The legal profession isn’t an easy one, yet many parents encourage their children to attend law school. Should it be this way? Is being a lawyer worth the cost and education necessary to get there?
We’ll dig into that more below. We need lawyers, and highly educated ones at that – but this guide will help you decide if encouraging your child to pursue a legal career is a good idea.
The Cost & Value Proposition Of Attending Law School
Firstly, note that aspiring lawyers must obtain an undergraduate degree (liberal arts works fine, and a pre-law degree is not necessary), a Juris Doctor (JD) advanced degree, and pass the bar exam. The cost of the undergraduate degree depends on the school your child attends – it can be a state school or private school, and the cost will range accordingly. Let’s say that your child attends a state school for four years and pays $27,000 in tuition.
Now it’s time for law school. This three year degree can cost around $30,000 per year at an in-state school, while a private school can cost upwards of $49,000 per year.
High scores on the LSAT test, a high GPA in undergrad, or other merit-based opportunities may help your child receive financial aid, but when you combine the undergraduate degree and JD, you’re looking at $130,000 – $160,000 in total tuition fees.
Is Saving For Law School Feasible?
Fortunately, saving for college is easier than it was in the past. If you start a 529 plan for your child when they are born and contribute $100 or so per month for 17 years (on top of a $1K down payment), you may accumulate $45,309 in savings that can’t be taxed upon withdrawal.
Other mutual fund savings options work as well, but you will have to pay capital gains tax.
Does the Potential Salary Make The Cost Worth It?
There is an interesting tradeoff between tuition and salary, sadly. US News reports that grads from US News’s top 15 ranked law schools enjoyed average starting salaries of $180K per year, whereas grads from the lowest ranked law schools got starting salaries of $60K or below.
The point: if you are able to get into a prestigious law school, the tuition is probably worth it. If you are attending a lower-end school, you may not have the prestige to earn a six figure salary early in your career.
Career Paths After Law School
Personal Injury Law
Personal injury lawyers help litigate car accident lawsuits, slip and fall claims, wrongful death cases, and more. It’s not an easy job, but it can be very rewarding. You get to help people in need, hold negligent parties accountable, and take home a significant paycheck if you are talented or experienced. Most personal injury lawyer fees are on a contingency basis, meaning the firm earns a percentage of the reward.
Criminal Defense Law
Criminal defense lawyers play an incredibly important role in society. You may not realize just how many people are wrongfully accused of crimes by the DA or police in the US, but know that if lawyers did not exist, many people would be put away for life in error. Not all criminal justice attorneys take on widely publicized murder or fraud cases, either – there is plenty of low-key work like DUIs and traffic tickets.
Other Types Of Law
General law practitioners can find comfortable in-house legal jobs where they don’t have to go to court, and there is plenty of room for patent lawyers, small business attorneys, and other types of legal work.
The Verdict: Should You Send Your Child To Law School?
While you should never force your child to pursue any particular career, they could do much worse than the legal profession. There are many areas of law to practice, and if they work hard in university and acquire the necessary internship hours, they should be able to pay off their law degree in a reasonable amount of time.
I’m a 20-something stay-at-home mother and wife. I have an amazing husband, a beautiful daughter, two loving dogs, and a lazy cat. I wouldn’t change my life for anything! I love to read, listen to music, cook and blog!
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