[39] Vocational Studies, U. S. Bureau of Education, pp. 6-7, Collins Publ. Service, Philadelphia, Pa.
The degree LL. B., which is the principal degree given by the American law schools, was granted by 96 schools according to the report of the committee on legal education of the American Bar Association for 1906. Of these 96 schools, 48 required a three-years’ course of study beyond the full four years’ high-school course. Nineteen of these schools granted the master’s degree LL.M., after one year of postgraduate study.
How Should I Be Admitted to the Bar?
Each State has its own bar or legal society and admission is granted to the applicant in accordance with the regulations in force in each State. Twenty-eight States have an examining board; 19 States require the approximate completion of a high-school course; 17 States prescribe no definite period of study; 1 State prescribes a period of 18 months; 12 States prescribe a period of two years; 23 States prescribe a period of three years; and 10 States accept graduates of certain law schools without examination.
The tendency at the present time is to continue the past practice of raising standards of admission. This tendency has been supported by the American Bar Association, and with its promise to continue interest in this matter it should not be long until there are evolved uniform requirements that will constitute a national standard on a high plane.
What Income May I Reasonably Expect to Earn if I am Successful in Practice?
It is difficult to estimate, except very generally, what the average yearly earnings of a lawyer will be. It is difficult to do this, because the income will vary according to the locality and the character of the service in which one is engaged. Generally speaking, during the first year of his independent practice a lawyer’s earnings will seldom net him more than a few hundred dollars. With experience and acquaintance, however, his competence will increase. If a lawyer chooses to serve an apprenticeship as it were with another firm, he may reasonably expect from $3 to $10 a week at the beginning, with an increase after three or six months according to the amount of practice in the office in which he is engaged.
The following quotations would tend to discourage one from entering upon the profession, unless he is by nature and training well prepared for the work:
“Its (the profession of law) demands are so high and the conditions of genuine success so exacting, however, that it is inevitable that many of the ill-equipped and misguided beginners who flood the ranks of the legal profession should fail of success.”[40]
[40] The Law as a Vocation, p. 13, Vocation Bureau, Boston, Mass.