The Law School Bubble Has Burst

The Law School Bubble has Burst

In 2010 nearly 50,000 students accepted admission to law schools.

From the same year, only 51% of graduates found employment in private practice.
And only 68% of grads found themselves in a position that requires a law degree at work.

And that’s BEFORE the peak of the bubble

Say what? 32% of law school grads, with an average school loan debt of $98,500, didn’t even get jobs in law.[3]
With 2011 admissions still astronomical, the law school bubble won’t be over until 2014.

But matriculation rates administered LSATs, and applications to schools have dropped to late 80s levels.

So prepare to see a lot of law schools close.
In the last 40 years, 65 new law schools have opened.

ButÉApplications to schools are headed for a 30 year low.

And it’s about time, with large portions of the legal profession shuttered there are fewer jobs.

And more lawyers.

PLUS 75% of law salaries go to only 35 markets[5]

1.)San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara
2.)San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City
3.) New York-White Plains-Wayne, NJ
4.)Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, CA
5.)Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale
6.)Modesto CA
7.)Wilmington DE
8.)Washington D.C.
9.)Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA
10.) Chattanooga, TN
11.)Dallas-Plano-Irving TX
12.)Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta
13.)Oakland-Fremont-Hayward, CA
14.)Philadelphia, PA
15.)Chicago, Naperville, Joliet
16.)Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown
17.)San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos
18.)Reno-Sparks
19.)Greensboro-High Point NC
20.)Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington
21.) Newark-Union NJ/PA
22.)Baltimore-Towson
23.) Bethesda-Frederick-Gaithersburg
24.) El Paso, TX
25.)Birmingham-Hoover, AL
26.)Boston-Cambridge-Quincy
27.)Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord NC/SC
28.)Richmond VA
29.) Denver-Aurora CO
30.)W. Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Boynton Beach
31.) Pittsburgh, PA
32.) Warren-Trow-Farmington Hills, MI
33.) Des Moines-West Des Moines
34.) Huntsville, AL
35.) Salt Lake city

As with any bubble, it was our choice to irrationally pursue a product. We’re finally curing the lawyer glut.

citations

The Law School Bubble Has Burst

The Law School Bubble has Burst

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