Law school article in the Post - what do you think?

[Anonymous]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/03/09/law-schools-are-in-a-death-spiral-maybe-now-theyll-finally-change/?hpid=z5

Yikes. I do not know much about law school, except that the younger people I know have had a lot of trouble finding jobs. Those in the field, do you agree with her assessment?

[Anonymous]

The problem is that there are way too many lawyers. The third and fourth tier schools should all be shut down. Problem solved. This might actually happen as these schools become unprofitable starting at the bottom.

[Anonymous]

Interesting article. Waaaaaay too many lawyers out there.

[Anonymous]

There are a few people who have been writing about the law school bubble for years. The data indicate too many grads, not enough jobs, unsustainable high tuitions

[Anonymous]

Among DC area law schools, you'll be fine if you do well at Georgetown or UVal, but the path is a lot tougher you go to GW, Catholic, Howard, American, Mason, UMBC or Baltimore, William & Mary, Richmond, Washington & Lee, Appalachia, Liberty, or Regent.

Just like it is next to impossible to get a tenure track job with a PhD from a second tier grad program, it is increasingly hard to get a good job from a lower tier law school. At some point, it just won't pay to go into the profession unless you can gather top notch credentials.

[Anonymous]

I got a law degree at University of Baltimore in the late 90s. I knew I wanted to work in government (where the pay isn't great). I put myself through school and got minimal loans (I worked full time). From the start, I projected my ability to pay my school loans back, and made sure I didn't go over an amount I could afford to pay while earning a government salary (back then, it was less than half of what mid-sized firms were paying first year associates). I feel like I hit the end of the window for getting through school on minimal loans. The higher the loans, the more likely "regular" people are priced out of the career. I have one friend with over $200,000 in loans, who's making less than $100k a year. He will never get his head above water. He will never be able to increase his standard of living as he gets older. For him, it was a really poor financial decision.

So yes, I agree with the article. Unless your parents or employer or someone pays your way, it's not worth going. Even if you passionately love the work. Undergraduate degrees are also moving in that direction, but nowhere near as quickly as law school is. And undergrad degrees have community colleges to fall back on as a more affordable option for middle income people. Law school doesn't.

[Anonymous]

Also agree with the article. I went to a top 10 law school and graduated during worst part of the recession. Many of us had trouble finding jobs; even with good grades. I think it has improved some, but personally I wouldn't recommend that anyone go to law school right now unless they could get into a top ten school. Preferably top five.

[Anonymous]

My DC is interested in law school. I told him unless he can get into a top 10 school he shouldn't go. It's good motivation to do well in college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Among DC area law schools, you'll be fine if you do well at Georgetown or UVal, but the path is a lot tougher you go to GW, Catholic, Howard, American, Mason, UMBC or Baltimore, William & Mary, Richmond, Washington & Lee, Appalachia, Liberty, or Regent.

Just like it is next to impossible to get a tenure track job with a PhD from a second tier grad program, it is increasingly hard to get a good job from a lower tier law school. At some point, it just won't pay to go into the profession unless you can gather top notch credentials.

GW and William and Mary have historically been well ranked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DC is interested in law school. I told him unless he can get into a top 10 school he shouldn't go. It's good motivation to do well in college.

expand it to top 20 and then it's good advice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DC is interested in law school. I told him unless he can get into a top 10 school he shouldn't go. It's good motivation to do well in college.

expand it to top 20 and then it's good advice.

1st poster here. Top 14 maybe. After that and the schools are more regional in their appeal/hiring - eg,University of MN, USC, Emory, Vanderbilt. Good schools but that's not enough these days.

[Anonymous]

The article was overly optimistic. Law Schools cannot and will not change, it's just that some will collapse. The legal profession cannot make use of newly-minted lawyers; they have no legal skills and no legal subject-matter knowledge. Law school is simply an academic time-eater. Don't believe the statistics indicating that 30 or 40 percent of new lawyers are unemployed. When you factor in severe underemployment, and you consider crippling student loans, effectively 60 or 70 percent of lawyers might as well be unemployed.

[Anonymous]

I'm laughing because the computer is showing me ads for law schools underneath this conversation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DC is interested in law school. I told him unless he can get into a top 10 school he shouldn't go. It's good motivation to do well in college.

expand it to top 20 and then it's good advice.

Top 14 is always the same and all of those schools are safe bets for landing a good job.

[Anonymous]

My brother is massively in debt because he thought going to law school after being laid off from his tech job was a good idea because lawyers "make bank." After graduation, he couldn't pass the bar or get a job and had to move back home. :-/