<p>So I've been trolling through a lot of forums recently, and I've been wondering why people think that lawyers make a TON of money. Yes they make a decent amount, but it isn't much when compared to other professions (ie dentists, doctors, I-bankers, etc), and the hours are killer. In addition, unless you crack the T14, which frankly, not everyone is capable of doing, you'll make even less money. Thus it seems to me that people have a very over-inflated view of lawyers, so I was wondering if anyone could concur, disagree, give opinion, or whatever about this topic: Is it worth becoming a lawyer, not just for monetary/prestige reasons, but also just in general given the long hours one has to work.</p>
<p>Don't trust this forum since everyone here seems to believe that if you aren't in the t14, you're screwed. That's not true, it really depends on where you want to work as well. If you like the idea of being a lawyer, become one.</p>
<p>Most lawyers in the U.S. did not go to T14 law schools and they still manage to be lawyers making a living for themselves. </p>
<p>Here is the reality check. Law school is expensive -- even the law schools that are not in the T14. In fact, tuition at the law schools in the bottom tier is typically about as expensive as tuition the very top law schools. So, no matter where you go to law school, absent a scholarship or someone giving you the tuition money (plus books, room, board, bills, health insurance, etc.), you are most likely going to graduate from law school with a significant amount of student loans (in many cases, over $100,000 of loans). How do you make your not insignificant loan payments every month? Well, one good way is to get a job that pays well. The best paying jobs for lawyers are typically at big law firms. Big law firms do the vast majority of their hiring from T14 law schools (plus a few others, depending on region, particular loyalties, etc.). So, if you plan to graduate from law school with student loans, and you want to have a good chance of being able to pay off those student loans from your well-paying job, then your best bet is to go to a top law school in order to get a well-paying job. Is going to a top law school a necessity? No. Does it help a lot? Yes.</p>
<p>That's why the folks who frequent this board (attorneys included) often emphasize the importance of attending the best possible law school.</p>
<p>would that also be true for highly specialized fields like IP? what about schools which are not necessarily ranked in the t14 but are still top tier and well regarded for IP... for example Cardozo or Santa Clara. Also, what are your opinions on schools such as Tulane, GW, Emory, Fordham, UC Hastings and University of Minnesota in terms of being able to find well-paying jobs (100k+ out of law school).
Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>I would recommend two things. First, go to the websites of the law schools you are considering and look at the list of law firms that recruit at that school. You can also often see statistics on the percentage of students employed at graduation, including the types of jobs these students have, as well as average or median salary information. Once you are admitted (or even before), you may want to consider speaking to someone in the career planning offices of law schools you are considering.</p>
<p>Second, go to the websites of law firms that pay well in the geographic regions in which you would consider working and take a look at where the attorneys at those firms went to law school. Many publications and websites discuss which are the best paying law firms in different markets. Some national publications that do so are The Wall Street Journal, American Lawyer and the National Law Journal (though the information is sometimes embedded in articles rather than in tables or charts), though there are regional publications that typically delve deeper into the local law firm market (in New York, for example, the New York Law Journal). Some websites also discuss this information, including Vault and infirmation.com. </p>
<p>Be resourceful and find the information you need.</p>
<p>if anyone's hours are crazy its IB guys. sure the money is great, but being out of town all the time and never seeing ur family..sounds like a career for the single ppl.</p>
<p>thanks for the info sallyawp</p>
<p>
[QUOTE]
Most lawyers in the U.S. did not go to T14 law schools and they still manage to be lawyers making a living for themselves.</p>
<p>Here is the reality check. Law school is expensive -- even the law schools that are not in the T14. In fact, tuition at the law schools in the bottom tier is typically about as expensive as tuition the very top law schools. So, no matter where you go to law school, absent a scholarship or someone giving you the tuition money (plus books, room, board, bills, health insurance, etc.), you are most likely going to graduate from law school with a significant amount of student loans (in many cases, over $100,000 of loans). How do you make your not insignificant loan payments every month? Well, one good way is to get a job that pays well. The best paying jobs for lawyers are typically at big law firms. Big law firms do the vast majority of their hiring from T14 law schools (plus a few others, depending on region, particular loyalties, etc.). So, if you plan to graduate from law school with student loans, and you want to have a good chance of being able to pay off those student loans from your well-paying job, then your best bet is to go to a top law school in order to get a well-paying job. Is going to a top law school a necessity? No. Does it help a lot? Yes.</p>
<p>That's why the folks who frequent this board (attorneys included) often emphasize the importance of attending the best possible law school.
[/QUOTE]
</p>
<p>See that proves my point. Most schools outside of the top 14 (maybe 20) do not pay that well straight out of law school as compared to medicine after residency. Hell, even some residents make more $$ than lawyers straight out of law school which is down-right pathetic if you ask me. And you still haven't commented on the hours. The average hours:compensation ratio for lawyers do not even come close to doctors' and dentists'. Don't agree with me, check out a ton of other boards in which people concur that lawyers work worse hours than most physicians, and also, check out how many disgruntled lawyers there are. But all this aside, people still want to pursue law; but why? What are the benefits of law not just monetarily, but overall, because from what I'm hearing, neither of those requirements are being fullfilled.</p>
<p>1.) Comparing attendings (post-residency physicians, at least ages 29-31) to law school graduates (at least 25) is the wrong comparison.</p>
<p>2.) What kind of lawyers work more hours than doctors?! Maybe BIGLAW demands more time than, say, dermatology, but that's basically the only pair of comparisons I can think of.</p>
<p>Remember: residencies are capped at 80 hours a week, but 95% of residencies are noncompliant. Residencies last three to seven years -- sometimes more. Are you really going to argue that 19 out of every 20 young lawyers work more than 80 hours a week?</p>
<p>And it's not as if the situation improves crazily once residency is over. Sure, it's better -- the hours are less -- but not amazingly so. It's not as if doctors work forty hours a week. I'd say sixty, sixty-five would be close to normal, in my rough estimation.</p>
<p>3.) From an admissions standpoint -- and this is obviously a rough comparison -- 8 of the top 14 law schools have a semi-middle GPA* that seems to be below 3.65. 8 of the top 38 medical schools have mean GPAs that low.</p>
<p>The top 14 law schools are, what, 4% of all law schools? But the top 38 medical schools are a third of all the med schools in the country.</p>
<p>*(Not actually a median GPA, but the midpoint between the 25th and 75th percentile. I'm fully aware of the mathematical problems with such a comparison, but I think they're more than made up for by premedical requirements being tougher than average college courses.)</p>
<p>I think that a lot of people go to law school because (1) being a lawyer carries a lot of prestige; and (2) law school is an easy choice for somebody who did pretty well in college, doesn't really know what to do with their life, and wants to duck the job market for a few years.</p>
<p>In my opinion, these are bad reasons to go to law school and I'm not surprised that there are a lot of unhappy attorneys out there.</p>
<p>If you want prestige and money, get an MBA or start a business and buy an expensive watch once you have the dough.</p>
<p>Just my humble opinion.</p>