The unvarnished reality of legal education and practice.
Empirical analysis of law school rankings, bar passage rates, and the true economics of BigLaw. No marketing copy, just data.
The Cost of Admission
Attending law school is the most significant financial decision of a young professional's life. Yet, most prospective students rely on opaque rankings and marketing brochures to make it.
We break down the actual return on investment (ROI) by cross-referencing ABA 509 disclosures, NALP salary data, and regional cost of living metrics to reveal which schools actually justify their tuition.
Calculate your Law School ROIAverage Law School Debt (2023)
Bimodal Salary Distribution Peak 1 (The reality for most)
Navigating the Pipeline
From the LSAT to making partner, understand the mechanics of the legal profession.
The LSAT
The logic games are gone, but the structural curve remains. How to master reading comprehension and logical reasoning to break 170.
Read the Guide →Admissions
Deconstructing the index score. Why your GPA and LSAT matter exponentially more than your softs, and how to play the rolling admissions game.
Read the Guide →The Bar Exam
UBE adoption rates, state-by-state pass statistics, and why most commercial prep courses are highly inefficient.
Read the Guide →The Economics of BigLaw
The bimodal salary distribution is the defining economic characteristic of the legal profession. A small percentage of graduates start at $225,000, while the vast majority start between $60,000 and $85,000.
We track the Cravath scale, associate leverage models, and the true cost of billing 2,000 hours.
2024 Cravath Scale (Base)
Essential Calculators & Tools
Billable Hours Target
Translate an 1,800 or 2,000 hour requirement into actual daily desk time.
Realization Rate
Calculate the spread between standard rates, billed rates, and collected cash.
Settlement Net
Determine client payout after standard contingency fees and litigation costs.
LSAC GPA Converter
Convert your institutional transcript into the standardized LSAC format.
The legal profession is characterized by an asymmetry of information. Partners know the economics; associates don't. Law schools know the employment outcomes; applicants don't. We exist to fix that.
Beyond BigLaw
The vast majority of attorneys do not work in AmLaw 200 firms. We provide rigorous analysis of the other paths.
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Public Interest & Government
Navigating PSLF and the reality of non-profit compensation caps.
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The In-House Transition
Trading equity upside for predictable hours. What GCs actually look for.
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Solo Practice Economics
Malpractice overhead, client acquisition costs, and hanging your own shingle.
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Judicial Clerkships
The prestige hierarchy of Article III courts and the clerkship bonus market.
The Methodology
Our analyses rely exclusively on primary sources. We do not use self-reported, unverified surveys.
- ABA Standard 509 Disclosures
- NALP Employment Reports
- NCBE Bar Passage Statistics
- Federal Judicial Center Data
All data is updated annually within 30 days of the official release dates.