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Law school applicants surge 13%, biggest increase since dot-com bubble

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Re: Law school applicants surge 13%, biggest increase since dot-com bubble

#151
post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can get “high five figures” with a GED and a factory job. Why would anyone go through the stress and expense of law school for that?

The factory job will destroy your body before your 50s. What good is high five figures if you can't do anything with it other that pay for insurance that barely covers the physical therapy you'll need?

Factory jobs, not construction. Running a pulp machine doesn't destroy your body.

Re: Law school applicants surge 13%, biggest increase since dot-com bubble

#152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can get “high five figures” with a GED and a factory job. Why would anyone go through the stress and expense of law school for that?

According to [1] full-time employed people with professional degrees earn a median of $117,679 while full time employed high school graduates earn a median of $38,102. If it were easy to earn high five figures with a GED, wouldn't the earnings of GED holders be much higher? [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_income_in_the_United_...

I didn't say full time high school graduates. I said factory jobs. The average starting pay here is roughly 25/hr which is >50k/yr. It's pretty easy to work up to 35+/hr in just a few years. If you get into a foreman position, you can be making upwards of 90 per year and supervisor roles are typically 6 figures.

I'd consider 75k/yr "high 5 figures" and this is extremely doable where I'm from. It's not a major metro, just an average industrial city near a port. Everyone in my family does factory work and has done so for 3 generations, I'm the only one in tech.

There are indeed plenty of folks out there making less than 40/yr. They are almost exclusively temp/contract labors with poor work ethic. The people who are dependable typically get hired on full time which comes with a significant pay increase and full benefits.

Re: Law school applicants surge 13%, biggest increase since dot-com bubble

#153

When I was considering going to law school I learned some sobering facts: - something like 75% of lawyers would not recommend their children go in to law - there is a high rate of burnout among lawyers - while the public perception is that lawyers are extremely high paid, that's only the case some elite lawyers that went to elite schools and work for elite firms[1] For someone like me, who doesn't just want to help t…

Median lawyer salary is higher than median software dev salary (about $105k v $120k).

Re: Law school applicants surge 13%, biggest increase since dot-com bubble

#154
post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That depends on the location, no?

'Can earn high figures' - so what are others earning? 'Mid five figures', so $50k, for a professional? In the US? That's not good anywhere.

For some reason you went off about 'what are others earning' and '50k for a professional'. You hallucinated an entirely different conversation. The person above actually talking about lawyers just said:

> many can make high five figures and low six figures. That’s good money for real life.

Re: Law school applicants surge 13%, biggest increase since dot-com bubble

#155

When I was considering going to law school I learned some sobering facts: - something like 75% of lawyers would not recommend their children go in to law - there is a high rate of burnout among lawyers - while the public perception is that lawyers are extremely high paid, that's only the case some elite lawyers that went to elite schools and work for elite firms[1] For someone like me, who doesn't just want to help t…

>For someone like me, who doesn't just want to help the rich get richer, working in, say, a public defender's office will probably mean being really overworked and underpaid and not even be able to devote a reasonable amount of time to the people I was defending because of the workload.

Since you knew what you didn't want to do, I feel you've made a right decision for yourself.

Not being aligned with the values of the work can indeed result in burnouts, Many can compartmentalize, Many can stay absolutely agnostic to the impact of their work on the society at large and yes they can make lot of money but then again you can't put a price upon doing what you really want to do.

Re: Law school applicants surge 13%, biggest increase since dot-com bubble

#156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Corporate graphic design pays exactly that amount in several Southeastern cities, and that's considered better than average. source: seen the paystubs.

> Corporate graphic design Not sure that counts as a profession.

If graphic design doesn't count as a profession, what does?

Re: Law school applicants surge 13%, biggest increase since dot-com bubble

#157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If the pandemic has taught us anything it is that even though we are able to recognize how essential a lot of jobs are, we will still refuse to respect or properly compensate the people who work them. Maybe for some types of frontline workers, but certainly not for skilled tradesman, who are making bank right now and have for at least the past 20 years since I've lived in my current city. And in terms of "refuse to…

Ask yourself this though: why aren't people going to trade schools more often? If it's such a high demand career, with such reasonable pay, then surely it should attract talent; especially when one considers the extreme affordability of trade school in comparison to university education. But we don't see this, why? I posit that it is because people who work trades are looked down on socially. People point at the mech…

One of the major advantages of being a small businessperson is rarely talked about: the ability to minimise taxes.

You can live in your workplace, have a company car, company utilities, company equipment. Some customers will pay you cash. You can easily allocate business income to your spouse or children (if you live in a country without combined income taxes). You can buy products at wholesale rates.

When you're just an employee, you usually have very few of these tax optimisation opportunities.

The other factor is that the education system is dominated by people with university degrees (ie. teachers), who consciously or not direct their students to pursue the same lifestyle and career values as them.

Re: Law school applicants surge 13%, biggest increase since dot-com bubble

#158

When I was considering going to law school I learned some sobering facts: - something like 75% of lawyers would not recommend their children go in to law - there is a high rate of burnout among lawyers - while the public perception is that lawyers are extremely high paid, that's only the case some elite lawyers that went to elite schools and work for elite firms[1] For someone like me, who doesn't just want to help t…

My father was a lawyer and genuinely enjoyed his career. He did fit into that “elite lawyer” category. In retirement now, he has been approached several times to return (for obscene money) and its always a firm no from him. He doesn’t want the headache. He loved the networking and people-relationships of lawyering but the actual work was tedious and exhausting even with an army of supporting staff and associates arou…

> They are happy just being internal corporate 9-5 counsel in there little area of specialization.

This has been my personal experience with most lawyers, and they all seem pretty regular, not working crazy 16 hour days for weeks leading up to a trial, etc.

We say software is eating the world, but the law only ever gets more complex, not simpler, with more regulations being introduced on a seemingly monthly basis. The law and GRC is eating the world, so I only see the demand for these roles increasing.

Re: Law school applicants surge 13%, biggest increase since dot-com bubble

#159
post #78

When I was considering going to law school I learned some sobering facts: - something like 75% of lawyers would not recommend their children go in to law - there is a high rate of burnout among lawyers - while the public perception is that lawyers are extremely high paid, that's only the case some elite lawyers that went to elite schools and work for elite firms[1] For someone like me, who doesn't just want to help t…

Law is a well paying profession in general, insofar as many can make high five figures and low six figures. That’s good money for real life. You’re correct that only a relatively few people make the kind of money people think lawyers make, and the profession is highly segregated by education. Most people at my law school (northwestern) went on to a big firm job with a salary of $200k rising to $500k after 8 years. A…

"It’s a demanding, detail oriented, analytical job, and many of those people become quite disillusioned with it."

I would love the detailed and analytical aspect of it. Sadly, I hate the contradictions, mistakes, etc that I have experienced with the system. With the vast number of laws and opinions, it seems it's just as much about making the judge like you because they can pick and choose what laws apply (just look at stuff like split opinions). Even if you're not a litigation lawyer, any documents being worked on could lead to litigation. So it seems to me that luck and manipulation play a big part.

Re: Law school applicants surge 13%, biggest increase since dot-com bubble

#160
post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can get “high five figures” with a GED and a factory job. Why would anyone go through the stress and expense of law school for that?

The factory job will destroy your body before your 50s. What good is high five figures if you can't do anything with it other that pay for insurance that barely covers the physical therapy you'll need?

And a sedentary life at a keyboard could leave one in poor health. Every job has its tradeoffs. I would argue that a job with physical activity is better overall - I'd take joint replacement over heart surgery or diabetes.
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