Law Career Alternatives

ucsd_ucla_dad
Thu, 06 Oct 2011 20:45:34 +0000

^^ Debt is relevant, but usually necessary at times (house, sometimes a car, sometimes college) and not always something to be avoided at all costs (but I can tell you that I’m debt averse myself). My point was that if a professional has been paying on a $40K loan for 20 years or more there’s something unusual about it. Sure, if a person decides to take on some debt and then gets a low paying job and decides to stick with that low paying job for over 20 years, then they shouldn’t be surprised or complaining about it - it was their decision. But they shouldn’t advise a new person to not pursue an avenue they might have been stongly considering only because of their own decisions. I can see the validity of him suggesting to your D to not take on a $40K loan (or today’s equivalent) and then work for 20 years at a very low paying job since paying the loan back will be difficult but that advice isn’t unique to lawyers but to imply that his situation was the norm (since he used himself as an example) and therefore advise her against the entire profession is what I consider to have no relevance.

It’s also not a given that the debt to become a lawyer will always be $150K since I think virtually all law schools are somewhat (but not much) less than that and some are substantially less. It’s possible for some students to get full scholarships and partial scholarships at some decent law schools so it’s possible to have virtually no debt. If someone had their eye on law, but didn’t want to carry the debt, then they could at least apply and see if they end up with any offers.