Law schools growing, but jobs aren't
June 17, 2008 The United States last week became the world's first nation of
200 accredited law schools, as the American Bar Association gave
provisional approval to two North Carolina institutions.
In other countries, it's much harder to become a lawyer. In the
United States, the doors are open and getting wider. The 150,000
students enrolled in law schools last year were an all-time high.
So adding more slots means even more avenues of opportunity, right?
On closer inspection, however, the economics of the "more is
better" argument for legal education don't necessarily hold up.
It's the numbers at the top that get all the attention: At the
largest law firms, median starting salaries were $145,000 last
fall, according to NALP, an organization that tracks law placement.
But many students don't realize at first that the high-paying
law firms recruit almost exclusively at institutions ranked in the
top 15 or so. Overall, the median salary for new lawyers is
$62,000. For public interest law jobs, new lawyers can expect about
$40,000.
Meanwhile, the average amount students borrow to attend a
private law school surged 25 percent between 2002 and 2007 to
$87,906, ABA figures show. For public law schools, borrowing
averages $57,170.
"I think we have this fundamental disconnect between images of
lawyers in the popular media, in the courtroom dispensing justice,
where everyone seems prosperous and well paid," said William
Henderson, an Indiana University-Bloomington law professor who
studies the job market. "The reality is for a lot of people, law
school is a route to trying to start your own private practice, and
that's a very crowded business right now."
Vichet Chan, who received his law degree from Catholic
University in Washington, D.C., in 2007 has been looking for work
ever since. He recently moved back in with his parents in West
Virginia to save money. He owes about $250 a month in interest on
student loans. If he gets a job, he will lose his hardship deferral
and will owe about $1,000 a month.
"The thing is companies want experience from young lawyers, but
it's hard to get the experience," Chan said.
One symptom of the surplus is the rise of so-called "contract
attorneys" - essentially temps with JDs (the doctor of law
degree). They work for roughly $20- to $40-an-hour on often
monotonous tasks, like reviewing documents, that law firms
outsource. A blog called Temporary Attorney even chronicles the
mind-numbing assignments, verbal abuse and poor working conditions
that include cockroach-infested, un-air-conditioned rooms with
blocked exits and no breaks allowed.
Chan has been offered contract work in Washington but is
reluctant to move back because - as usual with contract work -
there are no guarantees it will last more than a few weeks.
Regardless, universities continue to build law schools.
With provisional accreditation, Charlotte School of Law and Elon
University were Nos. 199 and 200. Nine others operating share that
status. And at least 10 new ones are in the works nationwide, The
National Law Journal recently reported, in states including
Connecticut, Pennsylvania and California.
In New York, home to 150,000 lawyers (the most of any state),
legislators recently appropriated more than $50 million to develop
two new public law schools and one affiliated with St. John Fisher
College, a private school. Some leaders of the state's 15 existing
law schools were dumbfounded.
"There's no question that we simply have a glut of law
schools," Makau Mutua, interim dean of the University at Buffalo
Law School, told The Associated Press. He called state support for
a private law school "mind-boggling."
For universities, a new law school is a lot more attractive
financially than, say, spending money to make sure more
undergraduates complete their degree within six years (national
average: 57 percent).
Law schools have big classes, and don't need to provide much
financial aid, because students are expected to borrow the money
they need.
The case for some new law schools is stronger than others, and
Gene Clark, who leads Charlotte School of Law, makes a pretty
strong one.
Charlotte is the largest city in the United States without a law
school, he says, and fast-growing North Carolina has the fewest
lawyers per capita of any state.
Clark says his institution fills an important gap, serving
underrepresented groups and providing a flexible schedule for
working adults. While the market for traditional lawyering jobs is
mixed, he says, it's strong in other fields for people -
law-enforcement officers, entrepreneurs - with legal skills.
Finally, Charlotte School of Law is a for-profit institution.
Unlike several law schools in the works, it isn't taking public
money. It will have to offer students good results, or it will go
under.
Some reasonably note that students should do their homework
about job prospects. If they think they can be successful, law
schools should give them that chance.
The problem is that law schools, obsessed with rankings, have
been less than straight with students about what they can expect.
Too many stats are self-reported. Henderson's research has found
evidence of "massive exaggeration" by law schools when they
report what graduates are up to.
The methods that law schools choose to collect salary info just
happen to be ones that underreport low earners. The figures for
what percentage are employed within nine months often say nothing
about whether those graduates are using their law degree. They
could be taxi drivers with JDs - and $100,000 of debt.
"If we really started unpacking these numbers," Henderson said
in an interview, "we would see some really unattractive accounting
how law schools classify their graduates. It would be borderline
scandalous."
It's time, he argues, to send in the accountants, to audit what
law schools advertise and make sure everyone is reporting numbers
the same way. Only then can customers make an informed decision
about whether law school will really be a good investment.
---
On the Net:
http://www.temporaryattorney.blogspot.com