Posted on 01/04/2011 10:10:03 AM PST by SeekAndFind
The American Bar Association has officially issued a warning on its website.
The ABA is now making the case to persuade college students not to go to law school.
According to the association, over the past 25 years law school tuition has consistently risen two times faster than inflation.
The average private law student borrows about $92,500 for law school, while law students who attend public schools take out loans for $71,400. These numbers do not include any debt law students may still have from their time as undergraduates.
Before the recession, the ABA cites statistics that show an average starting salary for an associate of a large law firm of about $160,000 a year. But by 2009, about 42 percent of graduates began with an annual salary of less than $65,000.
And those are just the newbies.
Flanagan & Einwohner partner Stewart Einwohner says he has been getting resumes for pro bono work from experienced lawyers.
"Some of the resumes that have come across my desk are from attorneys who have good skills and impressive work histories, and they are offering to work for free. Rather than sit at home with no salary and nothing to do, many of these attorneys are offering to work for free in exchange for something to put on their resumes. Their strategy is to keep their resumes fresh with the hopes of finding something long term," said Einwohner.
The ABA is also warning of endowment losses, declining state support, and difficulties in fundraising that have hit law schools hard. It expects most public schools to raise tuition this year by 10 to 25 percent.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnbc.com ...
...and that’s why we get so many lawyers circling like jackals around the PI cases: everybody thinks they’re somehow entitled to a million-dollar verdict within the first 5 years (or ever!). What needs to be taught is: do the right thing, the right way, for the right reason. The rest will take care of itself.
Colonel, USAFR
“Funny how some lawyers claim to be for free enterprise except for their profession.”
This is true of any high paying profession. Remember it wasn’t many years ago that you could read for the BAR exam and medicine was a more on the job training experience than a school experience.
The argument is that things are more complicated now. That is only true for the more advanced areas of these professions.
One of the first tenants of Progessivism is that a specialized ruling elite is needed because the unwashed mass is incapable of self-government. Nowhere is this mindset more prevalent than in the legal profession.
“One of the first tenants of Progessivism is that a specialized ruling elite is needed because the unwashed mass is incapable of self-government. Nowhere is this mindset more prevalent than in the legal profession.”
I have to agree, since I’m at a Medical University, you haven’t lived until you have had a minor deity Medical Director tell you how to operate in you area without knowing anything about it.
There are too darned many lawyers, anyway.
Amen to that!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.