If you ever ever hear a friend or relative say these words slap them hard across the face three times, and then make them read this recent New York Times article, because that person should not be going to law school. There are no jobs out there. David Segal (not our guy but that other, Bizarro world, David Segal) takes to task the ginned-up and misleading employment statistics promulgated in the U.S News and World Report annual rankings, and the law schools who continue to accept students who have no business going into such enormous debt with such dim prospects.
It is an open secret, Professor Henderson [William Henderson, Indiana University] and others say, that schools finesse survey information in dozens of ways. And the survey’s guidelines, which are established not by U.S. News but by the American Bar Association, in conjunction with an organization called the National Association for Law Placement, all but invite trimming.
A law grad, for instance, counts as “employed after nine months” even if he or she has a job that doesn’t require a law degree. Waiting tables at Applebee’s? You’re employed. Stocking aisles at Home Depot? You’re working, too.
It hardly needs repeating that student loans will not be dischargeable in bankruptcy court. The article includes several links to “Disgruntled J.D.” blogs. Pictured here is the bustling career services office from the RWU School of Law financial aid page.
Maybe a little over the top in terms of there being “no” law jobs out there, but the job market for lawyers in general right now (and those coming right out of lawschool) is not pretty. Being a lawyer does not guarantee a big salary – or job satisfaction, for that matter.
So you’re saying that our generation is better off not going to law school? I think this article is a little dated. No jobs out there – very off base.