What does a J.D. from an accredited law school get you? Not much, apparently. If you're lucky, maybe a law clerk position that pays $15/hr. At this point, paralegals have more job prospects than law school grads. I actually saw a posting for $10/hr. I was making more than $10/hr when I was a telemarketer my senior year of high school! I was making $10.25/hr working at Banana Republic in SF after graduating undergrad.
So now that I'm $150,000+ in debt, and rising, I've come to the realization that my J.D. is worth nothing but debt. Three years in law school just means you come out with a diploma that is essentially more detrimental than rewarding.
I keep reading comments from practicing attorneys that say that recent law graduates are too demanding and expect too much too soon. Well, in response to those attorneys, I guarantee you did not graduate with $150K in debt, and I am willing to bet that it was easier to find a job as an attorney 20 years ago than it is today.
When the economy is bad, people flock to grad school to kill time and wait out the market. This means too many graduates and still not enough jobs to meet the demand. Tuition rises every year, employers are pickier because they can be.
Where does that leave law school grads like me? At the bottom of a very deep barrel. accumulating debt everyday.
Do I regret going to law school? Partly, yes. I don't regret the learning and the experience. I do regret having chosen this profession. I think there were other avenues available that I didn't recognize. I feel like I've invested too much to switch at this point in my life. I have too much debt to suddenly jump into another field.
Ideally, I would like to work at a firm specializing in Land Use law. I'd like to be a part of a few big development projects, and then I'd like to start doing all those things I'm now discovering.
How come it feels like this is the hardest part when I think it should be a whole lot easier?
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