The Hidden Side of Law School

If you ask people what are the “best” careers, two of the answers you will hear the most will be doctor and lawyer, for good reason. Traditionally, doctors and lawyers have been well respected; pillars of the community. Both careers require respected, well known professional degrees. And both are lucrative; the median annual salary is $166,400 for physicians and surgeons and $112,760 for lawyers (according to the BLS). Therefore, it would seem pursuing either career would be a good decision.

The aging of the population, combined with increased access to healthcare, is likely to ensure a strong demand for doctors in the future. But what about lawyers? Contrary to conventional wisdom, the decision to pursue a career as a lawyer may not be as lucrative as many assume. The field has changed, and there are many factors prospective lawyers need to consider.

• HIGH Tuition - Law School is EXPENSIVE. According to U.S. News and World Report, in-state tuition for the University Of Georgia School Of Law is almost $16,000. Out-of-state tuition is worse; for the University Of Florida it is almost $36,000. Private universities? At Emory, tuition is over $43,000 per year. Why is law school tuition so high? Law schools are a major money-maker for the universities that house them. Lawyers are relatively cheap to educate – classes usually aren’t especially small and specialized equipment isn’t needed. The profit made from law schools covers costs over the rest of the university. So when paying law school tuition, you’re paying for not only your education, but someone else’s too.
• Increasing Tuition - Try to rank the following in terms of highest inflation on average (prices increasing the fastest): Health Care, Undergraduate Tuition, Law School Tuition. The answer: 1) Law School Tuition, 2) Undergraduate Tuition, 3) Health Care. That’s right, the price of law school tuition is increasing faster than regular undergraduate tuition and even much-discussed health care costs. Considering the already-high tuition rates, that’s a scary thought for prospective lawyers.
• High Debt Loads - With law school tuition as high as it, most students not related to Mitt Romney are likely to graduate with a lot of student-loan debt. Say you graduate with $100,000 in debt (easily obtainable). If you consolidate that into a single loan with a 6.8% interest rate (standard federal rate) with a 25-year repayment plan, your monthly payment would be $694.07 per month! If you graduate from law school when you’re 25, that would be $694.07 per month, every month, until you’re 50!
• High Underemployment - The high debt loads are fine, if it’s worth it. Plenty of students will graduate and go on to great jobs at big firms and make lots of money. Those students, however, are likely to have top grades and graduate from highly ranked law schools (think Ivy League). Middle and lower rung students aren’t likely to land the big job. They’re more likely to take jobs as low-paying public defenders, or even positions that don’t require a J.D. Nothing wrong with that…unless you have a monthly student loan payment that takes out a significant part of your salary.

The point here is not to bash law school. Many who go to law school will go on to have very successful careers, but some won’t. The more informed you are, the more likely you are to make the best decision for you.

Landon J. Latham

Career Educator