Most people can find a better investment in themselves than law school.
I was reading an article over at Tough Money Love, a personal finance blog that I enjoy (as far as personal finance blogs go;)), about too many students going to law school. I thought I would weigh in on the issue with a post of my own.
Mr. Tough Money Love’s point is a good one. There are more lawyers, fewer jobs, and more people going to law school than ever before. 49,414 students enrolled in law schools last year, about a 1% increase from the previous year. He goes on to state that too many people are getting law degrees and MBAs and not enough people are studying hard sciences and engineering. It’s tough to disagree with that a general point.
Of course, that doesn’t mean that no one should go to law school or get an MBA. The education itself isn’t what’s flawed. Both educational tracks involve lots of practical information that can be professionally enriching. The problem goes back to the most basic tenet of economics, supply and demand.
Theoretically, the marketplace will decide what type of business people go into. I still believe this to be the case. Markets aren’t always efficient, though, and I don’t think the labor market is particularly efficient right now. The market can only bear so many people doing any one thing. As supply for whatever (legal services) increases, demand decreases, and that field becomes less lucrative than before. As that occurs, fewer people (still talking theoretically here) will enter into that field. They’ll rush into whatever the hot new field is. Recently it was finance. Before that, it was internet start-up companies. Next it will be books about vampires (I’m kidding, sort of). When the money leaves, fewer new people enter into that particular profession.
So who should go to law school? There’s always room for top talent. In any field or any profession. If you’re one of the most talented people at something, you’re always going to be in demand, whether you’re an actor, lawyer, accountant or plumber. There will always be plenty of work for the top talent.
How do you know if you’re “top talent.” You don’t. You really can’t know that going in. Whether or not you can get into a top school isn’t a terrible indicator though. If the schools inside the top 15 or so would allow you to enroll there, then that’s a pretty good indicator that you might have a special kind of academic ability.
But Todd (!), you counter, what about all the great lawyers that were in the bottom of their class at the Boondoggle College of Law and have nonetheless risen to the top of their respective field? I believe there are some of these people out there. They are usually trial lawyers. The dramatization that is a jury trial is something that some people are specifically talented at and has very little to do with how good of a student you were or where you went to school. It has everything to do with your ability to convince those 12 (or 9, depending on your jurisdiction) people that your version of what happened is the right one. How do you know if you’re one of these people? You don’t. You won’t know until well into your career as a lawyer, and then you’ll be well beyond deciding whether you should go to law school. I’m sorry to tell you that based on the law of averages, you probably aren’t (but who am I to tell you what you can and can’t do?).
Who else should go? People that have a specific reason for wanting to go. That reason should definitely not be (1) money (there’s not as much money in it as there used to be) or (2) the fact that you like to argue (this is one of my pet peeves – the fact that you “like” to argue does not mean that you will be a good lawyer. Practicing law has very little to do with the type of arguing you’ve done thus far in life).
On the other hand, you can never be too educated. You can never know too much. More education won’t hurt you. The debt you incur and the time you spend not working and doing something else might hurt you, but the knowledge you gain can only benefit you long term. Law school has become a haven for people who don’t know what to do with their life, have a healthy ego, and just enough practicality to say to themselves, “I think this is a better idea than a PhD in Sociology.”
You may have heard the expression, there are a lot of things you can do with a law degree. That’s true in the sense that you’re going to find lawyers doing a much wider variety of jobs than doctors. The number one thing people do with a law degree, though, is still practice law. If you’re getting it for a reason other than that, you would probably be better served spending your time doing something else (like getting experience doing the very thing you want to do).
In my experience, these words will probably fall on deaf ears (or, err, blind eyes). When I decided to go to law school, my uncle advised me not to. The recommendation was both right and wrong. He was right for all the reasons I’m describing herein, and he was wrong in that I do enjoy what I do (sometimes). I have a job. I don’t know what I’d be doing if I hadn’t gone. I’ve often advised people not to go based on the reasons above, and you know what I’ve found, they go anyway. Just like I did. Because no matter who it is telling them, as people with healthy egos we assume that it will be different for us. I don’t regret my decision. I have a good life. My job is a good one and I know I’m lucky to have it. I met my wife in law school. It was a decent path to take. Like Mr. Tough Money Love, though, I think that path might be less attractive than it’s ever been. If you’re thinking about going to law school, good luck in your decision. Think it over. Thanks for reading.
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