There are many reasons to become an attorney. However, the data shows that becoming wealthy isn’t one of them. Becoming an attorney can take around nine years of post-secondary education. It is not a small commitment. 

 

For those that are wondering if attorneys make more than lawyers, they are the same thing. An attorney is an American word, and most of the rest of the world uses lawyers. In the United Kingdom, they use the terms barrister and solicitor.

 

One must first get a bachelor’s degree (4 years), do well on the LSAT (around 6 months), get through law school (3 years), and then do their internship and pass the bar (1.5 years.)

 

 

So is it worth it to become an attorney?

 

According to the website “Comparably”, the average private practice lawyer salary is $96,694. 

 

Compare this with the Average salaries for doctors in metropolitan cities:

 

New York City: $333,604

Miami: $336,336 

Los Angeles: $356,390 

 

Lawyers and doctors undergo similar education. And it is equally hard to get into law school as it is medical school.

 

There are of course altruistic reasons outside of money to become a lawyer or doctor. Both professions help people in a significant way during the darkest times of their life.

 

A lot of law students that want to improve the world get into human rights law, immigration law, and help underrepresented people in the criminal law system.

 

But this article is focusing on if attorneys deserve to be wealthy, and if they should earn more than they do. I would argue that someone who puts seven years into schooling deserves to live a lifestyle well above the means of the average person.

 

Spending seven years in university is expensive. 

 

According to US News, the average tuition at a private university is $38,185/year. This would mean that after seven years, a law student would have spent $267,295.

 

Photo: Average Tuition and Fees at Ranked Colleges

 

Students also need to take into account the opportunity cost. This is defined as “the loss of potential gain from other alternatives when one alternative is chosen.”

 

For example, if you had got a job that pays you $50,000 a year out of high school, at the end of seven years you would have $350,000 pre-tax. And you also wouldn’t have spent or borrowed the $267,295 for university. So you would have been $617,295 ahead from a financial point of view.

 

Why are attorneys not making more money?

 

The main issue in the legal industry is that too many people in the public are not hiring attorneys when they should have. Below are some shocking statistics:

• Fewer than half of American adults (42 percent) have a will. 
• Only 14 percent of married Americans have a prenup.
• In some states, around 85% of people don’t have an attorney, even though they are going up against one in the courts.

 

Not all of the people that don’t hire an attorney made that choice because they can’t afford it. Many Americans can afford $250 for a will, or $1500 for a prenup. If they couldn’t afford it, they likely could borrow the money. 

 

Americans are not afraid to take out their credit card. The average woman is likely to spend on average $2,327 on coffee per year.

 

When people don’t hire a solicitor, it increases their risk of needing to hire a litigator in the future. 

 

For example, let’s say someone doesn’t want to spend $1500 on getting a shareholder agreement done by a law firm. A few years down the road, there is a dispute between the business owners.

 

The template shareholder agreement that they downloaded online didn’t cover the dispute. Now the business owners have to go to court and spend $50,000 on a corporate litigator.

 

The disconnect between attorneys and clients

 

These days there is almost a conflict between potential clients and law firms. This type of conflict isn’t found in other professional services industries.

 

When you go to your doctor because you have pain in your lower abdomen, the doctor is likely going to do a series of tests.

 

They might poke around your abs, do an ultrasound, ask you questions, and order some tests from a lab. Let’s say they order a blood and stool test to find out what’s going on.

 

You likely won’t accuse the doctor of trying to make extra money by ordering these additional tests. But that’s what people do to their attorneys.

 

If the attorney wants to file an additional motion to get additional documents disclosed, if the motion doesn’t go well, the client might say it was only filed so the law firm could make extra money.

 

If the lab results from the blood and stool test don’t show anything is wrong, you wouldn’t get mad at the doctor. You would be happy.

 

 

Attorneys are also nervous about their clients

 

The distrust goes both ways. Attorneys often don’t trust their clients to pay them, which is why trust accounts exist. It’s in the name. Trust account.

 

Many law firms are also concerned that if they represent certain clients, the client will file a State Bar complaint if the attorney doesn’t win.

 

Someone with a challenging personality trait or situation might not be able to find an attorney, even though they have money.

 

Legal technology companies are going to need to come into the industry to improve it. The companies will need to build technology that will make or help clients and attorneys trust each other.

 

Attorneys Don’t Make More Than Lawyers

 

It needs to happen sort of how Uber did it. Uber didn’t completely change the taxi industry. You still order a car, it comes and picks you up, and drops you off at your location. You don’t get picked up by a drone.

 

Uber’s technology just made the process more comfortable. You could see the cost before ordering the car, and you could see where the car was on a map.

 

Also, when the public has the ability to or for drivers, it forces law firms and drivers to put more effort into customer service.

 

A few small changes to the legal industry will make it so more people hire attorneys, which will mean that attorneys can finally make more money.

 

Alistair Vigier is the CEO of ClearWay Law, a company that connects people with attorneys using proprietary software. The company just launched the first legal match website in China.