graduates, however, as they face tougher competition with potentially lower wages to fight over. Given the fact that they often start their careers with large amounts of debt, the situation again looks less appealing.
I remember hearing a law joke once that goes something like this: In law school, those who make A’s become professors, those who make B’s become judges and those who make C’s make a lot of money.
That punchline is apparently becoming less and less true for the many fresh JDs trying to break into job market every year.
Wesley Campbell is a fifth-year English major. His column appears on Wednesday.
