Youths Cite Making Money, Interest in Politics as Reasons to Attend Law School

Law Applicants

Youths Cite Making Money, Interest in Politics as Reasons to Attend Law School

Posted Feb 22, 2008, 05:30 pm CST
By Martha Neil

A survey of nearly 2,000 potential law school applicants by Kaplan Inc. found there is one big reason why many are interested in becoming lawyers. Money.

"Seventy-three percent of those students who responded to our survey indicated that the high income potential was one of the reasons that they selected the legal profession," Glen Stohr, director of prelaw programs at Kaplan, tells the Crimson White. The for-profit company offers standardized test-preparation courses, job training, graduate education (including a California-based law school whose students can take courses over the Internet) and compliance services.

However, close to half of the respondents said they hoped a legal education would help them enter the political arena, the University of Alabama newspaper article continues. As is traditionally the case, more men than women are interested in a political career.

"We're constantly conducting surveys with new kinds of questions that help us to understand what students are doing and why they're doing it," says Stohr. "This survey is a part of an ongoing series that will show us the reasons students decide to attend law schools across the country."

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Posted by J.E.Robbins - 9 months, 1 week, 3 days, 16 hours, 42 minutes ago

If there was any question as to why there is widespread dissatisfaction among attorneys, here is your answer. This is not the career field for someone who is looking to get rich; there are many more profitable options out there that do not include the negative aspects for legal practice if one only wants to make money.
Posted by Brian - 9 months, 1 week, 3 days, 10 hours, 59 minutes ago

The problem here is that law schools sell hope, not a legal education. When you sell hope, you can put a 100K price tag on it and sell it regardless of how absurd it is. If you told the average pre-law that a realistic salary for NYC “associates” is 40-45K working in no-fault “law” with 100K+ in debt, how many would believe you? You might as well tell them that you were abducted by aliens the night before as tell them you make such horrible money. Law schools know this sad fact and exploit it to the tune of 30-40K/semester. It’s unethical to the point of being criminal; this article proves it.

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