Anna Alaburda, a 2007 law graduate from the Thomas Jefferson School of Law, just recently got her first day in court. However, unlike what many would expect, she was not working but was rather suing her law school with the claim that it inflated the employment data for its graduates as a way of attracting new students to enroll, according to a March 7 New York Times article. Now, Alaburda, 37, has more than $170,000 of student-loan debt without a full-time salaried job as a lawyer. Unfortunately, this scenario of debt-ridden law graduates being unable to find steady work is all too common nowadays. 

According to an April 27, 2015 New York Times article, every year, tens of thousands of students — lured by prestige and a high salary — apply to law schools all over the country. After a long process which consists of application essays, on-campus interviews and standardized tests, many students attend law school to get their Juris Doctor or their Master of Law Degree. 

However, recent undergraduates may misunderstand that attending such schools after graduation will lead to a career of their choice with high wages. This scenario is far from the truth. 

Students with a predisposed mindset of a guaranteed high salary in an affluent field should not apply to law school, because in reality, few law graduates end up with prosperous careers. 

According to the National Association for Law Placement, the national unemployment rate for law graduates has grown to 15.5 percent in 2015. This, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, is about three times the national unemployment rate for all careers. Even worse, according to the American Bar Association, in 2013, only 57 percent of law graduates were employed in long-term, full-time positions that require a law degree. These statistics include all jobs for lawyers, public and private. This means that almost half of all law graduates cannot even find full-time employment or wages in their field of study.   

Consequently, students wishing to secure long-term employment with suitable prospects and reasonable wages should pursue other, more assured careers, like engineering, finance and medicine — all of which are fields that, according to a Nov. 7 Wall Street Journal article, are expected to grow faster than average over the next decade.  

According to an Oct. 10, 2014 Wall Street Journal article, the average salary for a public lawyer is about $50,000, which is substantially less than that of one working for a top corporation, which can range from about $110,000 to $160,000 at top firms, depending on location. If it is already very difficult to find any job as a lawyer, then it is even harder to find one at a well-paying firm. 

Due to an oversaturation of lawyers in the market ever since the 1990s, as well as legal outsourcing, the job market for lawyers has become more competitive than ever, so college graduates wishing to pursue affluent careers should not go into law.  

In the U.S., the availability of law-related employment is dwindling because of the substantial increase in law school enrollment over the past 20 years. 

According to BLS, the  average salary for lawyers working in elite law firms increased from about $60,000 in the mid 1970s to over $100,000 today. 

Not surprisingly, when people first began learning the value and opulence of a law degree, law-school enrollment increased substantially. According to the ABA, law school enrollment in 1970 was less than 70,000 students every year. However, in the 1990s and early 2000s, annual law-school enrollment exceeded 130,000 students — nearly double from 20 years prior. This substantial increase in enrollment is one of the main reasons why job prospects for law graduates have taken a turn for the worse. 

Many journalists like Marc Koba of CNBC blame the economy and the economic recession of 2008 for the decline in jobs, including the decline in availability of those in the field of law. However, according to the ABA, total U.S. law firm employment began decreasing in 2004, nearly four year before the recession — so other factors must be involved.

The other main reason for the recent decline in law-related jobs is a highly criticized business initiative called legal outsourcing. Legal outsourcing — officially known as legal process outsourcing — is when a law firm or corporation seeks legal aid outside the original company, often from other countries. This initiative is devastating for U.S. law graduates because it literally sucks jobs right out of the U.S. to another country. 

According to Valuentos, a consulting firm in India, the number of legal outsourcing companies in India has skyrocketed from 40 in 2005 to 140 by 2010. As more American firms begin using legal outsourcing, more jobs are being transferred out of Americans to foreign workers.

But why would U.S. law firms hire foreign workers instead of Americans? Although legal processing outsourcing has a terrible effect for U.S. law graduates, businesses continue to use it because these firms can pay foreign workers a lot less than American ones, ultimately saving the company money. According to the ABA, an Indian law graduate earns about $6,000 to $7,000 a year. In comparison, a U.S. law graduate from a prestigious school working in the private sector makes that much money in about a month.  

U.S. law firms should reduce use of this business initiative, as it is killing the current labor market, but due to its financial rewards, the ABA predicts that legal outsourcing will continue to grow around the world, especially in countries like India, China and Pakistan. Consequently, the financial incentive to attend expensive law schools will only decrease in the near future as job opportunities are being shipped overseas. 

If you think that becoming a lawyer will come with guaranteed financial rewards, then you are highly mistaken. 

In contrast to law graduates in the 1990s and early 2000s, law graduates in today’s struggling economy cannot be sure of whether or not they will even find full-time employment, let alone well-paying employment at a high-end corporation. 

This is exactly what happened to Anna Alaburda, who, after 10 years, still cannot find full-time employment in the field of law. If you are looking for a guaranteed and prosperous career with a high salary, then do not become a lawyer, as you are likely to find yourself either unemployed or unable to find full-time work like Alaburda and thousands of others just like her.