Lifting the Burden: Law Student Debt as a Barrier to Public Service

TABLE 5Starting Salaries of New Law Graduates25$35, 000 or less $ 35, 001 - $55, 000 $ 55, 001 - $75, 000 $ 75, 001 - $95, 000 More than $ 95, 000 National MedianAll Types 9.4% 39.1% 13.1% 8.8% 29.6% $60,000Business 9.3% 33.6% 25.7% 14.5% 16.9% $60,000Government 15.0% 74.6% 8.1% 1.7% 0.5% $42,000Judicial 20.5% 78.0% 1.5% - - $42,000ClerkshipsPrivate 4.0% 22.9% 15.9% 12.1% 45.1% $90,000PracticePublic 45.5% 49.9% 3.4% 1.1% $36,000InterestNational Association for Law Placement, Jobs & J.D.’s: Employment and Salaries of New Law Graduates, Class of 2002.As Table 5 displays, most of those doing public interest work and many of thoseworking in government earned $36,000 or less in their first year after law school.While the percentage of those beginning in private practice who earn $36,000 or lessis much smaller than that of those beginning in government or public interest work,so many more graduates begin in private practice than elsewhere that the absolutenumbers of low earners in private practice settings is large. Lower salaries are particularlycommon in solo or small firm practice settings in small towns and cities,settings to which many able law students aspire, but, like those considering publicservice work, often decide they cannot afford in light of their debts.Even those who have opportunities to work in government at considerably morethan $40,000 often face financial quandaries as serious as Ms. Median’s. Ms. Medianborrowed the median amount among law students, $70,299. The half of all lawstudents who borrowed more than Ms. Median include a large number of very ablepersons who also want to practice in a public service setting, but who borrowed morethan she did to attend law school. A student with a debt of $100,000 who is offereda federal government job that pays $50,000 and a large firm job that pays $95,000will have about three times as much after-tax discretionary income if she accepts thelaw firm position rather than the government position.Measuring the precise effects that high debts exert on career choices is extremelydifficult. The impact on careers may occur at any one of three points in a career path.The first is at the point of deciding whether to apply to law school at all. A collegesenior who is contemplating law school in order to practice law in a public servicesetting may decide not to apply because she can calculate in advance the debtpayments she will later face will leave her too little income to maintain a reasonablestandard of living after law school. The second point in time is during law school.Students who begin law school with a plan to work in public service may change theirminds by the time of graduation because of the size of the debt payments they face.The third point in time is a few years later. Recent law graduates who take jobs ingovernment, legal services, or other public service employment despite their debts maydecide to leave after a few years because they want to improve their standard of livingso that they can afford medical expenses or take an occasional vacation or earn moremoney to support a family.No studies exist on the impact of the prospect of debt at the first of these pointsin time, the point of the decision to apply to law school. It is regrettable that moreis not known about the factors that affect decisions to apply, because many of theLifting the Burden:The Problem and Its Solutions