Law School Grads Face Tougher Economic Times

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First of all, Charles of SC makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Ambulance chasing has been a lucrative business since the 1970s and is by no means a recent phenomenon. Calling law school "the cheeziest thing you can do" also adds nothing to the debate. Finally making a political statement in this very apolitical topic is telling of the dismal educational system in South Carolina. Irrationally and unfairly blaming the law school problem on "Barry Obama and his pals in Congress" is just plain silly.
Plus, do you know anything about the student loan industry? Law students have no choice but to pay private lenders like Sallie Mae high interest to pay for ridiculously high tuition rates. There is virtually no competition in the educational lending industry. So, rates are high. The government may not be able to do anything about the high tuition, but it certainly can give the private lender a run for its money. Now we can opt to get a portion of our loans from the federal government for a lower interest, but still have take a heavy portion from Sallie Mae; with an interest rate of nearly 9%! Think about what the Sallie Mae lobby in Congress had to do to give us that raw deal.
Tony of CT is right. I graduated with a degree in Astrophysics in 2009 (GPA 3.3) thinking that an engineering job or potentially a job with a defense contractor (Charles are you listening?) would be waiting for me. After a 100% failure rate searching for a job, I too thought Intellectual Property Law was a decent prospect. However, I'm seeing that all the available jobs are being swept up by students (some of them in the bottom 20% of my class) that have broad connections through family and friends. I simply don't have that. Yet, I hear the same thing happens with almost every type of professional job out there nowadays.
Just to add a little more to Tony's point; I strongly believe that the rapid outsourcing of jobs throughout the 2000s has everything to do with this. Almost half the I.P. students at my school are foreign and will go back to India and China where they will do patent filings and trademark and copyright registrations in the U.S.; something foreign companies used to hire U.S. firms to do. Another factor is, some of these students get grants from their own governments to get educated in the U.S. so they don't have the exorbitant loans that most U.S. nationals have.
I found that my only option after law school is to roll the dice, start drumming up business on my own, and see how it turns out. I've already passed the patent bar exam and am filing patents for some engineer friends of mine. I'll pass around business cards and focus solely on dealing with the USPTO to limit exposure to malpractice. I anticipate a VERY hard struggle for the first few years, especially when my $3000/mo. loan payments are due. But, at least I'll be satisfied with the risk and will have the choice of turning down people like Charles of SC if I want.

Jon of NH 12:19PM August 17, 2011

Thank you for posting this article. As a graduating engineering student with abysmal job prospects, I've begun to seriously consider alternate career paths. An M.S. in engineering from a good tier 1 school and a 3.9 GPA hasn't impressed the hudrends of potential employers I sent my resume to, and I've had to get pretty creative.
Recently, I began to ask "why not intellectual property law"? It can make full use of my unusually broad background in science and engineering, provide a strong and profitable career path, and it allows me to find work in heavy metro areas like NYC - where I've wanted to live for a while, but where traditional engineering jobs are scarce (until you get at least 20 miles out).
Mostly, though, I began to consider law because it seemed like a sure thing - unlike the science & engineering fields. Since the mid-90's, the National Science Foundation (NSF) has been pushing for a surplus of science & engineering graduates, which has had the effect of diluting their earnings power due to a poor supply/demand balance. What I did not expect is that law students were facing similar surpluses that created such difficulty finding a job.
My question now is this: if engineering and law are now so uncertain in terms of job prospects, and an MBA is no longer a sure thing either... then what options do we have? History? Philosophy? From an investment perspective, engineering, law, and business are still among the most rewarding career paths around. For now, we probably just have to live with the reality that only the top few percent of all graduates, and those with terrific network connections, will be rewarded by their efforts. The rest of us will bumble along, maybe moving back in with our parents waiting for an opportunity to knock on the door.
Unfortunately, law does not appear to be as rewarding as it may have been in the past. Neither does engineering, and the holy MBA has come under big scrutiny lately. So what options do we have?

tony of CT 4:22PM March 12, 2011

You can spend $100,000 on a house that you may not keep forever or an education that will last until you die. The bottom line is people should know what they want in life. If it is money, research ways to earn it. If it is to become a lawyer, doctor, teacher, construction worker, truck driver, etc...go for it and be happy!

Circle City News of IN 3:41PM May 07, 2010

I've long thought that the surplus of lawyers is the cause of America's frivilous lawsuits...Lots of JD's without real work to do resort to chasing ambulances and creating lawsuits virtually out of thin air. Reasonable?
Lots of Universities, perpetuate this myth that law school and med school are the only paths to legitimacy. It's utter nonsense, but I remember too many people as undergrads who wouldn't consider anything else. It's pretty sad.
Law school's just about the cheeziest thing you can do and nowhere worth the money. The average attorney earns about 85 k a year. When you divide that by the hours put in, their salaries aren't that great at all. From a financial standpoint, it's just not worth it, which is why the schools are filled with do-gooders like Mr. Parmar who are there for environmental/human rights things and never stop to do the math.
Once Barry Obama and his pals in Congress take over the student loan industry, you can expect this kind of insanity to get even worse.

charlesb of SC 12:38PM May 05, 2010

I was accepted on full scholarhip to a tier 1 (top 20) law school. I attended my first semester, but unfortunately fell very ill after the drop date and missed two months of school. The university was merciless; because I wasn't hospitalized the entire time (like a law student can afford that?!) they refused to tape my classes or have someone take notes for me. This was totally against the warm fuzzy recruiter telling me that if I needed to miss a class for "any reason" then the school would provide the aforementioned resources.
I was faced with continuing on with abysmal grades and probationary status or giving up the career I had worked toward since high school. I chose the latter. I won't fool you with rose-colored glasses; I work just as many hours as a lawyer for much lower pay in marketing. But I also am not forced to choose between my husband and my job, I was given as much time off as needed when I had a cancer scare, and I have great job security and benefits. My husband and I have bought a brand new sports car, three bedroom house, and live very comfortably in DC in our mid-20's.
Meanwhile my best friend from law school, who is now the valedictorian of his class and has amazing credentials, can't find a job. He has six month to get hired before he runs out of money and has to move back home with his parents. A full 70% of my would-be graduating class is currently without job prospects.
The morals of my long-winded story? 1) Law school is not a guarantee of a high-paying salary or even ANY salary.
2) The market is flooded with law students and competition is fierce. The schools only court you long enough to take advantage of your LSAT scores and then you become a cog in their system. Another girl I knew requested a semester off to be with her terminally ill mother in England. The school refused, telling her that the "cancer center at the university hospital is really nice."
3) You can find happiness doing a lot of things you never saw yourself doing. While I am getting ready to go back to school for a new career path, it's a lot easier to do it with no debt than with three years of law school on my back.
If you're considering law school, I suggest you talk to a 1L, graduating 3L, and someone who has been in the field around five years. It's a very different story than the one they spin in the Princeton Review.

Disillusioned Drop-out of VA 10:48AM April 26, 2010

I do not want to sound like a motivational speaker, however, after reading these posts I feel it is my duty. Law School is a tremendous oppurtunity and like everything in life it is what you make of it. Nothing in life is given to you, so take your education and start breaking down doors. We share this world with over 6 billion individuals and Trillions of dollars passing hands each month. Go grab of a piece of the action. It is out there. Hang in there and stay positive, our problems are very small in comparision to individuals looking for their next meal.

Matt of MI 2:07PM April 25, 2010

Is it completely the economy's fault? Maybe if we had say, 75 instead of 200 law schools, this country would not have so many law school graduates competing for jobs. There are too many lawyers. If you can't get in to a decent law program in the first place, you probably shouldn't be going to law school.
By the way, I'm a 3L at a Tier 1 law school.

Annoyed 3L of FL 5:04PM April 24, 2010

For all those folks that are saying they can't find jobs, did you go straight to law school or did you work between undergrad and JD? Also, do any of you have other degrees besides the JD and the BS/BA? I have and MBA and I've been working for the past 3 years, and I have an MBA already. I don't really have any debt (was on scholarship for undergrad and grad) so I'm not as concerned with the loans, plus I've saved up and applied and gotten several outside scholarships.

1L in the Fall in GA of PA 8:38PM April 23, 2010

School has an open exam policy, where only the people who cheat do well grade wise. Everyone honest is unemployable due to low grades.

$200,000 debt and NO job prospects. of OH 3:58PM April 23, 2010

I was admitted to a then top 15 law school (UT Austin) which, at the time, was one of the best bargains around. I hated my first year, clerked over the summer, hated that, and then quit. If I had gone to any other school, my first year loans alone would have made me think even harder about quitting (even though I hated clerking). Luckily, I had only 6K in debt and was able to pursue another career.
I had planned to go to law school since I was a junior in high school. I scored exremely well on the LSAT. Like any other profession, the day-to-day realities of being a lawyer are a far cry from most people's expectations. I would highly recommend anyone considering a legal career find a way to get exposed to it long before they saddle themselves with a mountain of debt.

John of TX 1:25PM April 23, 2010