Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve been a lawyer for 20+ years and think AI will take over a lot of the work. The tuition rates have also skyrocketed and I’m not sure it’s worth it, and definitely not outside of T14. Georgetown tuition was between $25-27k when I went and now it’s an eye-popping $80k.

same here.
I am encouraging my kids to skip law school.
maybe business school if necessary.

What are you encouraging them *to* do, then?

Yes, lawyers who make money work a lot but so do other people who make money in other fields. Most high earning positions require more schooling. So it's business, law, or medicine.

There's masters programs of course which are (IMO) even worse of an "investment". I'm 15 years in my field w a bachelors and I looked into masters programs and the pay would be marginally more...

Most law students can pay off loans within 5 years of working if smart and diligent. Not every private attorney works 100 hours a week. My partner works typically less than big law and makes a bit less but it's a great trade off.

The real question is how much does your DC want to work, what is their idea of happiness, and how much money do they think they need/want to be happy.

Anonymous wrote:If you want stable with minimal loans, become an accountant. There is a shortage. Most lawyers are not happy with their careers, u less they have fulfilling jobs in the gov.

How will AI impact accounting jobs?

Anonymous wrote:My husband and I are both lawyers and our kids are interested in law and my answer to this question is: who knows! Generative AI is already better at writing legal briefs than your average lawyer and is getting better pretty fast! I think there’s reason to be cautious. But my guess is that caution applies to many fields in addition to law: AI will/has replaced a lot of CS experts too, right?

Just like CS, the law school grads that best know how to use generative AI will be in most demand.

You need to know how to prompt it and quickly find the errors it makes…but you will be expected to be 2x as efficient as current associates…which will drive down the demand for junior lawyers.

Anonymous wrote:I’ve been a lawyer for 20+ years and think AI will take over a lot of the work. The tuition rates have also skyrocketed and I’m not sure it’s worth it, and definitely not outside of T14. Georgetown tuition was between $25-27k when I went and now it’s an eye-popping $80k.

I call BS. If you go to good non T14 schools like Hastings or Illinois you can get a good job with minimal debt. On the other hand, you could be in deep crap if you rack up big law debt from Georgetown and, understandably, can’t do BL. It’s really outside the T50 that’s you get scam law schools, most non T14s, but still T50s, have adjusted rates.

For instance Wisconsin Law School tuition is 19k. Compare that to Northwestern 85k. NW is the better law school, but if you don’t want BL Wisconsin would be a reasonable choice. But both are still T50. The real scam is DePauw college of law whose tuition is 64k.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve been a lawyer for 20+ years and think AI will take over a lot of the work. The tuition rates have also skyrocketed and I’m not sure it’s worth it, and definitely not outside of T14. Georgetown tuition was between $25-27k when I went and now it’s an eye-popping $80k.

same here.
I am encouraging my kids to skip law school.
maybe business school if necessary.

$113,500 all in.

If you want stable with minimal loans, become an accountant. There is a shortage. Most lawyers are not happy with their careers, u less they have fulfilling jobs in the gov.

Anonymous wrote:Depends on the strength of the student. I would strongly advise not borrowing very large amounts of money to attend anything that is not a T14 (ok fine, include a couple more schools). Also, for very strong students, sometimes merit is possible inside the T14. Whether to borrow to attend a T14 is an open question.

Apply, get the admission results and exact individual costs, and then decide whether to attend.

100% this. I know lots of lawyers who weren’t good enough to get into big law and they still have loans at 40 and don’t make that much.

Anonymous wrote:I’ve been a lawyer for 20+ years and think AI will take over a lot of the work. The tuition rates have also skyrocketed and I’m not sure it’s worth it, and definitely not outside of T14. Georgetown tuition was between $25-27k when I went and now it’s an eye-popping $80k.

same here.
I am encouraging my kids to skip law school.
maybe business school if necessary.

I’ve been a lawyer for 20+ years and think AI will take over a lot of the work. The tuition rates have also skyrocketed and I’m not sure it’s worth it, and definitely not outside of T14. Georgetown tuition was between $25-27k when I went and now it’s an eye-popping $80k.

Anonymous wrote:Yes, a lot of things to consider. T-14 grad 1990’s (good job market back then) in smaller city and I was lucky that my family paid for my law degree. I was also lucky that my spouse was able to be the primary breadwinner. I was worked in smaller firms and was lucky to find find part-time work and flexible employers that fit/accommodated my child care needs. again, I was able to do this only because others were pulling the load. I enjoy my career but law school is a big time and money commitment. Best to take a year or two to work or get a masters before committing to law school.

Why?

Lawyer here. I would not recommend spending the time and money on a master's degree "before committing to law school." Work? Sure. Master's degree? No.

Yes, a lot of things to consider. T-14 grad 1990’s (good job market back then) in smaller city and I was lucky that my family paid for my law degree. I was also lucky that my spouse was able to be the primary breadwinner. I was worked in smaller firms and was lucky to find find part-time work and flexible employers that fit/accommodated my child care needs. again, I was able to do this only because others were pulling the load. I enjoy my career but law school is a big time and money commitment. Best to take a year or two to work or get a masters before committing to law school.

What do you mean "stable" and what do you mean "safe"?

DH and I are both lawyers. We met at DOJ. I got sick of working 60 hours a week and no longer practice. FWIW, I did really enjoy practicing, there are just other things I wanted to do as well and wouldn't have been able to do them and practice the way I wanted to--I'm a bit of a workaholic. DH is now SES and works about 50 hours per week. He loves it. We didn't make Biglaw money but had amazing careers.

As far as "the judiciary" goes -- I apologize if I laugh at you thinking that is an option. An awful lot of brilliant lawyers want to be judges and never get the chance. I do know a few who did. And so I'd say this: if your kid wants to do that, tell them they will need to be political; and I don't mean passing out buttons for donkeys/elephants, although that doesn't hurt. I mean network, network, network. Publish, present, shake hands. If they are a conservative, a very active membership in the federalist society is necessary. If more liberal, there are other avenues.

Finally I'll touch on something you brought up: debt. I went to a very expensive law school and was fortunate enough to have family pay for it. Many of those who were on loans, which was the vast majority of my peers, have spent miserable careers doing what they have to do to make as much money as possible to pay back school loans. Most of them would rather be doing anything else. But they are stuck. It's ugly, and a lot of pressure. Especially when there is undergrad debt as well. So bear that in mind.

My husband and I are both lawyers and our kids are interested in law and my answer to this question is: who knows! Generative AI is already better at writing legal briefs than your average lawyer and is getting better pretty fast! I think there’s reason to be cautious. But my guess is that caution applies to many fields in addition to law: AI will/has replaced a lot of CS experts too, right?

Depends on the strength of the student. I would strongly advise not borrowing very large amounts of money to attend anything that is not a T14 (ok fine, include a couple more schools). Also, for very strong students, sometimes merit is possible inside the T14. Whether to borrow to attend a T14 is an open question.

Apply, get the admission results and exact individual costs, and then decide whether to attend.

Son thinking about law school as a junior in college. Given the debt and stress, I’m not sure if law is as safe as it used to be.

I could however see the judiciary as the most stable career on the planet.