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It may be true that it could be done for cheaper if the hiring teams bought into a new system. But the course is really set by the hiring team. There was a tim
by dkrich 14y ago
It may be true that it could be done for cheaper if the hiring teams bought into a new system. But the course is really set by the hiring team.
There was a time when you only had to study legal books on your own and pass a bar exam to become an attorney. Law schools didn't exist until the turn of the century. Nowadays you can't seriously pursue a career in law without a law degree, and to get a top job, you have to have a degree from a top law school. This is not because the fundamentals being taught at each school are different. Rather law firms know which schools are hard to get into and simply go there to hire their talent because they figure those people are the best. Hopeful attorneys see those firms and want in, so naturally, they want to get into the top law schools. Those who don't, trickle down to the less prestigious schools where the firms that can't afford to compete with the top firms recruit, and so on. This is basically what drives the obsession with higher education in the U.S. whether it is business, law, medicine, or engineering.
Now whether a career in a prestigious firm is something you should actually want is a completely different conversation, but allowing that it is something a lot of the most eligible college graduates aspire to, the system will sustain itself.
- Turing_Machine 14y ago"can't seriously pursue a career in law without a law degree" It depends on what you mean by a career. There are still a few states that let you sit for the bar exam without going to law school (California is one, IIRC). That actually makes a certain degree of sense, since it's widely accepted that passing the bar exam is a MUCH more difficult hurdle than completing law school. If you just want a career as a family lawyer, that'd certainly be a low-debt option.
- WildUtah 14y agoCalifornia requires at least four years of full time practice at internships certified and supervised by certified lawyers before allowing one to sit for the bar exam. It's hardly a lesser burden than attending law school. There is no state where the general public can sit for the bar.
- Turing_Machine 14y ago"It's hardly a lesser burden than attending law school." Internships are generally paid (If I remember correctly, some of those who've gone this route are long-term legal secretaries). Law school costs money and lots of it.
- wisty 14y ago> Law schools didn't exist until the turn of the century. IIRC, in the UK there were all kinds of private tutors who'd prepare students for bar / medicine exams. But most degrees are more about attainment than accreditation. A degree doesn't let you do anything, it's just a line in a resume, and possibly some skills and connections you picked up along the way. The question is, if it's simply a glorified 3 year intelligence / work ethics test, why can't private providers create something equivalent? The US has some messed up law about intelligence tests being racist (for good reasons at the time - IQ tests were being used to block poorly educated blacks from doing jobs which didn't require any real IQ), but all kinds of skills tests could be managed by private providers. It could also be packaged with some kind of value added analysis. HR tends to suck at analysis, so it could be made to compliment what they do.
- dkrich 14y ago> A degree doesn't let you do anything, it's just a line in a resume, and possibly some skills and connections you picked up along the way. This depends greatly upon what your career goals are. But if you want to be a doctor, lawyer, or even a management consultant you have to have multiple degrees. There is virtually no other way in. I know there are niche exceptions to this rule, but generally speaking, degrees are a must.