Yahoo finance reprinted a New York Times economics blog about the decline in alumni applying to law school from 2008 to 2012. The decline was greatest for the prestige universities. Rice declined from 135 to 67-50%.

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

135 105 140 93 67

Things were different when I applied to law school in 1984. Tuition and fees at UH Law were about $210 a semester and there was not the slump in the number of legal jobs there is now. If I was making my choice now, I would have either stayed in an accounting job or gone for a PhD in Accounting (as the managing partner of the firm that I quit told me I should have done instead.)

Smart kids, who have prestige degrees and a lot of options, know that law is not where it's at. I say this as a lawyer who spent years at one of the "big three" Houston firms and who worked on the recruiting committee. I graduated from law school in 1999, and, compared to then, the current legal market is almost unrecognizable.

1/67

But then again I was never quite as smart as my peers.

(08-23-2013 06:20 PM)75src Wrote:  Things were different when I applied to law school in 1984. Tuition and fees at UH Law were about $210 a semester and there was not the slump in the number of legal jobs there is now. If I was making my choice now, I would have either stayed in an accounting job or gone for a PhD in Accounting (as the managing partner of the firm that I quit told me I should have done instead.)

I went to law school about the same time as you did, after pretty much the same decision process. I don't regret it. I'm not sure what decision I would make today.

It is nice going to American Association of Attorney-CPA meetings. I do not regret being a lawyer, but I will not be doing as much of it in the future. It was nice to go through law school then without any debts incurred unlike what most of the new lawyers have to worry about.

I am not going to the courthouse all that much anymore since I am having to help take care of my parents including his accounting practice. I will probably not return to litigation after all that is through, but wind doing more financial work.

(08-23-2013 07:57 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(08-23-2013 06:20 PM)75src Wrote:  Things were different when I applied to law school in 1984. Tuition and fees at UH Law were about $210 a semester and there was not the slump in the number of legal jobs there is now. If I was making my choice now, I would have either stayed in an accounting job or gone for a PhD in Accounting (as the managing partner of the firm that I quit told me I should have done instead.)

I went to law school about the same time as you did, after pretty much the same decision process. I don't regret it. I'm not sure what decision I would make today.

I'm a few years older, but went to UofH law when the tuition was $ 6/credit hr. I had 21 hours in Accounting and was accepted into the first Jones school class for the Masters program. I suspect I would have been better off financially sticking with Accounting as the legal profession has had ups and downs since then, but I still don't regret my choice. I've enjoyed practicing law with the give and take of litigation and the satisfaction of helping clients. When young people ask me about it, I tell them only to go law school if they want to be a lawyer - not if they are just looking for a secure future. There are certainly other professions right now which appear more secure from a financial viewpoint.

(08-23-2013 09:14 PM)75src Wrote:  It is nice going to American Association of Attorney-CPA meetings. I do not regret being a lawyer, but I will not be doing as much of it in the future. It was nice to go through law school then without any debts incurred unlike what most of the new lawyers have to worry about.
I am not going to the courthouse all that much anymore since I am having to help take care of my parents including his accounting practice. I will probably not return to litigation after all that is through, but wind doing more financial work.

(08-23-2013 07:57 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(08-23-2013 06:20 PM)75src Wrote:  Things were different when I applied to law school in 1984. Tuition and fees at UH Law were about $210 a semester and there was not the slump in the number of legal jobs there is now. If I was making my choice now, I would have either stayed in an accounting job or gone for a PhD in Accounting (as the managing partner of the firm that I quit told me I should have done instead.)

I went to law school about the same time as you did, after pretty much the same decision process. I don't regret it. I'm not sure what decision I would make today.

I really need to get more involved in AAA-CPA. Keep the reminders coming.

I thought back to why I went to law school. I was getting bored with public accounting. I liked looking up tax law a lot more than having to get a client's accounting books in shape enough to find the numbers. The real tax experts were more likely to be lawyers than accounting PhD.

What I did not realize is there is probably the need for 50 tax accountants for every tax lawyer. I wound up mostly doing other areas of law when I started my own law practice. I would have made more money staying in accounting but I was more satisfied being a lawyer.

Re 69: I am trying to decide whether I will go to Las Vegas for the AAA-CPA meeting in November. I am not that interested in gambling so Vegas does not make that much of a difference for me.

(08-24-2013 08:43 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(08-23-2013 09:14 PM)75src Wrote:  It is nice going to American Association of Attorney-CPA meetings. I do not regret being a lawyer, but I will not be doing as much of it in the future. It was nice to go through law school then without any debts incurred unlike what most of the new lawyers have to worry about.
I am not going to the courthouse all that much anymore since I am having to help take care of my parents including his accounting practice. I will probably not return to litigation after all that is through, but wind doing more financial work.

(08-23-2013 07:57 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(08-23-2013 06:20 PM)75src Wrote:  Things were different when I applied to law school in 1984. Tuition and fees at UH Law were about $210 a semester and there was not the slump in the number of legal jobs there is now. If I was making my choice now, I would have either stayed in an accounting job or gone for a PhD in Accounting (as the managing partner of the firm that I quit told me I should have done instead.)

I went to law school about the same time as you did, after pretty much the same decision process. I don't regret it. I'm not sure what decision I would make today.

I really need to get more involved in AAA-CPA. Keep the reminders coming.

(08-24-2013 08:27 AM)NolaOwl Wrote:  When young people ask me about it, I tell them only to go law school if they want to be a lawyer - not if they are just looking for a secure future. There are certainly other professions right now which appear more secure from a financial viewpoint.

Sound and important advice. In the same vein, when a student asks, "Should I go to law school?", I like to steer them to the more fundamental question, "Should you be a lawyer?"

Yes, there are people who go to law school and never practice law but for whom the law degree is a useful asset. But for every non-practicing lawyer who fits that description, there is another one for whom the law degree is at best neutral, and yet another for whom it is actual baggage -- and THEN there are a half dozen practicing lawyers who wish they were doing something else.

My daughter graduated from HLS three years ago, but I gotta say this is a really boring thread!

When I was an undergraduate, the saying was, "At Rice, you're either pre-law, pre-med, or pre-Exxon."
I think students see other areas to pursue today. I tried law school, and wound up in public health.

I'm nearly 60 and trying to decide what I want to be when I grow up. I recently started classes to get my counseling license. At first, the money won't be squat, but I'll be doing what I want.

My father earned his MBA at UT. The IRS agents were scared of him.