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Will law become lucrative again?

8 points by boppo1 ↗ HN
At the end of highschool in about 2010 I was pretty interested in becoming a lawyer. But all signs pointed to it being a terrible financial decision:

-law school grads I knew unemployed for years

-lots of debt, no way to pay it off unless you get into Big Law, need to be top 10 school

-highest rate of alcoholism (allegedly)

Too many law grads, not enough positions. Any sign this could change as the older generation phases out?

9 comments

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superchroma
Having retained the services of some and seen what lawyers charge, and having seen a firm's partner verbally abuse a woman working underneath him in front of myself and another client, I am honestly a little unsympathetic and irrationally hope that the entire collective field falls into a volcano.
tiahura
Only go to law school if you are a type A over achiever and expect to graduate in the top 25% of your class based on your LSAT.

Do not go if you are in the middle or below unless you have the option of going to a cheap State U. Even then, only go if type A over achiever.

Ask yourself, do I want to work 60+ hours a week and have to account for every 6 minutes of my time?

Plus, most firms aren’t inclined to hire older students. In their mind it shows a lack of focus.

rdtwo
$ per hour worked isn’t a good trade
boppo1
Can you elaborate?
rdtwo
If you work 60-80hrs a week but get paid 200k you are better off getting paid less total but getting more per hour
jeffreymmonson
BigLaw base salary, starting out of law school, in the US is around $180k. Covid and the Great Resignation have added upward pressure on attorney compensation, so even jr lawyers who switch firms can be looking at $100k signing bonuses and/or big increases in pay. Equity partners make lots of money. The flip is: if you don't get in to a big firm (or a nice clerkship), you've spent three years going in to debt for a degree that isn't really worth anything. There are some legitimately bad people who go in to law and there aren't as many exit options as some other career paths (founder, PM, consultant). Tldr; if it's what you really want to do and you can get in to a top firm (check this by looking at law school employment stats), it's lucrative. Otherwise it's not.
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