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Lawyers have been around for a while, there doesn't seem to be a shortage of them, and the average salary is still relatively high. However the distribution of
by rch 8y ago
Lawyers have been around for a while, there doesn't seem to be a shortage of them, and the average salary is still relatively high. However the distribution of starting salaries has trended towards being bimodal (https://www.nalp.org/salarydistrib https://www.nalp.org/salarydistrib).
I could imagine the same thing happening for programmers over time, if it hasn't already.
- peteradio 8y agoI think barrier to entry for lawyers is way higher than for programming.
- jenscow 8y agoCan you imagine hiring a self-taught lawyer?
- AlexCoventry 8y agoI'd hire Abe Lincoln in a heartbeat.
- rch 8y agoI believe some states will let you simply take the bar exam and start practicing. Of course, one would probably get started by clerking or working into a paralegal position, both of which would require independent study and coursework. Sometimes people just need a cheap lawyer to take a look at a simple will or divorce papers, etc.
- dlp211 8y agoI believe Washington is the only state that allows this anymore. Even then, you still need to be an understudy before you are allowed to take the Bar in Washington.
- jki275 8y agoCalifornia, Virginia, Vermont, and Washington all seem to allow it. There are caveats, of course.
- barry-cotter 8y agoNo one will let you take the bar exam and start practicing. California will accept four years clerking under the direction of a lawyer and passing the Baby Bar for eligibility to sit the Bar Exam. There are other states with similar programmes but I think they all demand at least one year of law school. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Bar_of_California#.22Baby_Bar.22 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Bar_of_California#.22Bab... > California State Bar Law Office Study Program The California State Bar Law Office Study Program allows California residents to become California attorneys without graduating from college or law school, assuming they meet basic pre-legal educational requirements.[19] (If the candidate has no college degree, he or she may take and pass the College Level Examination Program (CLEP).) The Bar candidate must study under a judge or lawyer for four years and must also pass the Baby Bar within three administrations after first becoming eligible to take the examination. They are then eligible to take the California Bar Examination.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- WilliamEdward 8y agoHow is law anything like programming? the potential is endless in software and tech... Law careers have extreme limitations.
- jyounker 8y agoI think we in tech get rather full of ourselves. Lawyers are specialists in negotiation, mediation, organizational procedures, persuasion, analysis of edge-cases of language and rule sets, evaluating the motives and thoughts of other humans and predicting their actions in ambiguous contexts, and quickly consuming and producing textual information under high pressure. That seems like a pretty impressive toolbox that has broad applications across great swaths of human endeavor. As it stands, many of my lawyer friends have contributed far more to humanity's greater good than I think any of my fellow techies have.
- auganov 8y agoHaving a legal background opens up a lot of opportunities in government-related areas. These simply aren't as easily available to other professions. If you'd like to hold a position of power, doing law is probably the best bet.
- howard941 8y agoI'd counsel caution in relying on those charts because, inter alia, they're self-reported salaries and the very nature of the report excludes unemployed bar members.
- esoterica 8y agoBig law salaries are widely known because all the top firms pay in lockstep. The big spike to the right is 100% accurate.
- ummonk 8y agoI imagine the distribution is already bimodal.