Would you pay for your first job?

Legal blog “What About Clients?” is suggesting that first year associates, those coming straight out of law school should pay law firms for their first couple of years.

The argument is that first year associates come into the first with very little real world skills, and in effect spend their first two years learning how to actually do lawyering activities. Some of my law school friends are aware, but others may not be- many big firms pay first year associates well over $100,000 annually, before bonuses. Many young associates burn out quickly after making enough money to pay off their debts. They take the skills they learn and go to smaller practices. The suggestion is that the young upstarts should be paying for the training and experience the firm is giving them.

I can’t begin to explain how this is wrong.

1) Economic Incentives – you would destroy the desire to work in a large firm. No one would choose to work in a big firm if it paid like a minimum wage job, much less if you had to pay for it. I’ve just spent $100,000k on law school. Why would I go further in debt to work in a situation commonly known to be terrible, even by non lawyers. The only reason people work in big firms is the big paycheck that comes with it. Hence why the dropout rate is so high after the first couple years. If you take away the paycheck, you dry up the applicant pool. Hell, even apprentices (what this suggestions sounds a lot like) get reimbursed in some amount- not charged.

2) Misplaced Blame – the problem is not with the students. Maybe if the workload weren’t so grueling and first years weren’t driven to work over 2,000 hours a year they wouldn’t leave like rats abandoning a sinking ship.

If new law school graduates aren’t coming prepared for actual legal work, maybe the problem lies with the education system. Yes, I’m going to repeat what has been said too many times already – law school does a piss poor job of teaching it’s students to be lawyers. Lots of theory (that is often inapplicable in real world situations), and not enough real skills. Maybe law firms should put more pressure on schools to reform their cirriculum if they want more productive attorneys. (see Washington and Lee’s revamped third year skills program for an example)

Any law students/lawyers want to explain why I am wrong? or perhaps another argument that I did not articulate?