a lawyer's job market

My Dad sent me this article from the Wall Street Journal, from September 2007, about the waning job market for lawyers. I started practicing in October 2006, so much of the article is relevant to my experiences, both in the frustration with the way law schools report their statistics, thus misleading a lot of people thinking about the career potential in the legal practice, as well as the frustrations in finding a job in such a tight market (and now, in practice, being able to continue to work to actually make more money each year to continue to pay off the mountain of debt you accumulate by going to law school).

Its not something I tend to talk a lot about in specifics with people, because ultimately, I have a job in a tough market (I was the last attorney hired by anyone in Goshen), and who really wants to hear a lawyer complain. But I think the above article would be good reading for anyone who is thinking of going to law school for money reasons. My own experience and those of my friends from law school ring true to this article. I make no where near the amount of money my law school represented was the average salary for their graduates, and my yearly income is less than half of my student loan debt, and likely to decrease with the sagging economy. I can handle all that because I didn't go to law school to make money, I like the intellectual side of law, so I stay happy at my job despite the economic realities of the situation. Others I know aren't so fortunate in their outlook.

In any event, anyone thinking of law school should read the article. And anyone who is curious to possibly get a more realistic viewpoint of the economics of law school and lawyering, it is a good read.