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Job roles requiring a Juris Doctor shouldn't legally be allowed to pay below $100K. It is EASILY a minimum of a $150K professional degree. I don't even understand the gall to put JD and a five-figure salary within the same job description. Economic violence.
Because what this typically does is (1) put new lawyers in a position where they can't acquire new skills because they literally can't afford it; and (2) it deepens financial insecurity even though you have one of the most valuable degrees in the USA.
And as always, who does this disproportionately affect?Black lawyers and other communities of color. We have all this student debt, but nobody is willing to compensate us fairly for our skills, typically unless you choose/are blessed enough to enter BigLaw.
And so you're stuck between a rock and a hard place, struggle to eat and afford somewhere to live (because generally, don't quote me, but pay is often the WORST in metropolitan regions) OR develop your skills as a young lawyer.
And the lifestyle of being a lawyer is just generally expensive. Not just merely with money, but also with time. You can't buy more time, and they don't want to pay you enough money to live.
All the while you're encouraged to network heavily, which often looks like happy hours/conferences/homogenous social events OUTSIDE of work hours. So you don't even have the time to pick up a side hustle for extra bread. Not to mention mental exhaustion.
It is so disconcerting.
This is why legal diversity + inclusion conversations feel farce. They often look like "how do we bring more minorities into our oppressive, exploitative space to join us in our violence" as opposed to critiquing WHY there is a lack of D&I to begin with.
Pardon my language, but it's literally mindfxckery. It is a barrier to entry under the guise of the American Dream. It is so mentally exhausting.
This is not to put down other professional degrees. But there are two things I think EVERY human will encounter: (1) something to do with their health; and (2) something to do with the law, willful or unwillful. PERIOD.
Hence MDs & JDs being of high value.
Hence MDs & JDs being of high value.
But we understand these are all effective barriers to entry. It's the sickest thing I've learned being upwardly mobile. I have so much privilege, but sometimes it psyches me out that this is the profession I chose. So sickeningly exclusive.
And there are certainly ways to effectuate change, but at the risk of being blackballed, so nobody wants to REALLY have these discussions. So we go to cocktail hours, and have 3-hour long D&I conversations with no agency given to the harmed to FEEL good.
We have workshops for law students of color telling them to "grind" and THEY TOO can be Master someday. We tell these students that their hard work will pay off knowing we could be leading them into a burning house.
And because very often these students are the first in the families to even finish college, let alone attend professional school, they are almost brainwashed into the *possibility* of temporary financial abundance with BigLaw.
When in reality there are minimal opportunities for both advancement, professional development, or initiatives for non-white employee retention. When you're working 60-80 weeks, it is incredibly difficult to continually thrive without those resources.
There's been a serious exodus of Black lawyers from BigLaw since the COVID-19 pandemic has commenced. I don't need to ask why. We all knew what it was before the pandemic even began. Flaws were just amplified within the last 9 months. Brilliant minds left.
Financial instability is only going to continue because these degrees, as millennials were promised our WHOLE lives, are not giving sustainable returns on their investments. You don't want us to lose faith in THAT system. Y'all thought this pandemic was bad?!
If folks collectively begin to reject the idea that formal education is necessary for a happy and fruitful life, it could disrupt a LOT of things. So these employers and the powers that be need to recognize their business models are mansions on toothpicks.
Anyhow, consistently underpaying people with JDs and MDs is a SERIOUS problem. I'd love to discuss further at a later time if anyone is interested. That is all for now. Be blessed.
