tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521318064826848712.post3341911393522182149..comments2023-10-19T04:51:53.516-05:00Comments on The Legal Dollar: Law, Detroit, and the Gold RushManaging Partnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05130017520583425490noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521318064826848712.post-78217410306315083722010-10-31T15:01:32.699-05:002010-10-31T15:01:32.699-05:002:06 - I generally agree that the higher up you go...2:06 - I generally agree that the higher up you go in the rankings the better your chances. However, you assert that the chances of getting a big firm job for the top firms are "very good" - maybe we should take a look at that. I will agree with you that the chances are better (everything else being equal) if you go to a higher-ranked school. I think that you will agree with me that even at the highest ranked schools, the odds are considerably worse than they were before the crash. Is a 50% likelihood of getting a big firm job "very good" in terms of odds? I have heard estimates that place it that low at Harvard. (FYI - we passed on a lot of Harvard grads this year.)<br /><br />Also, you mention that you (wisely) looked at potential return and considered it before going to law school. Also, I would suggest that the numbers that were told to you were more accurate than the numbers being told to students today. <br /><br />Further, let me clarify - I don't think that you were operating as a miner when you made the decision to go in 2001. In 2001 it is my impression that the law school numbers were reasonably accurate and that supply and demand were relatively evenly matched. Further, I don't recall a huge increase in the number of people going to law school with a simultaneous huge decrease in the number of jobs available. In summary - times were different in 2001 (they were also different for me in the early-to-mid 1990s).<br /><br />Today, with a huge increase in admissions, a huge decrease in law jobs, and law schools promulgating placement information that seems to have an ever-lessening basis in reality, the situation is much different. Also, the law students themselves seem different - fewer seem to be making the wise consideration that you did. More of them just seem to be grabbing at a law degree without a consideration of the consequences and costs (and don't forget it is about 2-3 times more expensive to go to law school now, even considering inflation.)<br /><br />Bad opportunity, lots of hype, people committing themselves based on a dream and ending up with nothing - that seems like the situation today (not so much in 2001, admittedly) - and that seems like a goldrush mentality to me.Managing Partnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05130017520583425490noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521318064826848712.post-7384976373908487552010-10-30T02:06:44.844-05:002010-10-30T02:06:44.844-05:00While I agree with the general tone of this articl...While I agree with the general tone of this article, I think there is a critical, mitigating distinction to be made: law students know what law school(s) have accepted them for admission, and so law students can and should be able to assess their ability to "strike it rich". If you go to Yale/Harvard/Stanford/Columbia, your chances of landing a big firm job, even in this economy, are very good, and therefore not comparable really to the gold rush miners, who (at least in my understanding of California 1840s-1850s history) had no reasonable basis beforehand for thinking they would strike it rich. The same holds true, to a lesser degree, at other top schools. When I applied to law school in 2001, I only applied to T-14 schools, because I had determined that law school was not worth the likely pay-out at any other school (and I was fortunate to be in a position where it was reasonably likely I could secure admission at a school no lower than a Georgetown). And it all worked out for me: I went to a top 5 school, graduated in 2005, and have worked at a big law firm making good money ever since. I was motivated by money, but I wouldn't say that I was similarly situated to a miner (although I now live in San Francisco!).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521318064826848712.post-7540160734893103162010-09-27T14:25:26.814-05:002010-09-27T14:25:26.814-05:00Thanks Alton!Thanks Alton!Managing Partnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05130017520583425490noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3521318064826848712.post-12401187331654423352010-09-27T14:20:10.551-05:002010-09-27T14:20:10.551-05:00Good post, the gold rush analogy is much, much clo...Good post, the gold rush analogy is much, much closer than the auto industry analogy.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09746273069797543824noreply@blogger.com