By now you should have heard about the controversy surrounding how some law schools report statistics on job data. If you have not, you should know that for some schools when you see a statistic that says 95% of students have a job after graduation, this may simply means that they are “employed” and the percentage often includes people who are working at McDonalds, at bars, collecting census information, cleaning houses and…well you get the picture. A friend told me that when he started law school and was setting up his cable, the customer service operator told him that she was an alum from the school he was going to attend. She too, the operator, was most likely included in that school’s job data stats.
This reporting has led to a wave of protest and even lawsuits as students argue that they were misled and that if they would have known how dismal the job market was, they would not have spent $200,000 to go to law school. Others use the statistics and the poor job market to dissuade some from applying to law school arguing that there is a glut of lawyers on the market. One individual on another blog called for comprehensive reform and called for an advertising campaign "similar to a proactive public health education on HIV," before students "ruin their lives." (I found this description a bit on the dramatic side but who am I to say) A few points on this topic.
First, I fully support accurate reporting of job statistics and students should make an informed decision as to whether or not they want to attend law school. The legal profession is based on ethics and has many professional responsibility requirements that clearly law schools and lawyer should follow. Law schools should not wait for regulation to force them to accurately report and all should take the steps that some law schools have already taken to accurately report. The American Bar Association (ABA) has recently developed standards that should at least in part address some of the issues.
That being said, I also think students have a responsibility to perform some research about the job market such that they are comfortable with a decision to become a lawyer. A simple internet search will (and would have) shed some light on the fact that not every lawyer is making a six digit salary and that finding a job as a lawyer (especially in this economy) is difficult. In addition, the law school application process is extensive and it strikes me that at some point during that six month to year process (LSAT, application, acceptance, summer) that a student has an affirmative responsibility to investigate the job prospects a bit more than relying on the webpage of a private law school. As such, I am not a big fan of suing your law school and would not consider it even if I did not find a job. To be clear, these comments in no way absolve law schools from the responsibility to publish meaningful statistics but rather are meant to prompt current and prospective students to examine the true reasons they decided or will decide to become lawyers.
I also feel that students should not give up on a dream to become a lawyer because of a current poor job market. The fact is that given the poor economy many graduates in all fields have and will continue to have a tough time getting a job and this should not stop an individual from going after the profession they desire. If you go to law school and want to become a lawyer, you should do it for the right reasons. If this is the case, you will find a job (eventually) as long as you keep plugging away at it. I have many friends that went to Brooklyn Law School who graduated in 2010 and it is true that when I sat for the bar that summer, many did not have jobs (legal or other). I recently connected with many of them through Linkedin and see that now most do have jobs in a legal field.
You should also keep in mind that a law degree is often not a printing press when it comes to making money. Many lawyers are not making hundreds of thousands of dollars but neither are many MBAs, Accountants or other professionals. If money is the only reason you want to become a lawyer you should seek another profession. (perhaps a banker but even many of them are unemployed now). In addition, I believe that a law degree will help you in many other fields. I also have an M.B.A and to tell you the truth I have found my J.D. much more helpful.
I suppose that one good thing about the controversy is that it may create a large group of lawyers who go to law school for the right reasons. Presumably those who are unsure or think that they will not make enough money will decide to do something else that will satisfy this need.
