Pablo Luna
Let’s just start by saying that becoming a lawyer is not as easy as Elle Woods painted it to be. There are a lot of factors and challenges involved in practicing law. For starters, the cost of becoming a lawyer is vast and there are many requirements that must be met in order to start a career in the legal field.
Unfortunately, an economic downturn was already anticipated due to the 10-year expansion that has started in 2009. If that wasn’t bad enough, the global economy took an unprecedented hit due to the coronavirus outbreak, and you can see its devastating consequences all over the world. On a more positive note, this economic crisis prompted more people to consider getting a law degree, now that they have the time to pursue one. However, a lot of money is required to attend a prestigious school and increase the odds of succeeding in this career. To make a calculated decision, here is an overview of the economics of becoming a lawyer in the year 2020.
Is Attending a Law School a Must?
In the past, especially in the United States, people who were interested in becoming lawyers had to work as apprentices under practicing lawyers. Firsthand learning was needed to ensure that people understood the rules and how to process all the ins and outs of every case. Nowadays, this is no longer a necessity since the majority of states urge law students to take courses and earn a Juris Doctorate (J.D.) before taking the bar exam. Some states even specify that law students must attend an ABA-approved law school in order to qualify as practicing lawyers. However, the question should not be about your state requirements, but rather it should revolve around weighing the pros and cons of attending a law school and its impact on your career.
Is It Worth the Cost?
Attending law school, whether or not it’s a requirement in your state, is the jump start you need for your career to begin blooming. Recent statistics have found that the average amount of student loan debts reached around 140 thousand dollars in 2016. While the average cost of one academic year in a private law school amounts to more than $45,000, the cost of attending a public school is significantly less, with an estimate of around $20,000. The question of whether your salary after finishing school is enough to compensate for such amounts mainly depends on the place you end up working at and the field you decide to specialize in.
Lawyers charge different fees depending on several factors. Michael Grossman, a personal injury lawyer in Houston, explains on his site how fee arrangements work in personal injury cases to accommodate the critical situations his clients might find themselves in. Practicing law might be one of the highest paying careers, and it can be noble and fulfilling, too. Therefore, any lawyer must strike a balance between achieving both goals to gain both financial and emotional gratification.
The Progression Rate of Salaries
The first-year salary of practicing law in the private sector back in 2018 was estimated at around $75,000. In the following year, the estimate of compensation for all attorneys skyrocketed to around $120,000. Not only does advancing your career increase your salary as a lawyer regardless of your specialty, but there is also a constant expected rise with each passing year after the passing of the economic downturn. As your salary improves, compensating for student loan debts becomes easier and easier as time goes on. To make a calculated decision regarding whether a law degree is worth the financial stress, you need to calculate the average cost of three academic years versus the expected earnings over the years after you graduate and begin working. This will help you in estimating the potential returns of a law degree.
Residency
Another fact to calculate into the equation is the difference in the amounts of money required for law schools between residents and non-residents. Leaving your country to study does not only translate into extra money for residency, but also for the currency difference if you are not planning on working in the same country you study in. For example, if you left Canada to study in the US or vice versa, but you are planning to work in your original country, then you need to take into account the currency difference in order to conclude the exact time required for you to compensate for the student debts. This will help speed up the decision-making process, regarding leaving your country and studying law.
The Bar Exam and Licensing
In America, a law degree is not enough to practice law professionally. Law students from all over the states are required to pass the Uniform Bar Examination, or as often referred to, the bar exam, to get licensed and be able to practice law. The bar exam might differ according to place, however, it’s mainly formed of three essential components, which are the multistate bar exam with 200 multiple-choice questions, multistate essay exam with six essay questions, and multistate performance test.
The cost of licensing fees usually cost between 4 and 5 thousand dollars. However, attorneys without any paid articles usually have to pay around $20,000 to acquire their license to practice law.
The accumulated cost of studying law, taking into consideration the previous factors, can range from around $140,000 to $170,000. These estimated costs depend mostly on research and statistics done in the past three years. Unfortunately, people are more reluctant nowadays to invest any amount of money in their education, especially with the outbreak of the coronavirus and the economic downturn that has made it harder for students to plan for long-term financial commitments.
This is completely understandable. However, the world is in desperate need of such professions, which means that practicing law is expected to become even more rewarding after these hard times pass. That said, if your lifelong dream is to become a lawyer, you should think wisely about your financing options and find the best ways to pursue this noble career.
