The vast majority of Above the Law readers are members of the legal profession in some way — and whether you’re a prospective law student, a current law student, a young associate, or a partner, chances are you’ve all had similar worries about the future and its many uncertainties. Will you be able to find a job? Will you be able to pay off your loans? Will you even enjoy being a lawyer? One thing, however, is for sure: you’d prefer that your children not suffer the same vocational fate as you.
According to a new book on social mobility, your children may not have a choice in the matter, as children of lawyers are 17 times more likely to become lawyers than children whose parents have a job in a different area of employment.
This claim is made in The Class Ceiling: Why it Pays to be Privileged (affiliate link), by Professor Sam Friedman of the London School of Economics and Professor Daniel Laurison of Swarthmore College. Legal Cheek has more information:
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This parental influence, they argue, is part of the reason why working class people are under-represented in the profession.
Friedman’s and Laurison’s analysis of the Labour Force Survey shows that law is the second most inheritable of around 20 professions examined, behind medicine.
Don’t bother arguing with your children over their unavoidable future choice of profession. It’ll just encourage them. Lawyers like to argue, remember?
Children of lawyers 17 TIMES more likely to become lawyers themselves [Legal Cheek]
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Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.