Law school may no longer be worth it

Law school is famously difficult, placing incredible strain on its students and quickly whittling down those who just can’t make it through the program.  It is also expensively prohibitive for most potential lawyers. But for years that work has had a huge payback, those who made it through law programs expected steady employment and high income as a reward.

But that no longer seems to be the case.  According to the Baltimore Sun, the paradigm has shifted.  Now with rising tuition, fewer available lawyer positions, and lower employment rates many students have to ask themselves whether law school is worth it.

The legal sector lost roughly 2,500 jobs in 2011, last month it lost some 1,300 positions.  The overall employment rate for law graduates hovers around 87.6 percent, the lowest since 1996. And of those who are employed only about 50 percent worked at law firms. 

Some of the problem  is a trickle-down effect.  As top firms took on less applicants those top-performing students competed for positions at mid-level firms, causing students who would usually work at those firms to congest traffic further down the latter.  And as practicing law professionals lose their own jobs they enter further into the competition.

According to Brian Tamanaha, author of "Failing Law Schools," 45,000 new law graduates hit the market each year nationwide, but recruiters only project 25,000 new openings each year through 2018. 

The key, everyone agrees, is to figure out why you’re in school and whether you can handle the average debt.  With the market being how it is Tamanaha says, "You better really want to be a lawyer, or you shouldn't be in law school at all.”