SZ: When did you decide to apply for food stamps? How long have you been on public assistance?
DO: I first applied for food stamps in April 2011 after my fellowship ended. I was on public assistance until I started my job as a project attorney. At that point, I was doing non-legal work through a temporary agency and my wages and employment varied from week to week. As a result, I was only deemed eligible for $16/month based on my most recent wages at the time of my application (a week-long assignment as an administrative assistant making $11.50/hour). My caseworker informed me that in order to adjust my eligibility to reflect my actual income, I would have to submit my pay stubs to their office each week. This presented a problem because the general policy of my temporary agency was to email pay stubs only when you had an assignment. Because I was too embarrassed to request weekly pay stubs, I got by on the $16/month. After I lost my project attorney job, I depleted my IRA to survive. In March of this year, after my document review project ended, I reapplied for food stamps. I received them until that project resumed. The project ended again, so I reapplied for benefits last weekend.
As absurd as this may seem, there are far too many recent law school graduates to count who have faced the same circumstances over their course of their short-lived careers since the recession hit the legal profession. Danielle Owens is just a named face in a crowd of thousands just like her who share the same story, and some may be faring even worse than she is. It’s clear to see that her admirable dreams have been deferred — if not completely dashed — thanks to the terrible state of the legal job market.
SZ: What did you think you’d be doing after graduating from law school?
DO: I hoped to be working as a staff attorney in a legal aid organization, a policy attorney at a non-profit, or in a policy position in state or federal government.
SZ: What does it feel like to have a law degree from an elite institution like Georgetown and still have to go through this kind of a situation?
DO: It’s really demoralizing and disheartening. You follow all the advice that you were given and still it seems that you are doomed to failure. I worked hard in undergrad, got a good LSAT score, and went to the best school that offered me a full scholarship. I worked hard there, graduated, and passed the Maryland and Georgia bar exams. Still, I cannot find a stable job with benefits. In fact, I have not had a job with benefits since graduation. And because Georgetown is such an elite institution, many of my peers work in Biglaw, federal government, prominent nonprofits, or as corporate counsel. It’s hard not to compare yourself to them and think that you are the problem. However, I know that many of my Georgetown peers have also struggled to find work, done long stints of document review, and hung out their own shingle to make ends meet. Beyond that, there are other well-meaning attorneys who balk at the idea that a lawyer with a Georgetown degree has been unable to find work. One attorney even asked me if I had really been looking. The obvious answer to that question is YES. I have written hundreds of cover letters, went on informational interviews, attended CLEs, joined local bar associations, actively served on bar association committees, and attended more receptions than I can count. Still, I find myself unemployed or underemployed. And the longer this goes on, the more ground I lose in my career in terms of professional advancement and earning potential.
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“Demoralizing,” “disheartening,” and “doomed to failure” are all feelings that many law school graduates have had since they embarked on the journey to try to find stable employment in today’s economy. Unfortunately, law schools aren’t as transparent about the debt loans of their graduates and the amount of time it takes them to pay off that debt as they now are about their graduates’ employment statistics. Law students would do well to ask their schools about crucial facts like these before descending into the rabbit hole of student debt. After all, you could be reading about your own future.
Truth be told, Danielle Owens’s story is that of an entire legion of lawyers who have come to be known as the Lost Generation — but their stories are not yet complete, and neither is hers. You can help Danielle Owens on her way and ensure that she someday reaches the heights of success she once dreamed of attaining. She is barred in Georgia and Maryland, and she’s actively looking for a job in those states, and in Washington, D.C. If you’re interested in hiring her, you can contact her by email.
Do you have a similar experience that you’d like to share? Please feel free to tell us about it in the comments, or send us an email. If you’re truly struggling, there are ways that others can help you if you try hard enough to reach them. Don’t give up on yourself, because in the end, you could wind up being your own savior in this mess we call the job market for recent law school graduates. Good luck out there.
Earlier: From J.D. to Food Stamps: The Personal Cost of Going to Law School
Every Law School Mistake Ever, From One Lady
Gradenfreude: From Dreams of Being a Biglaw Big Shot to the Reality of Food Stamps