45,000 new-lawyers a year, that's a big number, especially given that only 50% of them will get jobs. And yet people still keep pursuing these degrees. Why? It seems that many people view a law degree as a conduit to other positions, whether that be in business or politics. Mr. Harper makes the point that this is a flawed way to think because while a law degree may equip you for other things, once you have obtained one you are likely to have over $100k of debt. -This sounds like a big number, but there aren't a lot of secondary degrees you can obtain without that sort of debt, so for me that's not all that distinguishable from others fields. When I was growing up the question people asked there kids was "are you going to be a doctor or a lawyer," when they were trying to steer them towards greatness. I became neither, but now that I have a daughter I ask, "what kind of doctor are you going to be?'
I don't see why anyone would go to law school unless it was to a top-teer school (not suggesting you couldn't). There are so many crappy law-schools out there and I think that this is a part of the problem. Out of curiosity, what are you pursuing instead of law?