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Law Firms, Students Agree Work Experience is More Important Than Going Straight to Law School

Collegiettes™ who are planning on taking the LSAT and applying to law school for next year may want to consider other options.
 
A significant change is taking place in the legal world that is favoring work experience over consecutively earned
degrees. Students may think that having two degrees will boost the likelihood of a job after law school, but interviews with more than 30 law professors, admissions officers, law students, recent grads and hiring partners at law firms suggest that professional experience carries more weight.
 
 “There’s no doubt that this is a buyer’s market for hiring,” said Kevyn Orr, a partner in the Washington D.C. office of Jones Day law firm in an interview with AOL jobs. “And so in a more competitive market, we will look at the experience more now than in the past.”
 
Unemployment rates for lawyers are at record highs.  Only 68.4 percent of graduates from the national law school class of 2010 have jobs requiring a doctorate degree in law, a drop of 8 percent from the class of 2007.
 
What do you think collegiettes™? Is a degree worth more than professional experience? Let us know below!

Lauryn is a senior at Northeastern University majoring in journalism. She has written for Boston.com as well as the HC branch at Northeastern. Lauryn is also a teaching assistant for International Affairs students at Northeastern. In May and June of 2011, she embarked on a reporting trip to the Middle East, where she mastered the art of "man on the street" reporting and gained a new appreciation for falafel. In her spare time, Lauryn enjoys writing, walking around Boston aimlessly, traveling and a unhealthy obsession with her Kindle. She loves eating, French bulldogs and Anderson Cooper. After graduation, she hopes to pursue a career in foreign correspondence or magazine journalism. You can follow her on Twitter @laurynpaiva.