What’s the Future for a Law Student?

Law school is very traditional and changes subtly, if at all. The past 6 months have thrown a wrench into the education of law that has rarely been seen. The coronavirus has turned the tradition of law upside down, and we are seeing situations that are unprecedented. The LSAT has moved online, states are canceling bar exams, and laws schools are also moving online or to hybrid learning.For a field that experiences little change, how are recent law school graduates and students doing, and what exactly does the field of law look like?

• LSAT is now online and has experienced glitches that has lost over 140 students’ scores from the month of July
• Resources are not as plentiful for libraries or study rooms, and lack of in-person tutoring is scarce
• In-person campus tours are mostly unavailable until 2021, making decisions for prospective students harder
• Some states are canceling the bar, and cannot give details on when it will be back

These challenges are not perfect by any means as there are some positives coming out of all the massive changes. The median salary for law school graduates is still on the rise. Law is still prevalent in our current situation, and will be even more so after the pandemic as there will be plenty of legal issues to go around. Some 2020 graduates will find that some states are doing a “diploma privilege”that allow those students to practice in the state where they obtained their degree without having to take the bar.Other states are doing a mixed version of that which allows students to start working, but train under licensed attorneys for a set amount of time before entering the field independently.

Looking at the field of law outside of the Coronavirus, we can see where graduates are going, how the job market is shaping up, starting salaries, and what that all means. Law schools that have the highest graduated students employed see those students working at large law firms (>100 attorneys) at a rate of over 50%.

• Placement rate is highest in over a decade at 89.4%, 71% full time, 2% higher than pre-recession
• Graduating class 2009: 44,004 Graduating class 2019: 33,954
• Hiring at large firms has increased steadily since 2011
• Mid-size firms are decreasing entry level jobs due to mergers and dissolutions
• The increases in hiring are coming out of large law firms that employ 500 or more lawyers.
• Mean starting salary for 2019 graduates was $100,540, up 2.4% from the previous year

The college a law student attends is important to their future success. The big-name schools see their students advancing to full time jobs at a much higher rate than smaller, less prestigious schools. The good news is that the current job market for graduating law students is the healthiest we’ve seen in almost a decade.

As a current student wanting to pursue a degree in law, I’ve had very mixed thoughts and feelings. I’ve had many people tell me it is a great path to pursue, and others in the profession tell me that I should rethink that career path. Through research, I have been able to confirm why people say not to pursue law, but also why others say I should. Responses ranging from salary, job availability, cost of school are all reasons to either get into law or not. What I’ve found is this:

• Salary range is a “bimodal distribution”, making the average salary look nice at just under $100,000, though only 5% of lawyers make that much
• Job availability varies wildly and requires research to find the right place to live and work
• Opportunity as well as salary is extremely important, so understanding not every place has the same opportunity is critical.
• The average law student’s debt is roughly $115,000 at graduation, which is an expensive loan if you do not have a stable job.
• About 73% of law school students received a scholarship of some kind in 2019
• Increasing medians for schools means stricter standards for applicants
• This can be good due to less students being accepted, keeping graduating classes smaller and leading to more opportunities for graduates

What this information means to me is while law school can be somewhat of a gamble for most people, there is opportunity there. I believe that with enough effort and research I will be able to find success in my future endeavors within the field of law. The bimodal distribution may be scary to some prospective students, but with hard work and attending a great school, I believe I will fall on the right side of that distribution. Job availability is a concern, but geographic location is key, as well as entering a field of law that is needed right now or will be in the near future. The cost of law school is extremely high, but the opportunities for scholarships are out there, and even if they are not obtained, the potential earnings are enough to edge out my fears of a large debt. Overall, I believe law school has tremendous potential for me and anyone else as long as they put in lots of effort and set themselves up for success. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. So taking the correct steps and doing things the right way will benefit me in the end.

by Matthew Seidl