Lawyers are Broke Pigeon Heads
The below article may increase Baylor's attrition rate and the below article may be up so bright and early because I had to sleep in my car. The latter is neither here nor there and yea, 9:30 is early.
Anyway, thanks to a sexy reader's comment I give you this here article from the Houston Chronicle.
Enjoy. And this blog is no place for the car story. Ask me about it in person or forget it ever happened. Either way is cool.
posted by Jon Swanburg @ 8:20 AM
12 comments
12 Comments:
One of the firms named in the article you've linked is Swindell & Associates. What a name...
Here are my thoughts:
I remember my first day of law school, the adjunct Torts professor had us stand up and say something about why we were in law school. I remember being amazed by the number of people that stood up saying they were there to make lots of money.
Being a lawyer is probably the most difficult way a smart person can make a lot of money.
When a Malibu realtor sells a 15 million dollar house representing both the buyer and seller he or she takes 5%. That's $750,000. When a hedge fund manager has 100 million in assets and earns a mere 15% return for his or her clients, the manager takes a 2% fee plus 20% or more of the profits. That's $5,000,000. When 50 Cent tacked his name onto a brand of Vitamin Water they gave him 10% of the company. Coke just bought Vitamin Water for $4,000,000,000 and 50 Cent himself made $400,000,000.
I say all that only to point out that there are a lot of ways to make money. For me, I came to law school to learn the law, not necessarily to practice, and in the end I don't think that will hurt me.
The billionaire real estate developer / media mogul, Mort Zuckerman got two law degrees, (One form McGill and one from Harvard). After his distaste for the law drove him into real estate he said the one thing he got out of law school was to not be intimidated by lawyers.
If your passion is to make money, you'll find a way to make it. If your passion is law then you'll find a way to practice. If you don't have a passion for either, and you still work as a lawyer you're going to be left a poor miserable person. No law degree can change that.
You're exactly right - there are much quicker, easier ways to get rich.
One of the best decisions I've ever made was to work at a law firm one summer. After the first several quarters of law school, I didn't know whether I wanted to be a lawyer anymore.
Maybe it's an idyllic experience, but I worked for a firm small enough where they took the time to teach me how to practice law. Coming back to school, I don't know whether my grades will be any better or whether I'll pull in a scholarship, but I know now that I love what I do.
Financially, I just want to pay off my loans before I'm 30 and live comfortably. "Mo' money, mo' problems."
Excellent commentary, Swanburg.
Best thing the young and over confident Swanburg has ever said!
Thanks for coming to our graduation this morning! Crickets tonight.
Swanburg--
While I agree that there are a lot of ways to make a lot of money, I think your comments overlook one thing. That is that becoming a lawyer greatly increases the probability that a person can attain a well paid job (6+ figures). I think the percentage of relators and musicians that make good money (6+ figures) compared to those that enter the profession and fail or don't make good money (<6 figures) is much less than the percentage of lawyers who make good money compared to those that don't.
You say that becoming a lawyer is probably the most difficult way to make a lot of money. Yes, but those professions you list as examples require more of a luck factor, in my opinion, to make good money compared to being a lawyer.
My view is that by becoming a lawyer I am increasing the probability that I will someday make good money.
But if you're miserable and hate your existence, is it really worth it?
"If your passion is to make money, you'll find a way to make it. If your passion is law then you'll find a way to practice. If you don't have a passion for either, and you still work as a lawyer you're going to be left a poor miserable person. No law degree can change that."
Very good, Swanburg. Now don't go and leave the law like Fahrenthold just because you can write - the law needs good writers too.
But if you do, hire me as your editor.
http://www.sixshot.com/articles/7220/
I never liked 50 Cent. That being said, I will share a different story, this one about Rick and Larry, two lawyers I used to caddy for.
Both were assistant U.S. attorneys, they became friends and started their own law firm doing criminal defense work. "After doing that for about 10 years, the two partners found themselves arguing a case before a Superior Court Judge in San Francisco. Rick and Larry strongly believed that the facts of the case were in their favor, but the jury was unable to reach a verdict. Disillusioned by the hung jury, the two young men decided to leave the legal profession to seek a more rewarding career." (citing a funding universe bio)
That profession was making pizzas.
Their first restaurant opened in 1985. The company struggled during its first few years of operation and incurred some debt, but they were selling a lot of pizza and having fun so they stuck with it. That pizza place was California Pizza Kitchen.
When I asked them how they could go from one field to the other, they said it was simple. Being a lawyer was great at first and they were able to save up some money. When it stopped being great, they new they had to get out and they both liked pizza. In their minds it was an easy decision.
I say this again, only to point out that you can make money doing just about anything . . . it's just a matter of loving what you do.
along that vein: life after law
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