The cost of a lawyer

I just read an article in the NY Times concerning revising the pay for associates at law firms. However, it was the comments from the readers that most interested me, particularly one from "Mary" who is suffering severe lawyer envy. First she wondered why a law degree, with just one more year of school then a masters, is worth so more. She ignores that not all graduate programs are equal and I doubt she would have plied the same standards toward a medical degree, for instance. Having both a masters and a JD, both attained while working full time, I can assure you that the JD is not just one more year of education. I practically did my masters in my sleep, maintaining a near perfect average. Law school was a lot more work, requiring many late nights and weekends in the library with a GPA that was nowhere near perfect.

She also whined about lack of intense training or specialization, stating one need to pass a general bar exam. Only pass a general bar exam? Don't even get me started on the Bar exam, which basically required 8 weeks of non-stop study, aside from meals and work (I worked the first several weeks). I dare her to try it.

As to the additional training or specialization, perhaps shecould consider a first year lawyer akin to an intern at a teaching hospital -- learning on the job things you could not learn in class. Specialization usually comes after practicing starts. Some of that is through on the job training as attorneys begin work in their fields, some is done through continuing legal education, which most states, including New York, mandate. Lawyers can get certified in their new, post-law school specialties (which includes taking exams again) though that is not uniform across the country. A simple Google search would have told her that there are specialized bar exams such as the patent one.

I'm not defending the current law school model or the big law model, particularly as one who has never made a fortune in law. I think the law schools do a tremendous disservice by suggesting that students can become rich in law when they should be telling prospective students that if they do not have an interest in law, they should seek their fortune elsewhere.

Fees and salaries are only as high as the market will bear. If you want the best lawyers, you are going to have to pay for them. However, I think most of us would admit we are not the best, at least at the start of our legal careers. And the media could go a long way by not emphasizing what a few people just out of law school will make and concentrate what the majority of newly minted lawyers will make.