$347,000 in student debt who can't land a job...

[bjcheung77]

Ouch, more student debt news - From social work to law school to hefty student debt, he's also been moving from WA state to his fiancee's state of NM. He says he's not going to pay his loans even though he wants to, I think it'll just balloon further!

I see these numbers going up and up, government should just ax their tuition debt interest but leave the initial loan amount to pay off... That amount of debt can buy a pretty good place to live in some areas! Other than that, I don't know what else they can do.

Link: Meet a first-generation attorney with $347,000 in student debt who can't land a job and says 'there are a substantial number of people like me that are being forgotten' (msn.com)

[dfrecore]

1st - calling him a "first-generation student" is a complete lie- he already had a bachelor's degree and was working as a social worker. So let's at least tell the truth about things.

2nd - he took out loans for law school, but seems to have been student-debt free prior to that

3rd - he's 37! Which means he was 32 when he graduated law school. Which means he was 29 when he began law school. He was not some 18yo with zero guidance. He was a grown-ass man with a degree, working in his field when he made all of these decisions

4th - he graduated from law school but didn't take/pass the bar exam - so he's not a lawyer, which is why he can't get a job!

This is all written as if he's just a victim, rather than someone who made terrible decisions. He CHOSE to leave a job in his field. He CHOSE to take out a massive amount of debt. He CHOSE to not sit for the bar exam (with a sick fiancee' he could easily have taken her to live with her parents and then studied for the bar exam there right away). He made bad CHOICES and then is complaining about having to live with them. He's an idiot.

[ss20ts]

The interest rates are ridiculous. They're higher than car loans and mortgages. Many loans accumulate interest while you're still in college which is a problem. By the time you graduate you can owe almost double because of the compounding interest. The interest is what really needs to revisited.

Why does he owe $347K? I mean he didn't go to Harvard Law. Even that wouldn't cost $347K. How can someone who passed the bar exam not find a job as an attorney? Maybe stop moving from state to state! Settle somewhere and find a job.

[Pats20]

I Average law school cost is $50k per year. Law school typically takes  3 years to complete. $50k x 3 years = $150k

Why does he owe  $350k ?

[Alpha]

 He's an idiot.

I'd agree that he's made some very bad choices as an adult.  I don't see him as a victim and I hope he realizes his own responsibilities in this whole mess.  At the same time I'd say that it doesn't do anyone any good to simply let him drown.  He'll never pay off that debt, even if he becomes employed and pays until the day he dies (and maybe he should continue to pay something).  I'm not interested in allowing people to simply walk away from their bad decisions but I don't think that these sorts of debts should be a life sentence to indentured servitude.  At least stop the accrual of interest.

[jsd]

1st - calling him a "first-generation student" is a complete lie- he already had a bachelor's degree and was working as a social worker. So let's at least tell the truth about things.

First generation student just means his parents didn't have a college degree.

[kt320]

I Average law school cost is $50k per year. Law school typically takes  3 years to complete. $50k x 3 years = $150k

Why does he owe  $350k ?

Cost of attendance at that school is floating near $90k.

[dfrecore]

1st - calling him a "first-generation student" is a complete lie- he already had a bachelor's degree and was working as a social worker. So let's at least tell the truth about things.

First generation student just means his parents didn't have a college degree.

I don't think you can apply that label after someone already has a bachelor's degree.  Yes, for an 18yo whose parents didn't go to college, being a first-gen student puts you at a disadvantage, because you're not savvy about navigating through the system.  But for someone who went to college, graduated with a bachelor's degree, and was working in their field? I call BS.

[jsd]

I'm not saying anything about how it relates to his debt story, I'm just saying his educational history matches the description.

[freeloader]

This guy did pass the bar and has his own law firm in New Mexico: https://pederzani.law/

His legal focus is on intellectual property, working with creative types.

1) He was a social worker and talked about going to law school to help people. Dude isn’t doing family law, immigration law, criminal defense or something similar where he is in the “helping” part of the law.  This makes me lose some sympathy for him.

2) I seriously doubt working with creative types in New Mexico is particularly profitable for a new lawyer.  Do what you want to do, life is short BUT when you chose a job that is unlikely to pay you enough to live on and pay your debts, please do not complain about your choices.

One of my favorite professors was a former lawyer. He and his wife had both been lawyers and practiced with major firms. He said he hated the work, but both of them did if for around 10 years and put a couple of million dollars in their bank account. They both stopped practicing law to follow their passions in life.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t know that this guy is quite what major big-city firms are looking for, but a few years doing something more profitable might then allow him to spend his remaining working years working with creatives.

3) This fellow clearly was bought into the survivorship bias of attorneys around him. They were successful and never struggled to support themselves, so it follows that all attorneys will be successful and never struggle to support themselves. That in and of itself is problematic.

My wife graduated law school in 2012 in the midst of the worst legal job market in American history. It was national news. It was seemingly what everybody at her law school talked about. A number of law schools in the US folded during this time.  Dude I the story graduate in 2017, which means he started in 2013 or 2014. Was this guy living under a rock?  When stories of unemployed law graduates from Top 10 law schools made headlines, he somehow felt that attending an average to below-average law school would somehow guarantee a comfortable income?

4) All for that said, I do feel bad for the guy. I would hope that he would take some responsibility though for his actions. Perhaps he has applied and turned down, but has he tried to go to work for the state or federal government?  Many of those jobs, even ones which don’t require a law degree, would allow him to work and make some payment for 10 years and have his debt forgiven under Public Service Loan Forgiveness. Sure, he may be underpaid, but it beats living on public assistance and never getting out from under this.

I have no doubt that there are ways out of this for this dude, but he seemingly is unwilling to pursue them. Of course, we don’t know his situation. He might have something in his background or his family life that limits his employability, but how do you not take that into consideration BEFORE you take on this massive amount of debt?