jobs slinging coffee will always be here...
Posted on 04/21/2013 2:39:58 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
When I applied to law school in 1975, the nation was recovering from a severe and prolonged recession. Even so, I always assumed that I’d be able to make a comfortable living with a legal degree, although I didn’t think that practicing law would make me rich.
Three and a half years later, I became a new associate at one of the nation’s largest law firms, Kirkland & Ellis. It had about 150 attorneys in two offices, Chicago and Washington, D.C. My annual salary was $25,000, which is $80,000 in 2012 dollars. There were rumors that some partners in large firms earned as much as ten or fifteen times that amount; by any measure, that was and is a lot of money.
The unlikely prospect of amassing great wealth wasn’t what attracted me to the law. Rather, I saw it as a prestigious profession whose practitioners enjoyed personally satisfying careers in which they provided others with counsel, advice, judgment, and a unique set of skills. Mentors at my first and only law firm taught me to focus on a single result: high-quality work for clients. If I accomplished that goal, everything else would take care of itself.
Today, the business of law focuses law school deans and practitioners in big law firms on something else: maximizing immediate profits for their institutions. That has muddied the profession’s mission and, even worse, set it on a course to become yet another object lesson in the perils of short-term thinking. Like the dot-com, real estate, and financial bubbles that preceded it, the lawyer bubble won’t end well, either. But now is the time to consider its causes, stop its growth, and take steps that might soften the impact when it bursts.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
Yep, everything is coming up roses since the Democrat "mainstream" newsrooms got their African communist elected president.
The City of Boston will be a gold mine for the upcoming civil rights class action law suit coming their way.
As I recall, and I may be off by a few hundred dollars, it was about $3,000 per year, including room but not board. Obviously, that should be adjusted for inflation when comparing it with current costs.
Two trends in place - the trend of automation and outsourcing where work that used to be done by junior lawyers is now done by machines or grunt workers.
A race to the bottom. I suspect the mesothelioma and vaginal mesh lawyers are doing just fine, thank you. Someone who actually wants to provide a service to society - not so much.
“Do you remember the general cost of law school back in 1966?”
Brave New World: Get your law degree at Costco.
How true. My involvement with class action suits:
1. I received about ten $10 discount airline tickets for United Airlines. Don't even know what it was about, I just flew a lot with them at the time.
The tickets could only be used one for each booking on a FULL FARE ticket and expired in twelve months. Never used a single one.
2. Received a $10 check for some purchase I made back in the 1980's
3. Bought a stereo for my young daughter and the CD broke. About two years later I received notice I could have the thing fixed for free, including the shipping, or ask for $50. I took the $50 since I had already bought her a new stereo and junked the old one.
In none of these suits did I even realize I was a part of them nor was I ever asked to decline from the suit.
Most lawyers are scum.
Ironically, despite these being difficult times for some attorneys, and that law school graduates are having a hard time finding jobs, it’s still almost prohibitively expensive to hire an attorney when you really need one.
I am sure in 1966 $3,000 that was still a good sum of money.
I was thinking a State school here ran an article recently saying they charged $2,000/year tuition in 1989. So, a law degree was about $6,000, maybe $8,000 for books and fees. I thought at the time that was low and didn’t include room or board.
And eat at Taco Bell. :)
Firm are also getting rid of the older guys who don’t know how to do their own clerical/secretarial work on computers.
The above being said one must always remember the role of the Judiciary in reaching todays tragedy. Rose Bird of California comes to mind, who by judicial fiat she and a few of her cohorts on the California Supreme court destroyed the form of California Tort law and imposed a formless mess.
Where there are too many lawyers, there is no justice...
I’ve had some recent experience with the legal “profession,” and I’m shocked at how marginal and mediocre these people are. I’m talking about legal documents with misspelled words and poor English, failure to appear at court hearings on behalf of a client, etc.
A lot of people can't afford lawyers and therefore simply don't bother using the legal system the way they used to.
My best was a $25 gift card from Lowes, the case had something to do with having made your credit card payment at the store.
That was pretty good, and I took it to Lowes, bought some flowers and of course spent a tad more than the 25 bucks.
jobs slinging coffee will always be here...
Well, I see the accountants are really in charge of this industry. Welcome brother, to the new company.
I received a $7.50 check because the sticker on my lawn mower engine stated it was 5 hp. It was actually slightly less. Never heard what the lawyers made.
Nobody here evening mentioning how the proliferation of in house attorneys at large companies essentially functions to limit risk and, ultimately, the bottom line. For example, attorneys at pharmaceutical companies are essentially a “revenue mitigation” department. Of course, most of this is a result of the ambulance chasers on the outside forcing any company into a defensive and very expensive posture. I view most attorneys as wrenches in the spokes of progress and freedom.
This is new?
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