Law School is Getting Surreal
So I've been spending most of my time with a great group of people at the law school the last few weeks. They're really very lovely people who I couldn’t enjoy spending time with more.
Anyway, one of the people I was talking to today is a second-year at the school. She's done fairly well. She didn't make law review, but she's been very active and did well in all her classes. She also spent last summer working in the HR department of the Kerry campaign. She's a smart woman, and will go far. She spent a year in Ameri-corp and has a great heart for taking care of people. The real type of lawyer that CUA tries to create.
The point of this little story is that she was just offered a summer job for 2005 as an Associate Counsel at a relatively large law firm in DC. This summer job will pay her about $2,400 a week. That turns out to be about $20,000 for the summer. That's about average for what a 2nd year CUA student can make at a good DC firm.
The point of this whole little story is it’s pretty scary hearing about some of my fellow students making that sort of money while they're still in school. I did not, and still do not, want to practice law to make money. The law is an expression of the best that Man can do on Earth to achieve the justice of God. It's rarely fair, and never perfect, but when administered correctly it is the best that we as human beings can do. Being an attorney, when done for the right reasons, is a calling; like being a teacher, a soldier, or a clergyman. One who gains the knowledge of the law should use their skills to advance the plight of the poor, the disenfranchised, and the truly wronged.
The problem in this ideal, however, is the cost that one must pay to become an attorney. Once I finish my education at CUA, I will owe almost $150,000 in debt, the equivalent of a mid-size single-family home in most American suburbs. That debt is above and beyond the debt I will owe for the actual mortgage I am sure to take on, as well as the cost of marriage, savings, and if I'm lucky, children. It will be much like carrying the monthly mortgage on two homes, without the benefit of appreciating equity.
The reason I mention all of this is that an Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney in Virginia has an average salary of around $55,000 to $60,000 a year. The salary is even lower if you were to be a pro-bono attorney at some small private Legal-Aid style organization. While a salary of $60,000 a year is nothing to scoff at, it's nowhere near enough to be able to meet the monthly payments one owes on their debt. To live on such a salary alone would be to declare bankruptcy within the first year.
I bring all of this up because it is slowly occurring to me that there is very little middle-ground afforded to you once you get a law degree in the modern world. The debt makes it prohibitive for an attorney with a degree from a reputable school to work in the areas of the law where he or she is most needed. Working at the big law firms becomes the sole option for many people. These firms seem to be nice enough, but you end up becoming a cow to be milked regularly for fees. 80 and 90-hour weeks are not unusual during the first ten years of employment at such a firm, and the work you do is rarely for the benefit of anyone other than large corporate machines.
The system seems to make you choose between moral righteousness, and the bankruptcy that comes with it; or exorbitant wealth, and the requisite moral relativism and unhappiness.
Seeing someone I know being offered an amazingly large sum of money was a very surreal experience for me. I'm not sure how to take it. I still want to do Civil Rights law, but more and more, as the rent checks keep coming due, I am becoming aware of how much I already owe. There needs to be another way. Another way to be "a good attorney" and still not go bankrupt at the age of 26.
Any thoughts, advice, or commentary on this situation would be appreciated. I'm really grappling with this issue at the moment.
Wishing you luck and love,
Mike
Anyway, one of the people I was talking to today is a second-year at the school. She's done fairly well. She didn't make law review, but she's been very active and did well in all her classes. She also spent last summer working in the HR department of the Kerry campaign. She's a smart woman, and will go far. She spent a year in Ameri-corp and has a great heart for taking care of people. The real type of lawyer that CUA tries to create.
The point of this little story is that she was just offered a summer job for 2005 as an Associate Counsel at a relatively large law firm in DC. This summer job will pay her about $2,400 a week. That turns out to be about $20,000 for the summer. That's about average for what a 2nd year CUA student can make at a good DC firm.
The point of this whole little story is it’s pretty scary hearing about some of my fellow students making that sort of money while they're still in school. I did not, and still do not, want to practice law to make money. The law is an expression of the best that Man can do on Earth to achieve the justice of God. It's rarely fair, and never perfect, but when administered correctly it is the best that we as human beings can do. Being an attorney, when done for the right reasons, is a calling; like being a teacher, a soldier, or a clergyman. One who gains the knowledge of the law should use their skills to advance the plight of the poor, the disenfranchised, and the truly wronged.
The problem in this ideal, however, is the cost that one must pay to become an attorney. Once I finish my education at CUA, I will owe almost $150,000 in debt, the equivalent of a mid-size single-family home in most American suburbs. That debt is above and beyond the debt I will owe for the actual mortgage I am sure to take on, as well as the cost of marriage, savings, and if I'm lucky, children. It will be much like carrying the monthly mortgage on two homes, without the benefit of appreciating equity.
The reason I mention all of this is that an Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney in Virginia has an average salary of around $55,000 to $60,000 a year. The salary is even lower if you were to be a pro-bono attorney at some small private Legal-Aid style organization. While a salary of $60,000 a year is nothing to scoff at, it's nowhere near enough to be able to meet the monthly payments one owes on their debt. To live on such a salary alone would be to declare bankruptcy within the first year.
I bring all of this up because it is slowly occurring to me that there is very little middle-ground afforded to you once you get a law degree in the modern world. The debt makes it prohibitive for an attorney with a degree from a reputable school to work in the areas of the law where he or she is most needed. Working at the big law firms becomes the sole option for many people. These firms seem to be nice enough, but you end up becoming a cow to be milked regularly for fees. 80 and 90-hour weeks are not unusual during the first ten years of employment at such a firm, and the work you do is rarely for the benefit of anyone other than large corporate machines.
The system seems to make you choose between moral righteousness, and the bankruptcy that comes with it; or exorbitant wealth, and the requisite moral relativism and unhappiness.
Seeing someone I know being offered an amazingly large sum of money was a very surreal experience for me. I'm not sure how to take it. I still want to do Civil Rights law, but more and more, as the rent checks keep coming due, I am becoming aware of how much I already owe. There needs to be another way. Another way to be "a good attorney" and still not go bankrupt at the age of 26.
Any thoughts, advice, or commentary on this situation would be appreciated. I'm really grappling with this issue at the moment.
Wishing you luck and love,
Mike