Whether someone will become a partner at biglaw and make millions per year is hard to predict, but it is fairly easy to predict who will get a permanent job as a biglaw associate making 500k per year. I’m not saying that this is a good job, but if you want such a job (and a chance at partner), it’s pretty easy to predict before law school whether you can get it. The main point is which law school admits you. Whether you can get adequate grades and whether you can put in the hours on the job are two other factors. It’s true that demand for these jobs makes it hard to get into top law schools, but if you don’t get in, you should know you’ve lost without wasting tuition or 3 years.
But most law students make the simple error of not knowing that, of going to law schools that don’t produce lawyers, or at least not lawyers that make more than they would having skipped law school. The kind of error economists refuse to believe in.
Economics tells us lots of false things.
Whether someone will become a partner at biglaw and make millions per year is hard to predict, but it is fairly easy to predict who will get a permanent job as a biglaw associate making 500k per year. I’m not saying that this is a good job, but if you want such a job (and a chance at partner), it’s pretty easy to predict before law school whether you can get it. The main point is which law school admits you. Whether you can get adequate grades and whether you can put in the hours on the job are two other factors. It’s true that demand for these jobs makes it hard to get into top law schools, but if you don’t get in, you should know you’ve lost without wasting tuition or 3 years.
But most law students make the simple error of not knowing that, of going to law schools that don’t produce lawyers, or at least not lawyers that make more than they would having skipped law school. The kind of error economists refuse to believe in.