Doom. Gloom. The bubble went boom, leaving an economy, and a legal industry, with no room.

We’d hoped, prayed, and lit candles for the soul of the legal industry, but alas, if the prognostications of Jim Leipold, the executive director of the National Association for Law Placement (NALP) are true, then there truly is no hope. Recent grads, and those to come, expect a career path as desolate and decayed as this molding bread city.

For the other 90 percent of young attorneys, well, you should’ve gone to medical school.

Now, for even more bad news: Half of the class of 2011 started out making less than $60,000 if they found work.

For the class of 2012, they’re still assessing the carnage, but unemployment seems to be up 1.4 percent. Leipold doesn’t expect happiness down the road either. Apparently despite record lows in application numbers, there are still new law schools set to open in the near future.

(There are a lot more depressing numbers over at ATL if you’re into that sort of thing.)

Previously, after looking at the record low numbers of applicants and the “buyer’s market” for applicants, I may have suggested that now is a good time to “buy low” on a legal education.

I’ll hedge that statement a bit more now, as I was hoping, for the sake of my younger friends, that there would be a bit of an uptick in hiring.

Now is a good time to “buy low” if you can get into a top-14 school or if you can get a full or near-full scholarship (nail the LSAT!) and your life-long desire is to be an advocate for the tired, hungry, and poor.

Few among you will land jobs that pay enough to pay off loans within your lifetime. The only way to own your soul is to be debt-free in the first place.

Related Resources:

  • Naive Results from a Kaplan Pre-Law Survey (FindLaw’s Greedy Associates)
  • Univ. of AZ Lowers Law School Tuition; Market Correction? (FindLaw’s Greedy Associates)
  • Foodie Stuck on Law School Choice (Hint: Food Ain’t a Factor) (FindLaw’s Greedy Associates)

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