Law School?
 

Not for me. For a 20something who is receiving Law School acceptance and rejection letters currently. High 80th percentile on LSAT, good GPA at good undergrad school.

We have lawyers on the board. Is graduating with that kind of debt (almost $40K/yr. for in-state tuition and expenses at Univ. of WI, for example) a reasonable risk in today's job market?

For those who have considered Law School, what made you decide not to go?

Thanks,
Helen

I'm not a lawyer, and I don't play one on TV (although I am open to offers...) but I'll answer anyways.

Do Intellectual Property law and yes, it will be worth it.

What kind of lawyering is the person looking to do?

In the best of all possible worlds, it would advocating for refugees. I'm guessing you have to be a trust fund baby to do this kind of work.

But intellectual property law, Moonlighter. That might be intriguing.

And define "worth it." Do you mean time for return on investment, or sense of fulfillment while at least being able to service your debt if not ever really escape it?

I decided not to go because the part of law that appeals to me is the more theoretical/academic side of things and the odds of success in that area were way too low (and, so I am told more dependent on school attended than more professional work) for me to justify it. I suspect I'd enjoy law school much more than law work.

Either through online research or some phone calls, you can find out what the LSAT and GPA expectations of the various tier law schools you would consider are. But it sounds like you've already done that.

If a big firm salary is the goal, the career guidance office of any law school should be able to tell you if big firms actively recruit at their school.

Advocating for refugees? Does that mean filing asylum claims? You should find out where such work is typically done. DC? New York? Madison representing disgruntled Canadians? You should also find out, perhaps by calling an immigration office, how such people got started and how they get paid and how much it matters what law school they went to. There may be an ACLU angle to explore.

I don't know if there's an attorney's fee provision that pays you if you win. It may also be that the truly interesting claims are taken on pro bono by big firms, which may be a way of having one's cake and eating it, too. (She won't have a life working at a big firm, but she will have uneaten cake.)

Also, I believe some schools/loan programs have loan forgiveness programs that operate to the extent you are doing various noble and poorly paying things.

What are the chances of finding employment as a lawyer? What are the chances said pay from said employment will allow servicing the debt?

Minneapolis is one such place. The person we're discussing is currently working as a health care shepherd for Russian-speaking refugees.

Thank you very much for your suggestions, Strangler Lewis. Loan forgiveness is a new concept to me.

I know a law school grad who has passed the bar and not found work yet. It's been 2 years.

Personally, I'm with Dick the Butcher

It's worth it if it's what you want to do and you're willing to be flexible, consider alternate career pathways, and aren't afraid to be more persistent than you could possibly imagine would be necessary.

Refugee law (or possibly immigration law?) is not something that's going to be lucrative in the way the general public thinks a law career inevitably is. On the other hand, if you're going to law school on an assumption that you're going to work at Big Law and quickly pay off your debt with six-figure starting salaries - that is when you should NOT NOT NOT go to law school.

Careers still can be had. I ended up mostly where I wanted, but it took a Herculean effort. And I have to start doing it all over again in six months, because this is only a 2-year gig. But I should have a decent shot at continued federal employment and, while it's not Big Law, one can certainly make one's student loan payments on the federal salary.

I have noticed that the executive ranks of my company are full of non-practicing lawyers - should said person want to go "Corporate" it may be a leg up in that world as well.

I took out more in loans during my first year of law school than I did during my entire 4-year undergrad. While I am also more or less where I want to be professionally, financially is a different story (I fight Big Law, I didn't join them because I felt having a life outside work was important... plus the economy fracked up the starting salaries there anyway).

As far as choice of school goes, unless you're going into practice for yourself -- school matters. You could graduate in the bottom of your class at Stanford, and you'll ALWAYS have a job because a Stanford attorney is marketable to clients and recruiters, PERIOD.

Basically, I pay $400 in loans per month, every month until.... 2036. There is NO way out of these loans, unless I get permanently disabled or die. So it is a big decision that is not to be taken casually. You really have to want to be an attorney when you pop out on the other end!

This is what I've always assumed, EuroMeinke. A law degree never hurts. I'm happy to hear your experience tells you this is still true. It seems like common sense that law training can only help, even if you're not a practicing lawyer.

Ouch, Chernabog! Thanks for your post. It helps put things into focus for me.