What ever happened to the concept of an apprenticeship?  An apprentice is defined in Webster’s Collegiate dictionary as “one who is learning by practical experience under skilled workers a trade, art , or calling.”  This is an essential element to progress from book knowledge to practical skills.  From educated student to effective counsellor.  Apprenticeships are evidenced in medicine where the economics of getting the requisite education are more severe — per year tuition costs are comparable but medicine may edge a bit higher on average.  And medical school is typically a four year curriculum.  The newly minted physician then must complete a multi-year residency.  I raise this because one might assert that if law school graduates had to apprentice they would not pay (currently or with debt) the cost of gaining a law school education.  The assertion may have value, but it should not effectively dismiss the concept of apprenticeship.

Lawyers are able to practice without a formal apprenticeship and the very best of the best are paid significant incomes.  Yes, there is an element of the open market economy as well as traditional supply and demand economics at play here.  And there are many factors that come into play.  But the concept is worthy of debate.  For surely the status-quo is not tenable for law firms or their clients.

To open the debate further I recommend the blog post “Should associates pay their law firms in the first 2 to 3 years?“.