Alec DeBari, an undergraduate
student at the University of South Carolina, is working on a project “to find,
assess, and attempt to create a resolution to a problem facing the
profession [he is] most interested in pursing in the future.” Alec is interested in the legal
profession and is seriously considering applying to law school. He defined a problem facing the legal profession
as, “the lack of training and preparation in the form of mentorships and
meaningful employment students receive while in law school.”
Alec contacted me because he
came across multiple articles from the State Bar of Wisconsin regarding a
committee that I was a member of called the Committee on the Challenges Facing
New Lawyers (the “Committee”), which he believed to be working on similar
issues. He wanted to interview me
for his project and he did a nice job of puffing me up and making me feel
important. I am not important. I am just a young lawyer interested in
young lawyer issues, and I was given the privilege of serving on this
Committee. But, since my partners
always jokingly accuse me of blowing smoke, I really do appreciate Alec’s
approach to getting me on board.
He’ll do well in whatever profession he chooses.
Alec prepared and emailed me
six questions. I thought this might make an interesting blog post, so I got his
permission to blog about our Q and A.
Additionally and coincidentally, I was recently interviewed by an
undergrad student at Northern Michigan University for one of his classes
because he too is interested in law school. So, maybe this will be useful or entertaining for others:
His first question: “In your
experience, what exactly have been the shortcomings of the graduate
students, as a whole, who are entering the field with a lack of
experience?”
My response: Before I answer this question it is
important to note that these answers are my own off-the-cuff thoughts and I am
not speaking on behalf of the State Bar of Wisconsin, the Committee, or anyone
else. If you need an official
response, I am sure I would not be the person the Wisconsin Bar or the
Committee would choose for that purpose.
They know better.
I disagree with the premise of
your question. Young lawyers are
not supposed to be prepared to practice law on their own immediately after taking
the bar. Yes, that is what the
license gives them the power to do.
However, they are constrained by ethical rules to only take on matters
they are competent to handle.
Practicing law is, like many things, something that you learn by doing. Young lawyers need supervision,
mentorship, a network of support, and a job.
No matter how much they try,
law schools will never make practice ready lawyers. I am almost ten years out of school, and I am still thankful
to have colleagues to bounce ideas off of, and I don’t think that will ever
change. Many sole-practitioners
will tell you it is very important to build relationships with other lawyers to
do that same thing if you don’t have partners. When I was a kid my mother was a legal secretary and she
often told me, “The lawyers I have worked with all say that they did not learn
how to be a lawyer in school.”
That was true then and it’s still true today.
There has always been a debate
about whether the focus of law school should be theory or practice. In my opinion, law school is and should
be about learning the theories behind the law. You’ll learn how to practice when you are a lawyer. I remember my favorite professor in law
school saying something to the effect of, “I don’t care about what the law is,
let’s talk about what it should be.”
Absolutely.
The reason there is such a
strong focus on practice readiness now is that young lawyers are struggling to
find work. There are simply too
many lawyers. Some young lawyers
are opting to hang their own shingle because they cannot find a job. Doing that is extremely difficult, so
the complaint becomes, “I am supposed to be prepared to do this on my own. That’s what law school was supposed to
do for me.” I disagree with that
notion.
More to your question, one shortcoming
that I see the most often in young lawyers (myself included) is a lack of
common sense. I often say to
people, “law school does a good job of beating the common sense out of you, and
it takes a while to get it back.”
In law school you are trained to spot issues and then analyze each
one. Identifying and analyzing
every issue is rarely, if ever, the best practice. Time is money, and you want to use your time, and your
clients’ money, wisely. Making a
list of shortcomings would be hard because, hopefully, most young lawyers are
getting better in virtually every area as time goes on.
His second question: “Have you
personally seen any examples of students who recently graduated law school that
have not been able to fulfill their duties due to lack of training?”
My response: Every young lawyer makes mistakes, and
that’s okay. It’s part of the
learning process.
His third question: “What do you
believe to be the long-term effects of the under prepared graduating students
both on the individual student and the legal community as a whole?”
My response: As I said, I disagree with the problem
you have identified. I see the
problem as too many lawyers. An
over supply of lawyers means expected earnings go down. This means paying off law school loans
takes longer, much longer. Lawyers
struggling financially creates numerous problems such as the obvious ones – suicide,
depression, alcoholism, delaying significant life decisions such as marriage,
kids, buying a house, etc., etc.
However, an over supply of lawyers also creates less obvious
problems. For example, problems
with the manner in which cases are handled. There is an old joke, “One lawyer in town can make a nice
living. Two lawyers in town can
make a fortune.” The lawyer’s
ability to make work can create problems for society. For more on that point, see my post Kill Half the Lawyers.
His fourth question: “Do you
believe the issue of lack of experience in the form of mentorship and work
experience can be solved and if so how?”
My response: I do believe the over supply of lawyers
problem will be lessened over time. See,
for example, TaxProf Blog, 80 Law Schools Are at Risk of Closure, Mostly in California, Florida, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. If young inquisitive students, like you, do more research on the legal
profession before going to law school, they might decide not to go. Those going might make better decisions
while in law school, like taking on less debt or being hyper-focused on grades,
which are extremely important in your early career search.
His fifth question: “How exactly is
the Committee on the Challenges Facing New Lawyers dealing with this issue?”
My response: I sent you the Committee’s Report, and
that is the only official statement by the Committee. However, in my personal opinion, the Committee did not deal
with the problem you have identified.
You imply the problem is that too many young lawyers are unprepared. The problem is not that too many young
lawyers are unprepared. The
problem is that too many young lawyers are unemployed. As I see it, the work the Committee did
was aimed at creating new opportunities for young lawyers to get some of the
benefits they would have traditionally received through employers (law
firms). That’s an
oversimplification but I want to emphasize that I do not see the actual
challenges facing new lawyers to be from their own deficiencies (other than
their decision to go to law school).
I see it as a product of the over saturated legal market they have
entered.
His sixth question: “If you had one word of advice for students considering Law School
and the legal profession as a whole what would it be?”
My response: Law is a great profession. Don’t do it for the money. Be extremely careful with how much
student debt you take on. Your
grades in law school are more important than they should be, so put down the
beer, pipe, what have you, and do your absolute best.
That’s My Argument.
© November 2014 Brandon J. Evans
