Salary Reality: Many Lawyers Don't Earn Big Bucks

[bruinbro]

Posted this article already, but a good read for prospective law students:

Salary Reality: Many Lawyers Don't Earn Big Bucks
By Mary Flood, Houston Chronicle

Jul. 26--People have a false impression about lawyers -- that they all make six-figure salaries.

With at least three big law firms in Houston announcing this month that they're raising starting pay to $160,000, there's reason for the confusion.

But the reality is that first-year graduates from the three Houston law schools make as little as $30,000 a year and have a median salary of around $70,000.
mary.flood@chron.com
http://www.boomj.com/?page=lifestyle/newsdetail&storyID=108763597&password=fgjqui

Median salary of $70,000 from TTT's is actually pretty impressive.

[sc3pt0r]

Actually, I think U of H is T2.

The other two schools are T4.

[wiimote]

Hey hottie babe. Welcome to the "trying to educate LSD about tier 2 reality" club.

[sc3pt0r]

 

[sc3pt0r]

Why does everyone seem to think that law school is a bad idea if you are not at a Top 14 school?  So what if you only make 70k per year.

70k is more than all three years of law school is going to cost me.  Sure there is the lost wages for the three years of law school, but who is to say that I didn't want to go?  Hell, I get to live the student life for three more years!  I hate working medial jobs, and ever since my dad attended law school (he started when I was 11), I've wanted to attend.

My dad went to American University, graduated @ 17% in his class, is partner, and now makes a couple hundred grand a year.  He works quite a bit, but not as much as the BIGLAW guys, and seems to enjoy what he is doing.  He worked pretty hard in law school, but he was raising me, and didn't seem to have any problem.  He now has two other children, is married, and has a couple of properties in the D.C. area.  These properties were quite expensive, given the area, but he was able to afford them, all the while paying back his 60k in student loans (not including interest).

The point is........you will find a job.........you will do fine.........most law schools are not bad investments.........

[sh89]

Why does everyone seem to think that law school is a bad idea if you are not at a Top 14 school?  So what if you only make 70k per year.

70k is more than all three years of law school is going to cost me.  Sure there is the lost wages for the three years of law school, but who is to say that I didn't want to go?  Hell, I get to live the student life for three more years!  I hate working medial jobs, and ever since my dad attended law school (he started when I was 11), I've wanted to attend.

My dad went to American University, graduated @ 17% in his class, is partner, and now makes a couple hundred grand a year.  He works quite a bit, but not as much as the BIGLAW guys, and seems to enjoy what he is doing.  He worked pretty hard in law school, but he was raising me, and didn't seem to have any problem.  He now has two other children, is married, and has a couple of properties in the D.C. area.  These properties were quite expensive, given the area, but he was able to afford them, all the while paying back his 60k in student loans (not including interest).

The point is........you will find a job.........you will do fine.........most law schools are not bad investments.........

Finally an encouraging post!
BTW,does T2 stand for top 20 and t4 for top 40?

[just dot]

Why does everyone seem to think that law school is a bad idea if you are not at a Top 14 school?  So what if you only make 70k per year.

70k is more than all three years of law school is going to cost me.  Sure there is the lost wages for the three years of law school, but who is to say that I didn't want to go?  Hell, I get to live the student life for three more years!  I hate working medial jobs, and ever since my dad attended law school (he started when I was 11), I've wanted to attend.

My dad went to American University, graduated @ 17% in his class, is partner, and now makes a couple hundred grand a year.  He works quite a bit, but not as much as the BIGLAW guys, and seems to enjoy what he is doing.  He worked pretty hard in law school, but he was raising me, and didn't seem to have any problem.  He now has two other children, is married, and has a couple of properties in the D.C. area.  These properties were quite expensive, given the area, but he was able to afford them, all the while paying back his 60k in student loans (not including interest).

The point is........you will find a job.........you will do fine.........most law schools are not bad investments.........

Thank you for the encouraging post.  Not all of us even WANT to go into biglaw and some of us just want to be lawyers! I believe it's true that cream always rises to the top.  A law degree isn't going to make a slacker rich but it will be a great asset for someone with a great work ethic and drive.  It seems like most people want to focus on the scare tactics.... "You will have a Harvard law degree and work at McDonalds"  yeah...right.

[wiimote]

The point is........you will find a job.........you will do fine.........most law schools are not bad investments.........

Finally an encouraging post!
BTW,does T2 stand for top 20 and t4 for top 40?

That and 99c will buy you an item off the 99c value menu. At what point does "encouragement" turn into a lie which will harm your future?

[I am Penny Lane]

That and 99c will buy you an item off the 99c value menu.

You forgot tax.

[difinity]

The point is........you will find a job.........you will do fine.........most law schools are not bad investments.........

Finally an encouraging post!
BTW,does T2 stand for top 20 and t4 for top 40?

That and 99c will buy you an item off the 99c value menu. At what point does "encouragement" turn into a lie which will harm your future?

I think it's more about parity than about deceiving someone.  We hear a *lot* of horror stories.  There seems to be a stream of current and former law students who want to espouse this knowledge (undoubtedly because they went to law school for the wrong reasons and now resent their situation.)  However, we rarely hear the story "I'm a T2 grad and I'm facing bankruptcy because I can't find a job."  It always seems to come from T14's who think the rest of us are going to hell in a fast car.  It gets old quickly. 

I have a friend who graduated with a Computer Science degree from a T4 public university, barely made it into a T2 law school, graduated in the top 10% of his class with an interest in IP and is starting with a T10 law firm this fall making the $160K salary that is apparently so scarce and greatly coveted.  So it happens.  It doesn't happen to everyone or even a lot of people, but it happens to people who work hard and want it enough. 

Better advice would be: XYZ is what you have to do to get a good job/get into the top 10% if you're in a T2/T3 law school.  Even better: "This is what I did to get into the top 10% at my Tier 2 school."  I suppose that students in that situation have no reason to be on this board.