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.
From the Associated Press, MADISON, Wis. (AP) - A lawmaker who persuaded the Assembly to eliminate all state funding for the University of Wisconsin law school says his reasoning is simple: There's too many lawyers in Wisconsin.
From an ABA study about malpractice claims, More Sole Practicioners: There appears to be an increasing trend toward sole practicioners, due partly to a lack of jobs for new lawyers, but also due to increasing dissatisfaction among experienced lawyers with traditional firms; leading to some claims which could have been avoided with better mentoring.
New Lawyers: Most insurers have noticed that many young lawyers cannot find jobs with established firms, and so are starting their own practices without supervision or mentoring. This is likely to cause an increase in malpractice claims, although the claims may be relatively small in size due to the limited nature of a new lawyers
“In a survey conducted back in 1972 by the American Bar Association, seventy percent of Americans not only didn’t have a lawyer, they didn’t know how to find one. That’s right, thirty years ago the vast majority of people didn’t have a clue on how to find a lawyer. Now it’s almost impossible not to see lawyers everywhere you turn.
2007-09-21 01:54:16
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answer #1
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answered by stephen t 5
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I went to law school in Illinois. If you have the option stay close to home, it saves on housing. Also some schools give a preference to their state's residents.
Once I got my law degree and passed the bar exam I contacted law firms in my area and offered to work on a per case or per month basis. Since I carried my own insurance the firms did not need to pay employee benefits for me. By being a independent contractor I was able to get experience in many areas of practicing law. After 7 years of this I opened my own firm concentrating on employment law.
There are tons of options besides being a trial lawyer, but don't ignore that. I found that I really enjoyed the trial part, something I did not think I would like. In law school do a Moot Court exercise/contest to see how you like it. In my practice I go in front of administrative boards - very informal. You could work in a corporation doing HR work, keeping the corp compliant with the laws, or just in the audit dept. There are so many options.
ABA says that the average lawyer makes around $42,000 per year. Yes, some top-of-class get 6-figure salaries, but for that they work 7 days a week 18 hour days. You can make a good (not great) living for your family with a law degree without tons of ot. If you do not have a calling to be a lawyer, give yourself a break and do not go into it -- an MBA pays better.
If you score high on the LSAT and have good grades in undergrad, some law schools will give you a scholarship for the first year. There are the goverment student loans. If you go to a school that has an evening law school you can work during the day (did that really tough). If you go days, then the summer between year 1 & 2, 2 & 3 you work with the school to get you a law clerks job at a law firm. Because I was an older student I cashed in my entire 401k retirement to pay for law school.
Classes are hard. Law school is like going through 3 years of hazing by some nasty people. You have zero free time because you are studying. Several people who were moms in my law class dropped out. One actually graduated top of the class -- dad and a nanny took care of the child.
If you have the calling to be a lawyer all the stuff in law school, all the hard work, all the studying is really worth it.
2007-09-21 04:47:08
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answer #2
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answered by CatLaw 6
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Wow. None of those questions have simple, short answers, but here goes.
I don't know about law schools in Texas, but don't limit yourself. There are great law schools that don't cost a ton of money all over this country.
As far as your degree, you have to pass the bar exam to be an attorney (You don't have to become an attorney), but after that, you don't have to be a trial lawyer. You can do probate law, real estate closings, corporate in-house counsel (mostly employment policies), wills, living wills, trusts.
As a mother in the legal profession, it is going to be more difficult to go to school and get your juris doctorate than it is to practice. If you don't go into litigation and simple do the smaller law tasks that require counsel, you can pretty much set your own hours in private practice or work reasonable (8-5) hours in an established firm. Some attorneys do work part time preparing motions, notices of hearings and depositions, preparing briefs, etc.
Also, if you a single mom, there are programs out there to help you with child care and tuition. I don't know what they are, but you need to talk to someone at the local law school or university. they should be able to help you.
The classes are tough especially the first year. Some law schools will let you go to school at night and take longer to get your degree.
The money varies greatly depending on the type of law you practice. salary.com is a great guide and will tell you what you could make at different levels of experience.
I hope this helped. Good luck. It's worth the journey. I promise.
2007-09-21 01:14:45
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answer #3
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answered by Allison P 4
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Amen to Stephen T. I am an attorney from California working as a planner for Caltrans. I could not earn enough fees to support my family so I went back to work for someone else. I don't regret having my law degree and I am still trying to get back into practice full time. I had a family going into law school and tried to keep my family as normal as possible. As a result, I intentionally sacrificed the straight A grade, settling for a respectable C graduation. That destroyed any chance of getting a good job offer. I had to go to work for myself. I passed the bar on the first attempt and I thought the perseverance of going full time, working, being a father, husband, church goer, scout leader, etc. and still passing grades and the bar would show that I have what it takes to multi-task and achieve results. How naive I was.
However, don't let us rain on your parade. If that is what you want to do, then go for it.
2007-09-21 04:34:21
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answer #5
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answered by rac 7
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