The legal field is going through a lot of changes. With this change, students who are in law school are faced with an uncertain future. For many years, becoming a lawyer was an easy way to have a great career with high earning potential. However, a lot of people today are figuring out the hard way that the market overall is saturated with graduates.
Not only does this make it harder to get a job, but it also makes it harder to improve within the field. A lot of people today are worried about the future for people who graduate in this area. With that being said, there are still a lot of opportunities within certain areas of the legal profession for growth.
Cost of School
One of the biggest issues for law students today is the cost of going to school. Over the years, this cost has only increased for a variety of reasons. As more people wanted to go to law school, the schools were able to increase rates without any consequence. However, learning about law is a great way to have a solid career. You can learn interesting things like the lawsuit for Jones Act settlements.
Many students are graduating from school with six figures of school debt. The monthly payments on these student loans are difficult to deal with. Over time, this restricts a person’s ability to save for the future and make big purchases like a car or a home. Some people are even delaying getting married and having kids because of this high amount of debt.
Landing a Job
After graduating from law school, it is no longer a guarantee that you will find a job in the field. This is especially concerning with the student loan payment that you have to make. Many of the student loan payments are over $1,000 a month. This is almost impossible to pay back without a huge salary. This is why so many students are starting to think about choosing another career. Unless you love the legal field, this is a huge gamble that you have to make in your financial life.
In addition, the job market is saturated with new graduates who cannot find a job. There are many people who are trying to get one, but this only makes the problem worse.
Final Thoughts
Overall, there are many people who are excited about what is going on in the legal field right now. However, with the changes, there are still a lot of challenges ahead for new graduates. The job market in this field never really recovered after the recession like many other industries in the economy.
Students who graduate today are faced with high levels of debt and other issues that they have to do with. People who are considering the legal field need to look at all of their options to pay for school as they go, through a combination of working and financial planning. Graduating with a ton of debt is just going to straddle people with more financial issues down the road.