@FollowMesorah
Yes there are many attorneys not making a good living. Bread and butter income items such as wills have been replaced by on line forms. TurboTax and similar software has decimated the accounting profession.
Typical sold practioners starting out today will not make a great living. Frum attorneys can not easily put I. The 2000+ billable hours a year required of associates in top legal firms and can’t wine and fine clients having little hope of making partner.
Lastly it takes deep pockets to finance and build a personal injury practice. Years to trial and settlement while the attorney lays out all expenses for investigators, tests, depositions, filings and sometimes medical expenses. The collecting of a fee i(not recouping expenses) is generally contingent on winning, The CTL firm
Has never handled a PI or medical malpractice case for these reasons.
My
bread and butter for decades has been trust administration (I get a percentage of annual income realized by the trusts and mange close to $100million in principal), family law/divorce/adoptions which get a healthy retainer up front, and intellectual property law representing big firms.
Three of my adult children in the firm practice criminal law in NY and MA. An attorney takes the full expected fee up front from the Dede before taking the case.
Lastly, real estate law. We do commercial real estate mostly, but when MIL was alive and active as a real estate broker we did all the closings for her office at fees of 1% of sales price. Today, discount lawyers advertise $300 closings. They don’t make a living and the client gets what they pay for.
The exception is our Massachusetts office, as in Massachusetts every lawyer passing the bar exam is granted a real estate license. This duality can make a huge difference in income potential of a lawyer starting out.
I would not be recommending my profession to
Most young frum people unless:
They are going to a top tier law school
They have entree to an established firm with a guaranteed livable income.
I expect grandchildren to enter the CTL firm in the next five years, but our hard work has made provision for their success.
There are 7 attorneys in my daily minyan. I am the only one with children who are in the business. Most of the others have adult children in the medical field. Of the other 5, 4 are sole practitioners who experienced a good living but didn’t build a firm that could support additional partner level attorneys. The other is a top notch ligigator who is hired by top firms in CT and NY to represent civil clients in court.
For all of us who are seniors and made a good living there are hundreds who hung their shingle and lived in near poverty or left the practice of law after less than 10 years because they could not adequately support their families.