Legal Job Market Shrinking
Friday December 5, 2008
After the last post, you may be feeling a bit down about your job prospects after law school or, if you're not in law school yet, wondering whether a JD is worth the bother (and debt).
Well, unfortunately, I have more required reading for you: Hard Case: Job Market Wanes for U.S. Lawyers from the Wall Street Journal. Here's a snippet:
Yet economic data suggest that prospects have grown bleaker for all but the top students, and now a number of law-school professors are calling for the distribution of more-accurate employment information. Incoming students are "mesmerized by what's happening in big firms, but clueless about what's going on in the bottom half of the profession," says Richard Sander, a law professor at the University of California-Los Angeles who has studied the legal job market.
My goal here isn't to discourage you from entering law school or the legal profession, of course; I only encourage you to consider all factors when making your decision, including the current market as well as the three questions in Deciding Whether or Not to Go to Law School.
When that article came out last year, I cannot tell you how many of my attorney friends said “had I read that, I would have made some decisions completely differently” – ranging from not going to law school at all to not taking out the full debt load since they figured they’d repay it anyways to focusing on other areas in the law. What saddens me the most is that this article was written at teh beginning of the subprime crisis — it’s just gotten worse since. A friend of mine who is a contract attorney has had a fair amoutn of trouble getting contract work, and she’s been in that area for 3+ years.
Sad indeed. It’s especially depressing when established attorneys have trouble finding work.
Law school is a joke. Yes, if you love law, go for it. If you think it will bring job security and a healthy paycheck, think again. Most job postings are offering 40 to 50K. And I can’t get a rejection email from these places. To make it worse, I was making more before I started law school. I am stuck at a fork. Go back and try and pursue the same career I left, or hope the legal field works out.
E, I have to agree that if you really love the law, you should go for it; otherwise, think long and hard about the time and money investment you’re making. And then think some more. I hope you find something that suits you soon; thanks so much for stopping by!
It’s been over a year since I graduated law school, and I’m running to just about a year since I took the bar exam, and I still don’t have a job. I’ve been deferring loans and living at my parent’s house, but it just seems so absolutely hopeless.
So sorry to read this; I hope you find something soon.