Following my earlier post, I came across this piece concerning Belmont University School of Law (i.e., Tennessee's newest law school) and its new Dean - http://abovethelaw.com/2010/10/at-least-one-person-at-the-aba-is-aware-that-new-law-schools-make-no-sense/#more-38851
As noted in the piece, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which I referenced on growth in the legal sector, reports that:
"[T]the legal sector will grow faster than the average for all jobs, but it will add the fewest jobs among professional occupations. Lawyers will account for 98,500 new jobs, while paralegals and assistants will account for 74,100 jobs — a 28 percent growth rate — as they begin taking on more tasks once handled by lawyers."
In other words, the real growth in the legal sector will be in the paralegal and legal assistant role. Accordingly, I fear a cruel dose of realty will be waiting many of these newly minted attorneys when they exit law school some $90,000+ in non-dischargeable student loan debt. While the salary for a paralegal is generous, it certainly doesn't allow much room for extras when you account for the monthly student loan payments.
What continues to drive the decision to open so many new law schools? Belmont's new Dean, in fact, appears to have made a bit of a career of opening new law schools having helped with Appalachian School of Law, Elon College of Law, and now taking the reigns at Belmont College of Law.
According to Nando over at Third Tier Reality, one can be compensated pretty nicely for charging these soon to be lawyers (err, Paralegals) in excess of $90,000 in non-dischargeable student loan debt for a J.D. See e.g.; http://thirdtierreality.blogspot.com/2011/08/fourth-tier-pile-of-fresh-waste-elon.html
Based on a review of 2009 returns for Elon, Nando noted that: "Jeffrey Kinsler made $221,800 in TOTAL COMPENSATION, [that year]."
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