I am an attorney.
For the most part, life after law school has never been the pollyannish caricature shown above. For the top of the class a the top-tier schools, there may have been jobs waiting after law school. But, for the vast majority of law schoool graduates, law is like any other field — you have to start at the bottom, put in your time, earn your keep, and work your way up.
Starting salaries for fresh law school grads (at least in Texas) can be $50K to $75K (reasonably good, but certainly not exorbitant). Many attorneys start off doing unstable temporary work for a good hourly wage — $30-$40 bucks an hour or so — while looking for a permanent gig. They don’t hand out $75K per year jobs on the street corner ... finding a job with a law degree and no experience can take some time (particularly when every competitor in the market has the same degree, and likely more experience).
The earning potential for attorneys is good ... but you don’t just waltz out of law school and into a $150K job. It takes time, it takes work, it takes diligence ... just like any other industry.
FYI — this is not intended as a complaint, but a reality check for budding attorneys and non-attorneys that think the life of a law school graduate is like it looks on TV. I believe it is a good thing that most attorneys have to pay their dues.
SnakeDoc
Everyone pays their dues.