Fade That Fad

Every college kid that is about to graduate but is too scared to go into the work force or know what he or she is going to do seems to opt for law school. Unlike medical school, there is no requisite college ‘pre-law’ track that needs to be taken. Also, unlike medical school, law schools don’t limit the number of students. Medical schools successfully weed out most wannabe doctors through organic chemistry and tough admission standards. Not law school. Are you a B- sociology major? Do your parents have money or are you comfortable taking out a loan? Some law school will accept you!

Never before in a period of human history have there been so many 22 year-olds that have never worked a job in their life and don’t want to work anytime soon. The easy option for them: law school.

While there is a huge growth in demand for law school, there’s no clear increase in demand for lawyers. Thanks to tort reform, the number of frivulous lawsuits is decreasing. Also, thanks to a recession, people aren’t going to pay $100 an hour for advice unless they actually need it. Add to this the ’self-help’ available on the Internet now and, if anything, there is actually a decrease in the deamnd for professional legal help.

Thanks to the investment banking collapse, there are now a ton of 20-somethings and early 30-somethings in New York that are now without jobs. Since it will be difficult for many of these former investment bankers, hedge fund workers, etc. to find jobs, many are opting for law school. More future lawyers, yet no increase in demand for this profession.

How to fade: No pure play on fading this bubble. Only advice here is to not go to law school.