Should You Go to Law School? A List of Pros vs. Cons
/A glimpse into what kinds of students go to law school, and how to determine whether law school is the right choice for you
the decision to attend law school is a highly personal one
Introduction
“Should I go to law school?” This is a question thousands of students—especially those with liberal arts degrees—deliberate every year. Perhaps you have always dreamt of being in court, advocating on behalf of those in-need, or heard about the buzz of Big Law salaries and want to gain some rigorous corporate experience that will position you for a lucrative career.
Law school is often sold as a path for the confused, and a fire-proof way of laying groundwork for a serious and successful career. But law school is not for everyone, especially these days. So how do you know if you should go to law school?
Reasons to go to law school
A law degree is an enticing option for three reasons:
Law school offers employment flexibility
A law degree can be used to secure jobs across various governmental and business industries. While it trains you to be a licensed lawyer, graduates end up in all industries, ranging from entertainment to sports to politics. This is especially important given the shifts in what prospective law students want to do.
A recent study conducted by Gallup for the American Association of Law Schools found that, among undergraduates considering law school, nearly half stated they were interested in pursuing a career in politics, government, or public service. It also found that one in three were motivated by the opportunity to advocate for social change. This kind of flexibility is key to surviving and excelling at a changing job market.
Law school boosts your credibility
Law school helps build research, speaking, writing, and analytical reasoning skills—all qualities that are looked favorably upon in a wide scope of industries. Many employers assume that someone with a law degree has, at the very least, proven themselves to be adept at many vital skillsets.
Law school is intellectually enriching
Many have heard of law school’s Socratic method of teaching. That is, they’ve heard of the difficult cold calls in classes, and the rigor of a law school environment. It is by no means easy. But a majority of law students say they walk away from law school with a richer understanding of the law. Do not look at a JD as a degree only, but as an educational opportunity that will help you hone your public speaking, advocacy and writing skills.
What are the cons of going to law school?
With all of these qualities, advantages and resources, why doesn’t everyone go to law school?
The simple answer is a combination of debt and a rapidly changing legal market.
On average, law school graduates accumulate $145,500 in debt according to the most recent data from the National Center for Education Statistics. Lawyers with low salaries may be able to qualify for income-based repayment plans.
Alternatively, public interest attorneys may qualify for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, which can potentially eliminate federal student loan balances for borrowers who make loan payments for 10 years while working for the government or certain nonprofits. There are also various refinancing options and a plethora of financial products that can help you withstand the weight of debt. No matter what plan of action you pursue, the financial burden of law school must be fully understood and taken into account.
The changing job market is also one to keep in mind when considering law school. Law firms are finding increasingly innovative ways to address the needs of their clients and building broader relationships with stakeholders, but those same changes could imperil your job prospects or make the field unappetizing to you. Legal jobs have a chance of being international outsourced, for instance, and billing models are shifting.
All of that’s not to mention the well-studied lack of work-life balance in the legal field. Prospective law students considering law school should be aware of these trends.
With that said, the traditional legal market has hopeful projections. 89 percent of 2018 law school grads found jobs within 10 months. The same study found that 71 percent of 2018 law graduates worked in positions that required a J.D. Litigators are in especially high demand, and will continue to be in the next two years.
Given these potential trade-offs, one’s decision to go to law school should not be driven by fear or the negative projections of debt or a changing job market. Instead, it is a decision that should be driven by self-assessment, and career goals. Find out what job market trends you want to follow. And if public interest is the path for you, seriously consider the debt balance you will have to maintain with your goals, personal financial situation, and long-term costs.
The bottom-line answer: if you can avoid considerable debt, laser focus on equipping yourself with practical skillsets, and remain flexible about future job opportunities—you can have a successful career in the legal field. Choose your law school carefully, consider the kinds of clinical experiences you want, the possibility of mentorship, and the employment history of recent graduates at schools you’re drawn to.
Law school is ideal for those with a vision for their career path, a loose plan for how they want to execute their vision, and the flexibility to meet the needs of a changing law market.
What is law school like?
When considering law school, many often overlook the sobering reality of the three years of grueling coursework, clinical experience, research, and two summers of internships. Law school is known to be an intellectually stimulating, and challenging experience.
The current style of legal pedagogy infuses the Socratic method, aka cold calling on students at random during classtime, and case-by-case analysis. The Socratic method is a form of teaching based on asking students questions on the spot to encourage students to think aloud and analyze difficult legal and doctrinal principles aloud with their collogues. This method is often intimidating to students; while the material may not be particularly difficult to understand, the methods their professors employ produces anxiety and stress in the student body.
Students are asked to read an average of several hundred pages of cases a day as a way to learn illustrative examples of judicial principles. The structure of the legal classroom is meant to give students practice thinking aloud and with public speaking.
In addition to weathering a rigorous teaching method, law students must immerse themselves in substantive clinical (i.e. mimicking the practice of law) and journal (i.e. writing about the law) experiences in order to graduate with marketable skills. Clinics and journals provide law students with ways to apply their doctrinal, and often theoretical, lessons to help the lives of their community members or in service of important causes nationally.
Hand-on programs and clinical experiences with the supervision of a licensed attorney, will provide law students with a look into the lives of attorneys, the daily challenges of the profession, and an opportunity to manage a real case load. Students might immerse, for instance, in an immigration law clinic, spending a few hours each week seeing how that branch of the law is applied in real life and providing help that’s permitted for someone who hasn’t yet passed the bar.
Clinics and journals will also provide students with lawyering skills, expansive networks that can be integral when entering the workforce, and a series of professional accomplishments and research opportunities that will help differentiate you from other law students.
Finally, all successful law students take advantage of their summers to get exposure in fields they hope to join, build their resume, and get a better sense of the kinds of offices they hope to work for. These internships are crucial, and some students tailor their coursework to the needs of their prospective employers. While internships in Big Law or at other commercial firms are often handsomely compensated, a majority of public interest positions are unpaid, and only a few schools provide students with financial assistance during the summer.
Prospective law students should be prepared for a rigorous yet stimulating three years. One must enter law school with extreme discipline in order to manage fairly challenging coursework, and clear road plan for the types of extracurriculars and internships that could help catapult one from a successful law student, to an employable one.
Remember: expand your networks, balance coursework, and remind yourself why you chose law school through meaningful clinical experiences.
Questions to ask yourself if you’re considering law school:
Do I want to practice as a litigator?
What would I pursue if a law practice does not seem reasonable?
How comfortable will I be with legal pedagogy?
What kinds of clinics and journals would I join in law schools?
Do I have a sense of where I want to spend my summers during law school?
What skills do you have prior to entering law school that could help differentiate you in a legal market?
What are your personal financial goals over the upcoming decade?
About the Author
Dr. Shirag Shemmassian is the Founder of Shemmassian Academic Consulting and one of the world's foremost experts on law school admissions. For nearly 20 years, he and his team have helped thousands of students get into law school using his exclusive approach.
