Law Student Idealism and Job Choice: Some New Data on an Old Question

• Published in: Law & society review Vol. 30; no. 4; pp. 851 - 864
• Main Authors: Erlanger, Howard S., Epp, Charles R., Cahill, Mia, Haines, Kathleen M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amherst, MA Law and Society Association 01-01-1996; Blackwell; Sage Publications for the Law and Society Association; Cambridge University Press
• Subjects: Altruism; Attorneys; Career aspirations; Career development; Careers; College admission; College students; Debt; Educational sector; Graduate Students; Higher Education; Idealism; Influences; Law; Law schools; Law students; Lawyer client communication; Lawyers; Legal aid; Legal education; Legal Profession; Occupational Aspiration; Occupational Choice; Public interest; Public interest law; Questionnaires; Research Note; Social Interest; Sociology; Sociology of professions; Sociology of work; Sociology of work and sociology of organizations; Stover; Students; United States; Wisconsin; United States Of America; Social Participation; Attitude towards; Higher Education; Law; Legal Profession; Idealism; Professional career; Lawyer; Graduate Student; Occupational choice; Panel Survey; Social action
• ISSN: 0023-9216; 1540-5893
• DOI: 10.2307/3054120

Numerous commentaries and empirical studies have suggested that while a substantial proportion of incoming law students are interested in careers in "public interest law," by the time they graduate only a small minority take jobs in that sector. However, none of these studies have been based on a panel study having data on both job preference before students began their studies and information about the actual first job taken. This Research Note fills that gap by updating an earlier study of the University of Wisconsin Law School class of 1976. We find that while over half the respondents expressed some interest in public interest law before beginning law study, only 13% actually took a job in legal aid, as a public defender, or in a nonprofit organization. Analysis of respondents who initially expressed an interest in nontraditional jobs shows that political orientation and participation in a social action law program during law school are the strongest predictors of who in fact took a nontraditional job.