U.S. News has put out a bleak State of the (Law School Grad’s) Union today, and things aren’t looking very good:
With tuition at an all-time high, more and more lawyers worry about finding work that will enable them to repay their loans. The American Bar Association reports that from 2007 to 2008, average tuition rose 6 percent at private law schools, to $34,298, and 9 percent at in-state public schools, to $16,836. Add in living expenses and pricey books, and at least 80 percent of students now rely on student loans to fund their law education. [...] …the gap between reality and expectations may now be greater than ever: Jobs are no longer a sure thing, and loans are harder to pay back. Although the job market is improving, experts caution that law school hopefuls need to carefully weigh the costs and benefits of a law degree and, whether aiming for big law or Legal Aid, estimate their personal return on investment.
The ABA Journal also chips in with some grim news:
According to a separate “Tips and Stats” article, first-year associates at large law firms can expect to make $106,500 to $131,250, down 5.1 percent from last year. At midsize firms, associates can make between $71,500 and $100,750, and at small firms they make make $49,750 to $73,000.
To make matters even tougher, tuition at all law schools has been on a steady rise and, for some schools, is now scarily close to (or even surpasses) the $50,000 a year mark. With the majority of students relying on student loans to get them through law school, many are graduating with upwards of $150,000 in debt–and with scant job prospects to help them out. In many cases, says U.S. News, it’s important for the applicant to do a thorough evaluation of both their chances and their prospects after law school:
Students themselves are critical in establishing manageable debt levels. Many do not research the real economic costs and benefits of a law degree, says Prof. Herwig Schlunk of Vanderbilt University. “It’s kind of blindly accepted that education in general, and legal education in particular, is always worth the money,” says Schlunk. “[But] there’s a lot of kids who do go to law school who really have no business, at least not as an investment matter, in going.”
Being realistic about your career path is step No. 1. Success stories from the industry’s glory days tend to fuel law students’ assumptions that they will be able to get a high-paying job, says David Stern, CEO of Equal Justice Works, a nonprofit organization that promotes careers in public interest law. “In their mind’s eye, [law students are] thinking of hitting the lottery and getting one of these $160,000-a-year jobs, and it is a fiction,” he says. “By and large, it’s just like the lottery. You’re spending a huge amount of money in the hopes of hitting the jackpot, and there’s relatively small chances, and the chances have gotten a lot smaller.”
With news like these, it seems that the question “Is it a bad time to be in law school?” only has one three-letter answer. But all is not lost. Job prospects are improving, and the universe of (lesser paid, but still incredibly rewarding) public interest still needs legal warriors in its ranks. A BigLaw job may not be in your immediate future but, if you plan carefully before and during law school, manage your debt, and become informed both about the job prospects and the job possibilities available to you once you get your J.D., you’ll do a better job of surviving the tough legal job market.
TELL US: Do you think this is a bad time to be in law school? What should law students do to make themselves viable in this (and future) economies? Where are the jobs? Are you a current law student and, if so, how do you see your employment horizon and what are you doing to make yourself irresistible to employers?
