How is Pittsburgh Law Market (lawyer, job market, law school)

[Los_Dan]

Am a high schooler considering law, am really strong in both math and science, and hear of lawyers who are good at these two subjects, but is it worth it in the market??? I had a teacher who couldn't find a job as a lawyer now he is a teacher. Or should I stick to health care route because it is more clear. ??? Am interested in health care as well.

[robrobrob]

The nice thing about law is that you don't have to pick a specific major in college. If law or med school are options you are considering, I would double major in Biology and something that requires a great deal of writing. That way you have both options when you get out of college.

I would do med school right out of college. Law school isn't cheap these days. So, if you would work a few years to make sure that is what you want to do. I also think that you are better prepared for law school if you have been in the real world for a couple of years.

[gg]

I would consider majoring in Engineering. If you have an Engineering degree and then move onto Law it will put you in a position to be a Patent Attorney. They make a lot of money. Anyway, Engineering is a strong degree before Law. Worth a look.

[Stijl Council]

Originally Posted by Los_Dan

Am a high schooler considering law, am really strong in both math and science, and hear of lawyers who are good at these two subjects, but is it worth it in the market??? I had a teacher who couldn't find a job as a lawyer now he is a teacher. Or should I stick to health care route because it is more clear. ??? Am interested in health care as well.

I'm not a Pittsburgh lawyer but I have friends who are, and there more lawyers than you can shake a stick at in my immediate family . (When we all get together the dinner table discussions are usually...very heated.)

A few considerations:

• I don't know that Pittsburgh's law market is unusually bad (I'd guess it's better than a lot of places, actually), but the market for attorneys nationwide is not good and it's unlikely to get better anytime soon, because there are systemic reasons why hiring is down.
• I wouldn't advise anyone I was close to to go to law school unless 1.) they'd spent a year or so working in a law firm/court/someplace that does hands-on legal stuff, so they know what they're getting into and know they want to practice law, not just go to law school because it's the thing smart people do after college when they're not sure about next steps; 2.) they get into either a T14 law school or the very best law school in the area where they want to practice; and 3.) they can do it without assuming more debt than they'll be able to pay off in five to ten years even if they end up working for a smaller firm after graduation. #1 tends to either make people really enthusiastic about law or dissuade them entirely.
• Health care has its own issues--debt being primary among them, oversupply in some places, burnout. Again, really try to know what you're getting into. It's probably a more stable bet than law, though.
• If you do think you want to go to law school, don't do the whole pre-law thing in college. You don't need it, since there's no required curriculum to get into law school. Law schools want good thinkers who can write and who do well on the LSAT. A science degree can actually serve you very well; it would make going into patent/IP law or health law more of a possibility, and it'd set you apart a bit from the numerous history/philosophy/poli sci folks who apply.

[cheezit34141988]

Go get your MR degree and become a trophy husband. Thats what I should have done...hindsight is 20/20.

[Aqua Teen Carl]

Just anecdotal evidence here, but I've had a few buddies have a really hard time getting a job out of law school. The ones that do have a job knew someone, so start networking early.

[Burghgirl17]

If you are currently a high school, you are at least 8 years away from entering the legal field (at least 1 year of high school, 4 years of college, 3 years of law school). A lot can change in 8 years. The legal market in Pittsburgh is over saturated with lawyers. The Marcellus Shale boom has helped, but it is still slim pickings for jobs.

I would definitely advise you to try to get an internship or some other exposure to the legal field while in college. Practicing law is nothing like you think it is - I thought that Mock Trial was what lawyers did every day. While I ended up actually being a litigator, trying cases is a very small percentage of what I do. There are a lot of different kinds of law - some may be a better fit to your skills than others. For instance, I couldn't do title work (an example of an area of work that has popped up with the Marcellus Shale) - tracing back deeds for several hundred years and trying to decipher them is my idea of hell. But I love litigating - which involves a lot of writing and some creative thinking.

No matter what, you will be well served by strengthening your writing and logic skills as much as possible. My high school did a terrible job when it came to writing. I had a few great profs in undergrad that really helped me improve those skills.

Echo whoever said not to bother with pre-law type programs, unless it is something that will get you exposure to the real world practice of law. Major in what interests you - you don't need any particular degree or major to get into law school. No need to pigeon hole yourself.

Another thing to think about is that your world will really change when you go to college. You will discover new interests, talents and people. Go in with an open mind, don't try to set yourself on a rigid path right now (well, medical school does require somewhat rigid of a path- Organic Chemistry separates the real pre-med students from the communications majors that used to be pre-med until they took OChem.).

Do you or your family know any attorneys? See if you can shadow them for a day. We have a couple students every summer who know someone at our firm and come down for a day to see what we do.

Good luck!

[BrianTH]

You are so far from entering the job market, or even applying to law school, that there isn't much you need to decide right now, and any information we gave you could well be obsolete by the time you are making a crucial decision. But here are a few things I think are worth keeping in mind.

First, people who major in Physics or Math tend to do well on the LSAT (also Economics and Philosophy/Theology):

LSAT Scores of Economics Majors: The 2008-2009 Class Update by Michael Nieswiadomy :: SSRN

Some of that may just be because people who already have the mental skills to do well on the LSAT are also drawn to such majors, but there could be a mental training aspect as well.

On the other hand, GPA matters a lot in law school admissions, and they don't always account as much as you might think they should for the differences in grading curves between different majors.

Finally, this bulletin lays out the current requirements for taking the Patent Bar:

http://patbar.com/pdf/grb.pdf

You can qualify with a Bachelor's in a number of different fields. Interestingly, you can also qualify with certain numbers of course hours in various fields (I happen to be qualified due to the number of course hours I have in Physics, even though I didn't end up getting a Physics degree). Note that math does NOT count.

[Copanut]

Get a job as a PAT bus driver, most people think they are millionaires.

[robrobrob]

Originally Posted by Copanut

Get a job as a PAT bus driver, most people think they are millionaires.

A PAT bus driver has a chance to make 100,000 with overtime. An assitant district attorney has zero chance to make a 100,000. Starting salaries in the DA's and the Public Defender's Office are under 40,000. So, realistically, pick law because you like not because it pays well. It is possible to make a ton of money practicing law but it is also possible that you could be making far less than a bus driver.