Quote:
Originally Posted by Unregistered
I am fortunate to have been offered to do a law degree at either SMU or NUS. However, looking at the recent news about the pay cuts for Lawyers due to the weak economy, as well as the oversupply of Lawyers in the job market, I am wondering if it is still a good choice to pursue law. Personally, while I do have interest in the law, I feel that practical concerns are equally important and would like to know if this path still has a good future.
Besides that, I have a few questions: 1) SMU or NUS LAW? My impression is that One of them has a stronger focus on corporate law. Do employers prefer nus over SMU graduates because of brand recognition?
2) What about Yale NUS? Arguably I have a stronger interest and would have more fun pursuing liberal arts. But the fear of a worthless degree (in the employers eyes) is strong. |
Actually all the talk about pay cuts are rather exaggerated. It really only happens at the junior level, because new lawyers are so replaceable. Once you hit the 4 to 5 year mark, I don't perceive discernible drop in income and in fact many are getting much better compensation packages than years ago due to increasing competition for talent by international law firms here. Think $23-24k for an international firm senior associate.
So its true there's a slight overall drop in starting salary compared to pre-GFC, but once you rise up in a few years it won't really matter. What's happening is there's a gulf between junior salaries & senior salaries.
You should be more concerned about the advent of AI, software and automation reducing the need for many junior lawyers in the first place to sift through data or generate documents. Its already happening in many industries so law will definitely be no exception.