NYT: It's Time to Rethink the Legal Profession
In an opinion piece published today, the New York Times leaves little doubt that there are changes afoot in the legal profession. Massive, paradigm-shifting changes.
Amid bursts of unprecedented layoffs and firm closures, young associates are finding themselves with six-figure student loan debt and no source of income.
But the New York Times sees a possible silver lining.
Those left stranded and those still standing may spur the drawing of “blueprints for the 21st century.”
So what’s going to change?
• Compensation. The out-of-whack pay chasm in which BigLaw lawyers make $160,000 to start while state and local prosecutors start in the mid-to-upper $40,000s is likely to change, with high salaries being reined in. “One industry-watcher says it could fall as low as $100,000. And fewer firms will feel the need to pay the top salary,” the Times notes.
• Tuition. Between 1990 and 2003, private law school educations costs rose at nearly three times the rate of consumer prices, with the average graduate now leaving with more than $80,000 in debt. Expect a correction on tuition and more law schools to follow Northwestern University’s two-year law school model.
• Curriculum. There may also be pressure on law schools, because of the economic conditions, to retool “sometimes-aimless second and third years” of courses to be more practical in nature, with more emphasis on going into nonlegal careers.
