How easy is it to get hired as a lawyer? Are lawyers needed, or is there too many?

Answer 1

It depends on the area. In my rural area, we could still use some lawyers, however you are never going to get rich here. I just withdrew from a case yesterday and the judge and the clerk were scrambling to try to find someone to take the case (it's a court-appointed case- $65/hr.).
In my experience, the lawyers tend to go to the areas where the quality of life is higher, the college towns, that sort of thing. If you go to the less trendy places, there is plenty of demand for attorneys.
Attorneys are almost all specialized now. Many of the specialized areas are with big firms, making lots of money, but you need top academic credentials to get considered for those jobs and you have to live in a big city and work for a big firm to do it.
I think when people say there are too many lawyers, they are really saying that they don't think it's good for society to have so many lawyers. In a better society, we wouldn't be so litigious and wouldn't need so many lawyers. Perhaps this is so.
But, I don't think they mean that you will get out of law school and not be able to find work.
I suggest that you go to a good law school and get good grades and get on law review and get a judicial clerkship. Then, law firms will be begging you to work for them.
Best wishes.

Answer 2

I read an article a few weeks ago, indicating that there will be a shortage of lawyers in a few years. While many lawyers don't retire before 75, there are more that are retiring at a younger age.

As to it being easy to get hired as a lawyer -- if you are looking for the "easy way" you are not looking to become a lawyer. Good lawyers fight for good positions. But there will always be positions for young lawyers out there if you are interested.

Answer 3

Too many. In fact, before I went to law school I was actually advised not to do it since the field was overly saturated. It didn't stop me since I had and have a true love for the law. If you feel this is your calling then do not worry about how many are out there. I didn't.

Answer 4

There seems to always be room for the top of the class. It's the bottom dwellers that end up desperate. Are there too many? Probably too many bottom dwellers, but law schools limit how many they admit so I would think they have a system for admissions.

Answer 5

I feel your pain. I am an attorney. However, I went to a top 15 school and had mediocre grades. I found the job market to be depressing. So much time, planning, and money went into undergraduate school, I had a 4.0 GPA, and scored above the 95th percentile on the LSAT. I naively thought going to a top school their would be plenty of lucrative and exciting jobs waiting for me and I would be set to have a good quality of life. I remember sending out 300 letters one time and getting no positive response, either they said some nonsense about you are great, you have good accomplishments, but at this time we cannot offer you a position, we will keep your resume on file. I took the Bar Exam in two states wasting time studying and not earning any money. I had to move back in with my parents, fun. Meanwhile many of my friends and people that I knew from High School and College were establishing themselves in their careers and making money, gettng promotions, etc. I worked post-law school as a car salesman and a mortgage broker. Finally a family friend had a friend who was a solo attorney, I worked for him basically for free, actually it was negative because I spent money on travel, long distance phone calls, etc., still living at home with mom and dad, saddled with law school debts, the student loan people started calling wanting $$$. Eventually I left that attorney. I struggled to find another attorney job. Eventually, I got a job in 2003 at firm paying the princely sum of $25,000 per year. I moved out of my parent's house but was still subsidized by them. Dad kept threatening to cut me off, but I lived in an expensive state the cheapest place to stay I found was $1,500 a month all inclusive. My paycheck was like $430.00 a week take home. Eventually, I did go solo, it was hard, but I did make some money in real estate closings for 3 1/2 years. Now the real estate market stinks and I have no income, and I am trying to plan my next move, which may be back to my parents temporarily. I have interviewed for some associate positions and the salary range was 38k-55k, this is pretty low for somone with 5 yrs experience and a doctorate degree. My wife works at a nail salon, as a manicurist, she took a three month course and makes 50K a year. It has been an exquisitely painful road for me. In my family I am the most educated and the least financially secure. My dad makes like $350,000K engineering+MBA degree, my younger sister makes $165,000K a year psyche degree and an MBA. My conclusion, LAW SUCKS!!!!!!!!!! Too many law schools fighting for tuition $$$, night programs, weekend programs, low academic standards, too many attorneys, lowering wages and limiting opportunities, compare to the AMA and ADA that insure a shortage of dentists and doctors. When I was solo it seemed like everyone was an attorney, or their cousin was an attorney, or their sister's friend was an attorney, or their brother was an attorney and so and so on, I lost a lot of business because of this. I do not think doctors and dentists face such client poaching. If you are in the top 5%, law review, and went to a good school, yes, you will probably get a good job right from the start. I would have been better off not going to College and instead picking up a trade like being an electrician. Heck, if I had all the money I wasted on education, worked at a gas station during all my non-earning years and put the money into a CD I could probably be able to retire. Looking back, if I had to do it again, if you want to through the hard work and invest the $$$ for education so it pays off you should go into healthcare. Heck their is a shortage of pharmacists and their median wage is $98,000K well above lawyers. Dentists 180,000K median and their is a shortage. Oh well this sucks but this is my life and I will deal with it, I spent my educational time and $$$, and the dye is cast. From US News, Poor careers for 2006
By Marty Nemko
Posted 1/5/06
Attorney. If starting over, 75 percent of lawyers would choose to do something else. A similar percentage would advise their children not to become lawyers. The work is often contentious, and there's pressure to be unethical. And despite the drama portrayed on TV, real lawyers spend much of their time on painstakingly detailed research. In addition, those fat-salaried law jobs go to only the top few percent of an already high-powered lot.

Many people go to law school hoping to do so-called public-interest law. (In fact, much work not officially labeled as such does serve the public interest.) What they don't teach in law school is that the competition for those jobs is intense. I know one graduate of a Top Three law school, for instance, who also edited a law journal. She applied for a low-paying job at the National Abortion Rights Action League and, despite interviewing very well, didn't get the job.

Answer 6

Well, most smaller firms are willing (if your not billing hours your not getting paid). Also check with your County Gov. They usually contract lower level ADA's.

Answer 7

I have never seen a poor lawyer.