Should You Go to Law School?

I took the chance to read an interesting article from a Georgetown University Law Center professor entitled Should You Go to Law School?  I want to take this chance of chances to give my opinion on the matter and ask the same question, "should you go to law school?"

The good professor and author if this long-winded article starts with the obvious and the same thing that every person on the internet is pretty much agreeing on: there are too many law students, too many lawyers, and way too few jobs in the legal market to cover them.  She also states that law tuition is far too expensive at many schools, even though it could be argued that pretty much every school's tuition is too high.

I think we can all pretty much agree on those facts.  However, like many articles that are not overly critical of law school, the author does not give a solid answer.  She beats around the bush, causing havoc in the mind of the reader.  The reader, upon finishing this article, will still wonder if they should indeed go to law school.

Here is the conclusion that the article gives:

Bottom line? If you want to go to law school, go -- but only if you get into a good law school, expect to be a strong student, have a rational plan for paying all those bills, and consider yourself persistent and tough-minded enough to refrain from tripping down the path of least resistance.

I want this article, however, to be different.  I want to answer that question definitively.  The naysayers are saying, brain to brain, bone to bone, do not go to law school.  They are pretty much in agreement that law is a horrible profession.  Some state "do not go unless you get into a top 6 school."  I guess that would work for you if you were one of the few to own the LSAT and likely had the money sitting around to take prep courses and prepare.  However, not everyone gets into the top 6 schools and there is a legion of people who want to go to law school.

So, should you go?  The answer, truly, lies in you.  However, if you are reading this, you are probably on the fence.  It's those people who are on the fence that I want to appeal to.  I want to help you decide if you should go to law school.

Now, the article that I mentioned above mentions that law school is an expensive undertaking.  I, for example, hold almost $300,000 in educational debt, most of which is from law school!  That's a whole lot of money!  However, at the same time, a recent article that I had the chance of reading an interesting ABA Journal article entitled "what's the value of a law degree" that states that, on average, law grads make $1,000,000 more than non-law grads! 

Two professors are battling the conventional wisdom about the lowered value of a law degree with a research paper finding a JD more than pays for itself.

Over a lifetime, a law grad will make $1 million more, on average, than a college grad, according to the authors, Seton Hall University law professor Michael Simkovic and Rutgers University economics and business professor Frank McIntyre. The median increase in earnings is $610,000.

Inside Higher Ed summarizes their findings.

The median value of a JD is $350,000 for those in the 25th percentile and $1.1 million in the 75th percentile. “People with law degrees are still doing a lot better than people with only bachelor’s degrees,” Simkovic told Inside Higher Ed.

New findings are showing a law degree to be very valuable.

I have, however, always argued that entering the legal field should not be about money.  I never expected to get a $75,000+ a year job in law.  Instead, I chose to go to law school for other reasons.  First, I wanted the superior education that going to law school gave me.  Second, I wanted to be more marketable.  No matter what some people may assert, having a J.D. makes you more marketable.  No, it does not substitute for work experience, so get plenty while you are a law student, and if you come to law school with work experience, bonus points for you!

So, should you go to law school?  If you are asking that question and you are trying to convince yourself to go, then, by all means, just go already!  Now is probably the best time to go.  Enrollments are down at many schools, the legal economy is improving, and baby boomers are getting ready to retire. 

A final note: be picky about the school you attend, but remember, just because a school is ranked low does not mean that it's a bad school.  U.S. News rankings, overall, mean very little in the whole scheme of things.  Instead, you should focus on how well graduates actually do, how well the school is with helping graduates get into good jobs, how the school is respected in your area, and how you believe you will fit in at that school.  Look at the price and the aid that you get.  I have mentioned before that I have found that lower tier schools are, overall, indistinguishable from higher ranked schools.  Rankings change every year, and a school that is in the 70's one year may be in the 50's the next year.  I have seen schools drop 20-30 places in one year.  To go to a school based on US News is silly.