Stress, pay, debt… All because you love the law.
So, a lawyer calls a plumber to fix his leaky faucet. The plumber shows up, pulls the handle, changes the washer, puts it all back together again. Fifteen minutes after he arrives, with the faucet working perfectly now, the plumber says, “OK, all done, that’ll be $100.”
“$100 for 15 minutes work? That’s more than I charge, and I’m a lawyer!”
The plumber chuckles good naturedly. “Yeah, I get that a lot. $100 is even more than I used to charge back when I was lawyer.”
It depends upon a variety of factors & circumstances.
It is possible to graduate from law school debt free. And it is possible to graduate from college debt free. My son was offered both & declined both. But that was his choice.
There are a few great law firms with respect to earnings and lifestyle. One firm with which I was associated has about 100 partners & just 50 associates. This firm hires everyone with the intent that each attorney hire will become a partner. But partner salaries range from a low of slightly above $250,000 per year plus profits to about $500,000 a year plus profits. No million dollar plus salaries. But this firm is a bit of a rarity. Hours are reasonable (billable hours expectations).
I know several attorneys who are very happy working for the federal government as well. Reasonable hours. Decent pay. Lots of respect. And lots of exit options if they choose to go for the big bucks–although this often does not work out well as the switch to a private practice is too much of a shock. Just ask Robert Mueller about this. He hated private practice & returned to government work as a prosecutor.
Happiness as a practicing attorney has a lot to do with your practice area.
Public defenders & litigators, for example, are often unhappy. Other specialties–patent lawyers for example–seem quite satisfied from my limited observations. Tax lawyers too.
My hubby is a very satisfied attorney in out state’s Attorney General’s office where he heads a division. Interesting and varied work in his field, reasonable hours, decent pay (low compared to legal private sector where he started but which he hated), has been able to teach a few classes at law schools on the side, loves being a ‘white hat’ lawyer who truly helps folks. Will prolly retire in the next 3 to 5 years and then have a 2nd career either teaching at a law school or working for a law firm for another 5 to 7 years. His speciality is high demand and he’s got national reputation. (I’m obviously proud of him 
What is his specialty ?
I am in private practice and am content. Being more senior helps, as does being in a practice area that you like. It can take switching jobs and roles often to avoid bad coworkers and other unpleasant things, but that applies to any career, I’d think.
I’ve worked in private practice and in-house. Although the money is much better in private practice, it was way too stressful for me. I’m content in-house.
As a previous poster said, it’s possible to go to law school and incur little debt. There is merit money out there.
It depends on what your career goals are as to how much stress you might have. I worked in private practice for a few years before switching to government work. My goal was always public service so I’m happy where I landed. Decent pay, interesting work, and great work-life balance. Classmates who went into litigation or domestic relations have higher stress levels and work way more hours than I do. Also, many law schools offer merit money so getting a JD with minimal debt is possible.
I work as a trial attorney (not a litigator, as they call it in white shoe firms - I actually try cases) for an insurance company and have been in-house for all but the first year of my career. I love practicing law and have never regretted pursuing it as a career. I never had an interest in the type of law that can make you tons of money and I deliberately took myself off the management track before my first child was born (another decision I don’t regret). I have had a really nice career and am now in its twilight, so I can look back and decide whether it was the right decision. I came out of law school in the early 80’s with almost $30K in debt (the equivalent of about $100K now) and it took me about 9 years to pay it off. During that time, I bought my first house and had my first two children.
The only SLIGHT regret I have is not taking a government legal job I was offered because I could be retired now with a better pension (although I will be getting two pensions for my retirement).
The bottom line is most people don’t get into Harvard or Yale or Stanford and most people don’t clerk for a Supreme Court justice. There are many legal jobs and ways to earn a decent, honorable living as an attorney. If you want to be a lawyer, go for it.
Find a way to get exposure to the actual practice of law before making this decision. There are happy lawers, there are rich lawyers but very, very, few who can honestly say they can check both of those boxes. For many specialties the hours are gruling and it doesn’t necessarily get better as you get more senior. There are others where you can actually have a decent quality of life. But just as no one should go to medical school without having significant exposure to the practicie of medicine first, I believe no one should go to law school without that exposure. Its not that hard to get a part time job at a law firm or work as a paralegal for a year or two. Law school is a huge commitment of time and money. Please take the time to get first hand exposure first.
Best quip I heard from a favorite law prof., “The practice of law is like a pie eating contest where the prize is a pie.” .
I am a named partner in a small firm in the flyover. I am a real estate and corporate transactional attorney. But, I have a specialty niche practice, and I am the best there is at it in the state. I do lots of seminars on the subject and have testified on the topic before my state legislature. My niche is swallowing my practice. That is a good and bad problem to have as I have become a bit pidgeon-holed in the community.
I make my own hours. My hourly rate is absurdly low compared to what is charged on the coast, but I know what the market can handle. I am timely and efficient. It earns me a lot of business.
The problem is the practice of law, over the long term, is becoming automated. West Thompson (owners of WestLaw) make no bones about what they are attempting to do. They are attempting to build a database of legal forms which can then be easily used. Add in the changes to residential real estate on the federal end and the practice today is different than it was fifteen years ago. And…there is a growing meanness that I never saw before. People fight over things that could be easily settle before. As a lawyer, it is disturbing. My job is to protect my client’s interests efficiently. It is the principal, not the principle.
Is it worth it? Over the long term, no. Law in ten years will not be what it is today. As a nation, we are graduating too many lawyers. I have interviewed, personally, too many young lawyers and had to turn them down. I hate to think about their student loans. Were I starting over today, knowing what I do now, I would not do law. I believe I will retire in time before there are wholesale changes, but I am not optimistic.
How do you define “worth”? In the literal sense, is the time and cost associated with the education a fair exchange of value for future compensation? Or is the love of law a fare exchange for the effort required to practice? Really no way to answer your question.
From a financial perspective, I know several lawyers who make millions per yr (senior partner of large firm, etc.) and I know others that make a very modest living (and everything in between). Others are quite happy teaching the law or teaching lawyers how to run efficient, effective practices.
I’m not an attorney, but I do imagine that if one doesn’t love law, being a lawyer would be a horrible experience.
I’m an attorney, as are several of my relatives, both previous generation, same generation and next generation, plus many friends.
Of course, as you can see by this thread, it depends. For some, it’s awesome, for others (myself included), there are aspects of it we REALLY dislike—tons of paperwork & deadlines, egos, bureaucracy, terribly injured victims and folks who “get away” without redressing folks they’ve harmed.
For folks who really dislike it enough to go into other fields after they gave their law degree, some are much happier in their new fields while others wonder why they bothered to get the law degree.
There are a lot of niches in law—HR, compliance, contracting, patent law, etc. If you pursue something you love and can keep debt minimal, if can work out nicely. It is important to find your work life balance in whatever you will pursue longterm, even if it skews a lot more work initially.
OP asked: “Is being a lawyer worth it ?”
This question is too broad. Varies by individual & by type of legal practice.
My husband is an attorney and loves it. He is civil trial litigation and intellectual property. He was an engineer before law school and does mainly technical cases. He works long hours and it has affected his family life and relationships. He is ok with that. He recently moved to a smaller firm with better hours and pay. He graduated debt free and has saved enough for our son to do the same. So it is worth it but you have to set limits you can live with.
@momocarly: Does your husband only handle IP & patent litigation ?
If so, this is an important distinction as being a member of the patent bar has significantly different requirements than those for typical civil trial work. And offers a much different working environment as well.
No, he mainly does civil trial litigation but does a bit of patent law and keeps that certification current. Works for a firm that is primarily a litigation firm.