How Much Money Does It Cost To Become A Lawyer

The Police force Students Society of Ontario (the "LSSO") recently surveyed Ontario constabulary students to meliorate understand the debt load experienced by them and its effect on them. The LSSO Written report provides important insights into the effects of increased police force school tuition costs.

The LSSO Report has been well received and rightly so. Even so, the point of this column is not just to laud the report but to appoint with information technology and its observations. In lodge to seriously address the observations in the LSSO Report, information technology is necessary to consider the report and to look at the cost of becoming a lawyer in context of the actors involved, their responsibilities and their interests.

The LSSO Written report

The LSSO Report reflects survey responses from 697 law students from the seven Ontario law schools. Given that this is a voluntary survey, at that place will be option bias in the results as a result of which some circumspection is merited. One can await that those who are more concerned about constabulary school costs would be more likely to answer.

The LSSO Study observes that "The 697 responses we received were unevenly carve up across the seven participating law schools, with the most responses coming from the virtually expensive law schools". The following chart illustrates this point:

The response rates for Ottawa and Windsor (which represent 40% of Ontario law students) are very low at approximately 3% and 2% respectively while the response rates for Osgoode and U of T are particularly high at approximately 28% and 29% respectively[2].

Given this uneven response charge per unit and the trouble of pick bias, information technology should be understood that the LSSO Study predominately reports responses from Osgoode and U of T which are the police force schools where students face college costs. While it is not possible to assess the effect of selection bias within police schools, information technology is likely that students within each constabulary school who were more than concerned near college costs were more likely to participate in the survey. While, the LSSO Report provides useful information, information technology cannot be seen as being representative. The information reported should be understood as more often than not reflecting the experience of students experiencing and being concerned about higher costs.

Significant highlights from the LSSO Report include the post-obit:

This twelvemonth, tuition for one year of law schoolhouse at the University of Toronto was more than $36,000, with other schools closely following. Many law schools keep to raise tuition by the maximum allowable rate each year, inconsistent with aggrandizement. …

Betwixt 15-twenty% of law students look to graduate law school with $0 owing to governments or banks – suggesting that a sizable portion of students fund their didactics past other means or with the back up of family. In 2014, around 30% anticipated graduating debt-gratis, suggesting that equally tuition rates increase, and so likewise do the percentage of students graduating with debt.

At graduation, over ii-thirds of participants expected to accept more than $l,000 in debt owing to financial institutions (up from 1 third in 2014), and almost two-thirds expected to have over $20,000 in outstanding government student loans (up from one one-half in 2014). 19.32% of students expect that it will take them more than x years to pay dorsum their debts. …

82.53% of those surveyed indicated that at least one of their parents has a postal service-secondary credential (58.86% indicated that both had a credential). 67.86% of participants accept a parent with at least an undergraduate degree, and 40.89% have a parent with at to the lowest degree a masters caste, a professional person degree, or a doctorate degree. These numbers are similar to those in 2014, suggesting that first-generation students are yet experiencing barriers to police school.

Students whose parents accept completed more avant-garde credentials tended to accept lower boilerplate debt levels than their peers. First generation students bear upwards to $32,066 more than debt than their peers by the third year of the law school program.

Students indicate that mental health, stress, and academic success are all impacted by their debt burden and fiscal constraints, and that their career objectives have been altered past the cost of legal education. In open comments, many students expressed views that the profession was elitist or hypocritical on problems of admission to justice or legal education.

These are important observations.

The cost of becoming a lawyer

The LSSO Report focuses on the price of police school and makes passing reference to the toll of the licensing phase between law school graduation and the call to the bar.

Law schoolhouse costs

The price of police force school in Ontario is driven principally by the price of living in the community in which the police force school is located (assuming that a student does not live at home) and the cost of tuition. Statistics Canada publishes an after taxation low income cutting-off by community size (LICO) for 2016 which tin be used as an estimate of the cost of living as a student in different communities in Ontario[3].

Tuition varies significantly by police school[iv]. The post-obit chart shows constabulary school tuition in 2014[5] and in 2018/xix[vi]:

As can be seen, law school tuition has increased since 2014 across the board.

Every bit a rough indication of the price of police force school, the following chart shows the cost of living for three years based on the after-revenue enhancement LICO and iii years of tuition at current rates:

This chart shows a range of cost of about $110,000 to $175,000, an boilerplate cost of well-nigh $130,000 and a median cost of nearly $125,000. The range of law school costs is broad beingness about $65,000 from a low of most $110,000 to a high of over $175,000.

What is not shown in this chart is the consequence of financial assistance both during law school and mail service-graduation. For example, I understand that financial aid expenditures at Osgoode at present exceed $5 one thousand thousand annually which would amount to approximately $half-dozen,000 per student per annum on average for a full of nearly $twenty,000[viii].

There are significant toll differences between the Ontario law schools. The estimated costs at Windsor, Queens, Ottawa and Western are like ranging from about $115,000 to near $125,000 while the estimated toll at Osgoode is near $150,000 and the guess cost of U of T is most $175,000.

With the costs of constabulary school at Osgoode and U of T and the over representation of these schools in the LSSO Report, the bodily and expected debt loads reported by the LSSO Written report are not particularly surprising.

Licensing costs

Based on the LSO website, the cost of licensing fees generally totals $four,710[9]. This is 6.eight% of the full of median tuition plus licensing fees[10].

For those who do not accept paid manufactures, the cost of the licensing year[11] amounts to approximately $20,000 for a full median cost to go a lawyer of approximately $145,000. For those who take paid articles, the costs of the licensing twelvemonth are probable paid for and so total median cost to become a lawyer would be approximately $125,000.

Patently, the costs for those who attend U of T and Osgoode will be significantly to a higher place these amounts; by nearly $55,000 for U of T and about $25,000 for Osgoode.

Reported Debt Load from the LSSO Study

The LSSO Report includes the following information about the current expected debt levels on graduation. The expected debt levels vary significantly but appear to average approximately $63,000 with 2-thirds of respondents expecting debt levels of betwixt $xx,000 and $80,000 on graduation – and with nearly 30% expecting debt levels of over $70,000 on graduation.

A study released in 2004 (equally described beneath) reported that "One-fifth of all current law students expected to graduate from law schoolhouse with no debt, but 27 percent expected to have debt of $twoscore,000 to $70,000 and xiii percent expected to graduate with over $70,000 of debt" and that "Current students projected more than debt at graduation than the bodily debt reported past graduates".

Recognizing methodological issues with LSSO Study, it is notable that the number of students expecting to graduate with no debt is the same as in the 2004 written report. On the other hand, twenty per centum of respondents in the LSSO Report expect to graduate with over $90,000 of debt compared with the thirteen% who expected to graduate with over $70,000 of debt ($90,837 in 2018 dollars) in the 2004 report.

What has changed and why

Some 15 years ago, the Deans of Osgoode, Ottawa, Queens, Western and Windsor deputed a Study of Accessibility to Ontario Law Schools (the "2004 Study") . U of T did non participate having recently completed its own internal study. The overall purpose of the 2004 Study was said to exist:

1) to draw the demographic characteristics of constabulary schoolhouse students in the 5 Ontario law schools;

(2) to determine whether the demographic characteristics of law students take changed since tuition deregulation;

(3) to determine whether there have been changes in the types and amounts of educatee financial support since tuition deregulation; and

(4) to examine the amount of debt incurred by students in law school and the bear upon of debt on their lives.

The 2004 Study surveyed current law students obtaining responses from 2,260 students and surveyed contempo police graduates obtaining responses from 966 graduates. As the 2004 Study reported "[t]he overall survey return rates were 76 per centum of students and thirty percentage of graduates".

The 2004 Study reported tuition fees at the then 6 Ontario law schools over the period 1997/viii to 2003/4 observing that "[s]ince the deregulation of tuition for professional person programs at the finish of 1997, tuition fees at four of the 5 Ontario constabulary schools have more than than doubled, and tuition at the other has more than than tripled".

The following chart applies the All Items Consumer Cost Alphabetize for Canada to the first twelvemonth annual tuition reported in the 2004 Study for 1997/9 and 2003/four, to the 2014 tuition equally reported past Macleans Magazine and the electric current tuition from the current law school websites:

There has been a very pregnant increase in law school tuition over the terminal twenty years with increases ranging from 4.4 times to 6.8 times in abiding dollars. Interestingly, the increases between 2003/four and 2018/9 are in a narrower range from 1.8 to 2.0 times. As I sympathise information technology, this reflects reregulation of tuition but with annual increases above inflation being permitted.

At this point, it is worth noting (every bit did the LSSO Study) the recent 10% tuition fee reduction imposed by the Ontario provincial government together with reduction in pupil assistance. This is a relatively small-scale decrease in law schoolhouse tuitions in the context of recent and long term real increases.

The 2004 Written report also reported that "Before being called to the Bar, law students who have completed their Bachelor of Laws plan must also complete the Bar Admission Course (BAC); the BAC includes an articling term with an experienced legal professional and, in 2003-04, toll $v,000 in Ontario." This $5,000 BAC price is just short of $half-dozen,500 in electric current dollars. As noted to a higher place, the current licensing cost is $4,710. These licensing costs decreased after 2004 with the elimination of the bar admission course and then increased with the introduction of the LPP/PPD.

The significant increase in law schoolhouse tuition over the last 20 years begs the question what does tuition fund and what other funding is available to constabulary schools.

To start with other available funding, at that place are several sources of funding. The commencement is authorities funding. For some time, government funding was on a per student basis. This incented increased course sizes with the effect that the bones operating grant to universities became held to educatee 2010-eleven levels[12]. This works out to a government contribution of something between $v,000 and $10,000 per educatee, which I understand is below average nationally.

There are 2 other sources of funding of which I am aware. The starting time is tuition fees from strange students which are college than for domestic students. The 2d is donations. I have not attempted to track down information regarding these sources which presumably vary by law school.

On the other side, the question is where does tuition go. There are 3 possible answers, namely to fund the police force schoolhouse (with faculty compensation being a large function of that), to cantankerous-subsidize some students by bursaries and to fund other aspects of the university. Again, I oasis't attempted to rail down information regarding these funding possibilities which too presumably vary by law school.

What is publically available and is likely the largest proportion of the cost for law schools is kinesthesia compensation. This information is available equally a result of The Public Sector Salary Disclosure Act, 1996 which requires organizations that receive public funding from the Province of Ontario to make public the names, positions, salaries and total taxable benefits of employees paid $100,000 or more (the "Sunshine List").

But before laying out data regarding the cost of full fourth dimension faculty, it is important to notation that some universities use part-time adjunct faculty significantly. Looking only at full-fourth dimension faculty is not the full story – simply it is part of the story and is the part that is visible.

Every bit well, in that location has no uncertainty been increased spending on increased level of service to students such as clinical and intensive programs. Many law schools now take full fourth dimension educatee success counsellors, staff assigned to career offices, coordinators of Indigenous initiatives, significantly enhanced IT services, international exchange coordinators, and the like. As well, law schools have other mandates and interests in other areas such as new centres, institutes, partnerships, community outreach. Whether increased student tuition is or ought to exist funding these other mandates and interests is an interesting question

Equally for full time faculty, the Sunshine List unfortunately does not identify which professors are members of the faculty of law for universities other than U of T. However, it is possible to come across material differences past constabulary school past taking the electric current total fourth dimension kinesthesia lists from the law school websites and extracting the compensation for those professors from the Sunshine List[thirteen].

In whatsoever event, the following shows the boilerplate and median total bounty as disclosed by the 2017 Sunshine Listing for current full time faculty[14].

Consistent with the review of police force schoolhouse tuition above, it is no surprise that compensation for professors at Ottawa, Western, Queens and Windsor is reasonably similar (although in that location are differences) and that compensation is higher at Osgoode and U of T. Information technology seems articulate that higher faculty compensation and higher tuition are related. It is likewise notable and unsurprising that faculty bounty, other than at Osgoode and U of T, is typically in the $120,000 to $160,000 range given the labour market for lawyers generally.

There are iii of import points that may be fabricated now. The showtime is that instruction law students is simply ane of the goals of a constabulary schoolhouse. The other chief goal (and perchance sometimes the principal goal) is scholarly research and writing which is important to the relative stature of a law school, the nature of the faculty and the students that are attracted to the school. While there are no incertitude advantage to being taught at a law schoolhouse where scholarly work is at a high level, it is notable that tuition has materially increased over time, and particularly in some police force schools, to fund faculty dedicated simply in part to teaching.

The second important point is that, once increased law faculty salaries and benefits are "locked in", one cannot expect police force schools themselves to materially reduce those costs, taking into account tenure, unionization and how Canadian police schools are run. After the fact modify is difficult.

The third important point is that Ontario police schools take been able to charge increased tuition because at that place is significant demand for access to Ontario law schools. Over the x years from 2008 to 2017, in that location have been 3.ane applicants for every first year Ontario law school spot. While this ratio has dropped to ii.8 applicants per spot in the four years from 2014 to 2017, the Ontario law schools confront no lack of demand despite increased tuition costs. The pregnant number of Canadians going to law school in England and in Australia proves this point.

The principles in play

The LSSO Report rightly, in my view, focuses on the impact of high costs and debt loads on those who are less well-off and peculiarly Ethnic people. Diversity of the legal profession is in issue as is social mobility in guild.

While the LSSO Written report does non make the point, it seems to me that the benefit respective with the increased cost has been enjoyed by the law schools, their kinesthesia and, to an unknown (past me) extent, by the universities. To the extent that law schools have get amend for law students as a result (including by standing to attract able faculty), this is fair enough. But given the pregnant increases over the last twenty years, it is unclear the extent to which students have been beneficiaries of increased tuition revenues. And given increases in fiscal assistance also as tuition, it is also unclear which students have borne the brunt of increased tuition given that the most well-to-do can afford increased tuition and the to the lowest degree well-to-practice are more likely to have the benefit of financial assistance.

The LSSO Report likewise focuses on the impact of high debt levels on the choices made past new lawyers. The study fairly observes that individuals with high debt levels without or despite fiscal assistance are incented/forced to choose more remunerative piece of work over less remunerative but socially desirable work. From the perspective of the new lawyer, this is an apt observation for those who can choose more remunerative work.

However, the LSSO Written report goes on to claim that there is a broader impact on access to justice. I have some doubt about this claim. For this merits to be truthful, there would have to be more than immature lawyers taking upwardly higher paid jobs and fewer new lawyers taking up lower paid jobs. Just at that place is no reason to think that the number of higher paid jobs has increased. Besides, the current reality (and this is of concern to the LSSO from their perspective) is that the annual number of new lawyers has significantly increased given increased law school sizes and the significant increment of NCA candidates. While individual choices may well be affected by increased debt levels and in that location may well be increased competition for higher paid jobs, there is no basis that I tin can see to call back that there has been an overall decrease in services offered to ordinary people or to vulnerable people as a result of increased debt levels. This is not to say that we should not exist concerned nearly the touch of high debt loads on individuals and their bachelor choices.

Regulating tuition

Looked at as a whole, the toll of condign a lawyer typically amount to approximately $125,000 to $145,000. There are four main drivers to this cost namely the almanac toll of living, the annual cost of tuition, the number of years in law school and experiential training and whether a paid articling position is obtained.

Law school tuition is a large part of this cost – and the increase in law school tuition is clearly the largest function of increased costs.

Regulation of university tuition is the responsibility of the provincial regime. That the provincial government is the regulator of law school tuition is axiomatic from the deregulation in the 1990s and the 10% tuition subtract just imposed. As well as regulating tuition, the provincial authorities makes decisions nearly the extent of public investment in education. Over time, the proportion of law school costs funded by the province has fallen significantly as the proportion funded by tuition has increased significantly. Simply I am not aware how increasing law school costs plays into this and the extent to which decreasing funding and increasing costs have respectively resulted in tuition increases.

Within regulatory limits, universities/police schools prepare law school tuition. It would be naive to expect law schools to simply ringlet back tuition increases that have funded increased kinesthesia salaries and benefits. This would require tenured and unionized faculty to agree to roll-backs.

Some argue that the Police force Lodge ought to step in and regulate law school tuition. Yet, while the Law Social club has authority over admission to the practice of law, it is not the regulator of law schools. That something should be done does not mean that the Law Society has the authority to do it.

I take that there is an argument to the contrary[15]. In the Trinity Western[16] cases, the majority of Supreme Court of Canada accustomed at paras. 22 and 23 of TWU 5. LSUC that the Law Social club was entitled to pass up to ascribe TWU because "eliminating inequitable barriers to legal training and the profession generally promotes the competence of the bar as a whole" and the Police Society "was too entitled to interpret the public involvement as being furthered by promoting a various bar."

The argument goes that excessive tuition is an inequitable barrier that diminishes competence and variety in the bar. There is truth to this. However, at that place is a deviation between high tuition and bigotry based on the basis of personal characteristics. There is a divergence betwixt refusing to ascribe one new police force schoolhouse based on discriminatory access practices and disaccrediting some or all of the existing Ontario law schools on the basis that excessive tuition is being charged.

Concluding observations

The LSSO Report provides valuable insight despite methodological issues. The 2004 Study deputed by the v Constabulary Deans was a more robust and broader study. Without meaning to be critical of the LSSO Report, the current Police Deans and the Law Lodge, in collaboration with the Law Foundation, may wish to consider repeating the 2004 Study given the subsequent existent increases in law school tuition and the implications of those increases. There would be value in studying the affect of debt levels on the career choices and mental health of recent calls and the human relationship betwixt economic barriers and equity, diversity & inclusion. Better insight into the components of law schoolhouse costs, including the price of clinical and intensive programs, student services and the cost of adjunct faculty, could exist of value equally could better insight into sources of funding.

At that place are significant tuition differences betwixt the law schools. This is likely because different constabulary schools accept made dissimilar strategic choices. While accessibility should remain an event for all law schools, there is value in having different types of constabulary schools and then long as students empathize what they are getting into. Encouraging awareness of those differences, including price differences, on admission may be worthwhile.

The time to become a lawyer in Ontario is lengthy and that costs increase with time. In that location are three components; pre-law school studies, police force school and licensing. While students tin theoretically exist admitted to law schoolhouse with two years of undergraduate, this isn't the reality. The LSSO Report says that 98.46% of respondents had at least an undergraduate degree with near one-fifth having a Masters or a PhD. Competition for police school admission has increased the fourth dimension to become a law student.

One time admitted to constabulary school, students take nearly iv years to become a lawyer, three years in law school and nearly one year in the licensing phase. In Ontario in 2019, becoming a lawyer by and large requires viii years later on loftier school and commonly requires ten or more years – which is a long time and is longer than in many other jurisdictions.

These observations raise possibilities. Could/should at that place be an accredited two year law degree too every bit a three twelvemonth degree? Could/should the police schools and the law societies work together to create a shorter and integrated path to licensing? Should loftier quality flex-fourth dimension legal education be more available so that police force students can better fund their legal education? Is at that place room for different approaches by different law schools? These are interesting and difficult questions that may merit serious thought and would require amend collaboration between the law schools and the Law Lodge.

At that place are no doubt other approaches that ought to be considered.

What do yous think?

_________________________

[1] To judge the number of students who could take responded, I have taken the last iii years of law school admissions bachelor from the Ontario Universities' Awarding Centre and have causeless an almanac 5% compunction rate for second and 3rd year.

[2] Using 2017 access numbers times three years equally an indication of the size of the sample set.

[three] The after-tax LICO for one person in a customs of population of 500,000 or over which is $twenty,675 while the afterwards-taxation LICO for a community of 100,000 to 500,000 is $17,485. The after-tax LICO for a community of 30,000 to 100,000 is $17,267.

[4] The LSSO Study states that "This year, tuition for one year of law school at the University of Toronto was more than than $36,000, with other schools closely following." I do non call back that information technology is correct to say that tuition at the other police schools closely follows the tuition at U of T.

[5] Equally reported in McLean'southward Mag

[6] As reported in current law school websites.

[7] Every bit Thunder Bay is a more remote community, it may be that using LICO somewhat understates the price of living.

[8] Of course, fiscal assistance would not be distributed equally to all students.

[ix] Application Fee of $160, Barristers Examination of $750, Solicitors Exam of $750, Experiential Training of $2,800, Call to the Bar Fee of $250

[ten] In her introduction to the LSSO Report, Heather Donkers observes that "… the Law Society of Ontario (LSO) has instituted changes to the licensing procedure that accept, over the last decade, more than doubled its cost for new graduates, prolonging the climb out of debt". While true, this observation does not notation that the increase is a minor proportion of the total cost of becoming a lawyer and that the electric current costs are comparable to the costs of the 1990s.

[11] Living costs and licensing costs.

[12] Run across 2015 Overview of the Current University Funding Model

[13] At that place are some new professors who manifestly aren't listed. I doubtfulness that this materially affects the results except to the extent that new professors earn less then more senior professors. Just unless there are textile variations past law schoolhouse in terms of new hirers, this should non bear on the relative results. That said, I exclude Lakehead where there have been meaning new hires.

[14] No insight is provided for those with annual salaries of less than $100,000. All the same, information technology does not appear that there are many professors who earn less than $100,000 when adjunct professors are excluded.

[15] H/T Douglas Judson

[sixteen] Law Society of British Columbia v. Trinity Western University, 2018 SCC 32 and Trinity Western University v. Police Society of Upper Canada, 2018 SCC 33

Source: http://www.slaw.ca/2019/02/26/the-cost-of-becoming-a-lawyer/

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