CBA Record

LEGAL ETHICS

John Levin’s Ethics columns, which are published in each CBA Record, are now in-

dexed and available online. For more, go to http://johnlevin.info/ legalethics/.

BY JOHN LEVIN Too Many Lawyers and Too Much Work T he American legal community is facing a dilemma. There is a surplus of law school graduates looking for made in obtaining the degree, the graduate has a minimum earning requirement just to service the debt.

ETHICS QUESTIONS?

The CBA’s Professional Responsibility Commit-

work and unable to find employment as lawyers, while at the same time, a large percentage of the middle and working class are unable to obtain legal services at a price they can afford. Basic supply and demand theory posits that there should be an adjustment in price so that the excess lawyers will find work providing services to those people who can only afford to pay less. However, there seems to be a price below which lawyers would rather not work as lawyers, but would rather earn their living elsewhere. As a result, there is a point on the demand curve below which the underserved public remains underserved. What are the causes of this apparent unwillingness of lawyers to work below a certain level of compensation? A review of the literature reveals several factors. First: The high costs to enter the pro- fession. In almost all instances, a lawyer needs a four year college degree and then three years of law school. In addition to the time and effort needed to get these degrees, they also cost a great deal of money. According to the popular press, the average law school graduate has about $100,000 of school debt at the time of graduation. Thus, in addition to having to get a reasonable return on the investment

Second: The level of compensation available in other lines of work. Because of the high entry requirements, lawyers are highly educated (or a least highly degreed). As a result, they meet or exceed the entry requirements for many other fields of endeavor. Also, law school teaches skills that can be transferred to many occupa- tions other than law. In fact, according to the popular press, a significant number of law school applicants do not intend to practice law, but want to use the training to further their careers in other fields. If, after a search, a graduate cannot find work as a lawyer at an adequate compensation, there are other opportunities for remunerative work elsewhere. Third: The integrity of the profession. Given the training and skill necessary to be a lawyer, legal services have a certain intrinsic value. According to economic theory, if a lawyer has a day without pros- pect of income but with fixed expenses, any income should be acceptable–so why not prepare an estate plan for $50. For one, the lawyer would now have set a new “going rate” for such work, which would adversely affect the market going forward. But in addition, there is a price so low that it appears to cheapen the value of all the work that becoming a lawyer and practic- ing law entails. It is a psychological floor. So where does that leave us in solv- ing our dilemma? It seems that much of the underserved community will remain underserved no matter how many lawyers are graduated. The next column will discuss some possible solutions.

tee can help. Submit hypothetical questions to

Loretta Wells, CBA Government Affairs Direc-

tor, by fax 312/554-2054 or e-mail lwells@

chicagobar.org.

Explicit Impact of Implicit Bias Tuesday, March 24, 12:00-1:00 pm MCLE Credit: 1 IL PR Credit, subject to approval Location:The Chicago Bar Association, 321 South Plymouth Court, Chicago, IL 60604 Presented by: YLS Diversity Committee Although there has been a lot of dialogue on implicit and unconscious bias, unpacking this concept to understand the myriad of “mental shortcuts” that we take that impact how we work with and value others is critical to the diversity and inclusion journey of any organiza- tion. This presentation will cover many of the specific implicit biases that affect the ways in whichwe learn, work and lead, and howwe can break our biases to achieve our highest potential, as individuals and organizations. In a rapidly changing global marketplacewhere our differences can be a source of conflict or strength, understanding and negotiating our implicit cognitive biases can be an individual as well as an organizational competitive ad- vantage.

John Levin is the retired Assis- tant General Counsel of GATX Corporation and a member of the CBARecord Editorial Board.

Speaker: Arin Reeves, JD Ph.D

40 FEBRUARY/MARCH 2015