Law School Bubble

[DreamingSpires]

Originally Posted by getmeoutofhere

I've acknowledged what you are saying. I even said the same thing.

I don't expect to be making $160K a year the instant I leave law school.

I am going in knowing exactly what the job market looks like.

Unless you are in the top 10%, go to aT14, or are well-connected, you will be lucky to be making 35K.

[DreamingSpires]

Originally Posted by Randomstudent

I am not sure how many we received (I am only lowly receptionist/administrative assistant), but we have only hired one attorney recently. They had worked as an attorney previously and already had experience with the type of law our office does...and that was a replacement for a resignation we had. We have been in a hiring freeze for the past two years and we can only replace needed positions so chances are somewhat grim for new applicants...We would love people to work for us for free though.

This sounds very familiar. Not much has changed in 25 years!

[Drover]

Originally Posted by getmeoutofhere

I love how everyone wants to take a post NOT ABOUT JOB OPPORTUNITIES and try and make it about that.

That post was about the claim that top grads from top schools do PI work.

The link I posted refers to all public interest work, not just Legal Aid. And very, very few grads from top schools go into it

Very few grads from any schools go into it -- it's a small sector of the legal industry. Even schools reputed to have a particular emphasis on public interest like Northeastern only place around 10-15% of its graduates in PI. So what's your point? The data I've found suggests graduates from top schools are not particularly more or less inclined to go into PI than the general pool of law school graduates.

[JL]

Originally Posted by sky1949

"PI" generally refers to Personal Injury work. It is very well paying. That's why there is so much pressure for tort deform.

Ambulance chasers?

[JMadison]

Originally Posted by retired partner

Interesting article on the law school bubble.

I don't understand why applications to law school continue to increase as the tuition goes higher but opportunities for graduates are declining and will not recover after the recession. Bottom line, there is a massive oversupply of lawyers, law students and law schools.

The Legal Dollar: Buying A Law Degree At The Height Of The Bubble

Well, my best guess is that if you are an out of work Bachelor degree'ed person you have two or three choices for an advanced degree in a bid for more income.

1)MBA - But that leads back into the Employer/Employee world.

2) Medicine - But you need pre-med

3) Law - Will accept any undergrad... and "Princeton Law Review" says... "Lawyers are among the highest paid of all professionals"... so I think this is how a lot of people end up at the door of law school. Looks like a respectable way to print money...

[domergurl]

i've found this website incredibly useful for breaking news ... ok, it's gossip ... in the world of the law:

Above the Law - A Legal Tabloid - News, Gossip, and Colorful Commentary on Law Firms and the Legal Profession

i understand why people are attempting to get into law school now. They can defer any student loans they may have now, but they will be incurring more debt on a hope and a prayer that this recession ends.

When i worked for a big nasty NY firm in the 90's, we couldn't hire associates fast enough and unless you really hacked a partner off, you were guaranteed an offer during your second summer. now they aren't even making offers to summer associates, or the offers they are making, the associates can't start right away, deferring employment.