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I was cruising through the ATL archives. This story makes me wish I went to school in 2002. I guess the point I'm trying to make is that for those of us who matriculated ITE, we have no conceptualization of what life was like before.

Yea I know what you mean. But it would also suck to get a taste of biglaw to only be laid off in the crash.

MrPapagiorgio wrote:Yea I know what you mean. But it would also suck to get a taste of biglaw to only be laid off in the crash.

Excellent point.

Reading this, I know why everybody over the age of 25 told me to go to law school while I was in high school.

I don't envy the people in that market. Just a few years later the bottom fell out. At least when we went to law school we knew it was going to be a grind. Builds character. You'll be able to talk about graduating in the "worst legal market in history" your entire life. When I was your age... Think about how happy people who grew up in the great depression are to talk about their later riches.

c3pO4 wrote:I don't envy the people in that market. Just a few years later the bottom fell out. At least when we went to law school we knew it was going to be a grind. Builds character. You'll be able to talk about graduating in the "worst legal market in history" your entire life. When I was your age... Think about how happy people who grew up in the great depression are to talk about their later riches.

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c3pO4 wrote:

c3pO4 wrote:I don't envy the people in that market. Just a few years later the bottom fell out. At least when we went to law school we knew it was going to be a grind. Builds character. You'll be able to talk about graduating in the "worst legal market in history" your entire life. When I was your age... Think about how happy people who grew up in the great depression are to talk about their later riches.

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lisjjen wrote:I was cruising through the ATL archives. This story makes me wish I went to school in 2002. I guess the point I'm trying to make is that for those of us who matriculated ITE, we have no conceptualization of what life was like before.

2002 was two years after the dot com bubble burst.

Starting law school in 2002 is similar to starting law school in 2010 (two years after the financial meltdown).

Looking back, we know that 2003-2007 were the so-called boom years but 2011-2012 are still "ITE."

If things were different: 2003-2007 were the ITE and 2011-2012 were the booming years, you would be glad that you're attending law school now.

My point is, no one in 2002 would have know that the economy would pick up that fast and eventually lead to the boom years. Similarly, no one in 2010 or 2011 or now knows whether the economy in the following years (2013/14/15) will pick up. You can't base your decision to attend law school and become a lawyer on any projection of future economy.

I graduated undergrad spring 2005. Right when the market was at it's peak. Had I gone directly to law school, like a classmate of mine had, I would have graduated in spring 2008.

This lucky classmate did just that. Went to a Top 14, graduated summer 2008, started working at a corporate firm in Sept 2008 - the same time Lehman brothers filed for bankruptcy

Lasted for 2 years. Laid off in October 2010, and unemployed ever since. He is now pursuing his dreams in hobby games. He will never work in law again.

Unfortunately, timing can be everything.

Not only did a lot of biglawyers lose their job, but since they didn't see it coming, they also burned through a lot of money. I think today's associates are rightly being more financially conservative and focusing on paying off their loans.

truevines wrote:

lisjjen wrote:I was cruising through the ATL archives. This story makes me wish I went to school in 2002. I guess the point I'm trying to make is that for those of us who matriculated ITE, we have no conceptualization of what life was like before.

2002 was two years after the dot com bubble burst.

Starting law school in 2002 is similar to starting law school in 2010 (two years after the financial meltdown).

Looking back, we know that 2003-2007 were the so-called boom years but 2011-2012 are still "ITE."

If things were different: 2003-2007 were the ITE and 2011-2012 were the booming years, you would be glad that you're attending law school now.

My point is, no one in 2002 would have know that the economy would pick up that fast and eventually lead to the boom years. Similarly, no one in 2010 or 2011 or now knows whether the economy in the following years (2013/14/15) will pick up. You can't base your decision to attend law school and become a lawyer on any projection of future economy.

Well stated.