I unironically believe that keeping abreast of The Onion and The Daily Show are some of the best ways to stay up to date on current events. I’ve been tuned in to the latter recently because the light leaving John Stewart’s eyes once he realized Kamala Harris has learned nothing from her loss continues to haunt me:
He started off the most recent Daily Show with a pat on the back: it is entering its 30th year of being on air! Which made for an easy lay-up joke about meandering 30-somethings considering law school:
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Great joke, yes — but what’s a great joke without an accompanying dissertation?
While there is a definite skew toward youth — about 70% of incoming 1Ls are 26 or younger, the 30 and over crowd made up a sizeable ~20% of 2024 enrollment according to LSAC. In case anyone past their 20s is reading this and is parsing through “am I too old for law school?” anxiety, know that you’re fine. Age ain’t nothing but a number, but know which numbers matter: school ticket price, the student loans you might rack up, and the pressure to get a job that lets you pay off that student loan debt before the regulators mount up.
Law school’s trend toward rising costs has been so steep that tuition only going up a little this year was newsworthy. And it’s a legitimate question to ask if the cost is worth its value, not just in terms of law school over the years. You also have to consider what you could be doing with the money instead. If you’re in law school for the money, you may get a better ROI going for banking and finance instead. Or maybe you’re in it for the meaning and want to go to law school to do public interest work? You better make sure that the clients you’ll be representing won’t be deemed “illegal” at a moment’s notice and put your public service loan forgiveness payment plan in jeopardy. You might even be better off going directly into selling hot dogs before the government shutdown pushes you into chasing that dream.
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Would it be the end of the world if you decided to go to law school to chase down some career opportunities? No, but it very well could be the end of you not having six figures of student loan debt. It’s the sort of thing that could make you push off buying a home, having children, dating, and treating yourself to that limited edition copy of Silksong. If you’re seriously thinking about going to law school — and this part applies to 30-somethings as much as it applies to aspiring K-JDs — familiarize yourself with the terms “golden handcuffs” and bimodal salary distribution. Oh, and sit through this rite of passage:
Damn. Elaborating on a joke really does ruin it. Sorry, John.
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Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s . He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who is learning to swim, is interested in critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at [email protected] and by tweet at @WritesForRent.