I sat back last week, ignoring the emails, ignoring the messages. There was a new article in the New York Times about whether law school was a "losing game?." You would have thought they discovered the real way to get on the first page of Google.
The argument against law school today goes something like this:
[1] I heard you can make a lot of money as a lawyer.
[2] I heard you can get a job out of school paying $160,000 a year.
[3] This law school says of all their graduates are employed after law school.
[4] If I take out $150,000 in loans and to go to this law school where they say I will have a job making much money, I can pay off my loans and get my Porsche quick.
The trending argument is that law schools are to blame. They are taking advantage of potential law students by trying to convince them that it's all butterflies and rainbows, with a pot of gold at the end. These meek, impressionable potential law students are following the pied piper in to law school and shocked, shocked to hear that there are no jobs at the end of the road.
There are too many people in law school, too many lawyers, blah blah blah. My God I'm tired of talking about this.
So few are actually entering law school today for the purpose of being a lawyer that I could give a crap whether you get a job. If you went because you were convinced that it was like buying a guaranteed lottery ticket, you shouldn't blame the law school for roping you in, you should accept the fact that you are so incredibly stupid that maybe becoming a ticket taker at a movie theater is even beyond your intelligence.
Seriously, you really went to law school because the school convinced you that a job was there at the end? Can I have your name, because I would never hire you as a lawyer. I'm just stunned at your stupidity.
I wonder no more how social media snake oil salesmen thrive in this world of "how to make money as a lawyer." The same people that went to law school because you were "guaranteed" a job, are the ones who think someone can teach you the secrets to twitter.
I don't even know why I'm wasting my time writing about this. The profession needs a cleanse - it needs to rid itself of the morons entering our profession because "the law school made me do it." Seriously people, you don't belong in a "get it in writing" profession.
I'm done with this topic. It just annoys the shit out of me
Located in Miami, Florida, Brian Tannebaum practices Bar Admission and Discipline and Criminal Defense. He is the author of I Got A Bar Complaint.
2 comments:
I hate to admit it, but you're right. I'll be honest...I'm one of those people that only went to law school because it sounded like it might be fun to be a lawyer and I thought I could make more money doing that than being a librarian (I'm serious; it was either law school or library school.) And I've had my share of rough times since I graduated in 2007, right as things were starting to go south. Still...enough with the whining. That New York Times article was great, except for the fact that it focused on exactly the kind of people who really shouldn't be whining about anything. Where are the articles about the older people with kids who made what they thought was a practical decision to go to law school, who are now struggling to find jobs or open their own practices and make enough money to feed and clothe their kids? Nobody's doing articles about them because they're too busy working and making ends meet to sit around reading articles about whiny law school grads. The people with all the time to read those articles are...well, the whiny law school kids.
Anyway you're right. Everytime I start to feel sorry for myself, I just read an article about the "law school" crisis to remind myself of what a douche I'll sound like if I complain to anyone.
When I first read the NYT article I started to think my future might have some of the ill faith as this Wallerstein character. But on second thought he seems like a bit of an idiot. He picked a law school soley on the base that San Diego would be a nice place to spend three years of his life. He almost gets talked into buying a house when starting law school though he has no financial support for his expense. Then he moves across the country to a saturated job market because he feels like it, making it incredibly more difficult to find a job because his school probably has no connections there. His choices are what got him to where he or shall I where is he not.
People need to stop blaming the law school. It has been and always will be - you get to where you are in life by your actions alone.
I know I don't need to say this but I will - Brian you are right!
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