Would going into Business Law be a good idea?

stephen t

Lawyers are a dime a dozen, go medical. Heck, there is a shortage of pharmacists and their median wage is $98,000K well above lawyers. Dentists 180,000K median and there is a shortage, and of course a shortage of MDs.

From US News, Poor careers for 2006
Attorney. If starting over, 75 percent of lawyers would choose to do something else. A similar percentage would advise their children not to become lawyers. The work is often contentious, and there's pressure to be unethical. And despite the drama portrayed on TV, real lawyers spend much of their time on painstakingly detailed research. In addition, those fat-salaried law jobs go to only the top few percent of an already high-powered lot.

Many people go to law school hoping to do so-called public-interest law. (In fact, much work not officially labeled as such does serve the public interest.) What they don't teach in law school is that the competition for those jobs is intense. I know one graduate of a Top Three law school, for instance, who also edited a law journal. She applied for a low-paying job at the National Abortion Rights Action League and, despite interviewing very well, didn't get the job.

From the Associated Press, MADISON, Wis. (AP) - A lawmaker who persuaded the Assembly to eliminate all state funding for the University of Wisconsin law school says his reasoning is simple: There's too many lawyers in Wisconsin.

From an ABA study about malpractice claims, More Sole Practicioners: There appears to be an increasing trend toward sole practicioners, due partly to a lack of jobs for new lawyers, but also due to increasing dissatisfaction among experienced lawyers with traditional firms; leading to some claims which could have been avoided with better mentoring.

New Lawyers: Most insurers have noticed that many young lawyers cannot find jobs with established firms, and so are starting their own practices without supervision or mentoring. This is likely to cause an increase in malpractice claims, although the claims may be relatively small in size due to the limited nature of a new lawyers

â€œIn a survey conducted back in 1972 by the American Bar Association, seventy percent of Americans not only didnâ€™t have a lawyer, they didnâ€™t know how to find one. Thatâ€™s right, thirty years ago the vast majority of people didnâ€™t have a clue on how to find a lawyer. Now itâ€™s almost impossible not to see lawyers everywhere you turn."

Growth of Legal Sector
Lags Broader Economy; Law Schools Proliferate
For graduates of elite law schools, prospects have never been better. Big law firms this year boosted their starting salaries to as high as $160,000. But the majority of law-school graduates are suffering from a supply-and-demand imbalance that's suppressing pay and job growth. The result: Graduates who don't score at the top of their class are struggling to find well-paying jobs to make payments on law-school debts that can exceed $100,000. Some are taking temporary contract work, reviewing documents for as little as $20 an hour, without benefits. And many are blaming their law schools for failing to warn them about the dark side of the job market.

The law degree that Scott Bullock gained in 2005 from Seton Hall University -- where he says he ranked in the top third of his class -- is a "waste," he says. Some former high-school friends are earning considerably more as plumbers and electricians than the $50,000-a-year Mr. Bullock is making as a personal-injury attorney in Manhattan. To boot, he is paying off $118,000 in law-school debt.

A slack in demand appears to be part of the problem. The legal sector, after more than tripling in inflation-adjusted growth between 1970 and 1987, has grown at an average annual inflation-adjusted rate of 1.2% since 1988, or less than half as fast as the broader economy, according to Commerce Department data.

On the supply end, more lawyers are entering the work force, thanks in part to the accreditation of new law schools and an influx of applicants after the dot-com implosion earlier this decade. In the 2005-06 academic year, 43,883 Juris Doctor degrees were awarded, up from 37,909 for 2001-02, according to the American Bar Association. Universities are starting up more law schools in part for prestige but also because they are money makers. Costs are low compared with other graduate schools and classrooms can be large. Since 1995, the number of ABA-accredited schools increased by 11%, to 196.

According to the Internal Revenue Service, the inflation-adjusted average income of sole practitioners has been flat since the mid-1980s. A recent survey showed that out of nearly 600 lawyers at firms of 10 lawyers or fewer in Indiana, wages for the majority only kept pace with inflation or dropped in real terms over the past five years.

Many students "simply cannot earn enough income after graduation to support the debt they incur," wrote Richard Matasar, dean of New York Law

Future

I'm very close to be going into Law school, Law Schools only require a Bachelors degree from ANY field.

But if you want to go into Business Law, then obviously that narrows down what majors you should take.

Philosophy is one of the best majors you can take to become a Lawyer, Political Science is a close second.

Major in them, minor in Business, and you should be well on your way.

Remember to study for the LSAT test sometime during your sophomore year in College all the way til you take the test. The LSAT test is one of the most important factors when it comes to getting accepted into Law School.

If you get good grades in college (3.5 or higher), and have good LSAT scores (165 or higher) you will basically get to go into any Law School you wanted. Minus the Harvard's, Yale's, and all of them. A good Law School equals a good job, not only will you get a job fast, you will get a good one with a good college.

Like any profession almost, it's going to be competitive, but with the better college behind you, you should thrive.

Best of luck!!!

By the way, I had a horrible GPA in H.S... but I have a 4.0 in College. And now I am on my way to being accepted into a top 25 Law School in the Nation.

By the way, the reason I said major in Philosophy, or Political Science is because, when you apply to Law Schools and take the LSAT... it WONT test you on Business... it's critical thinking, analizing skills, and writing... so it's very important you major in something that has all three of those things.

I'll give you a list of all the top Law Schools in the nation, and it will have facts about how many of their students graduate, starting salaries, ect.

http://www.ilrg.com/rankings/law/index.php/1/desc/LSATLow

bikeman501

Certainly, major in Business when in college. At least that way, if you change your mind, you have an education that is marketable.

As for majoring in Philosophy or Political Science, do that and you are almost guaranteed to be unsuccessful in life. If you change your mind about law, those degrees qualify you to work in a fast food restaurant. If you do go to Law School, they really do not prepare you for much of anything. You will be just like the vast majority of lawyers - people who go to law school because they cannot do anything else.

Get a university degree in a field that has some practical value and interests you. Then, if you decide to become a lawyer, you will have some real world education. If you decide not to become a lawyer, you can still find employment.

hmmmmmmmm

You have at least 5 years before law school. You should be deciding what you are studying in college first. Also, the job market will be completely different by the time you get your bachelor's or phd, so the current state of the economy is not a good basis for making decisions for the future.

Secondly, business is much to broad a category to be given an average starting salary. What do you consider "business"? Ibanking starting salaries are around $90,000; hedge funds are around $150,000 (yes even in the current economy).

Onetwo

I agree with the above posters.

However, I would recommend majoring in Accounting for undergrad. Accounting isn't about counting beans (today's computer softwares do all that counting), it's laws, rules, and regulations. It's the language of business, so it would complement your law degree. B.Acc + Law is probably the next best thing to a MBA + Law. I would suggest this to also maximize your options should you diverge from your lifelong goal... That is, if after you received your Bachelor's and decided not to go to Law school, a degree in Philosophy wouldn't get you anywhere. A B.Acc, on the other hand is a very powerful tool. That degree alone can make 6 figures if you can pass the CPA exams. Now, look up CPA + Law, it's how you make 7 figures.

Derek B

Ok i would start think about if you can make it in law. My cousin went into law at UF and noooo way im doing that. He had to study soooo much. Ridiculous

john_gotti_202

Going into bus. law you'd obviously major in business and from there, depending on the school, you can get a degree in business law. Another minor, or alternative to bus. law, would be political science or econ.

I have a lot of friends in law school and I know it's pretty difficult. They literally live in the library, no joke.

My best advice is to major in business and be open to things like finance, accounting, management, etc. because I guarantee you you will have second thoughts and probably change majors and/or primary focus.

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