AS MY LAW PROFESSOR MIKE GRAETZ SAID, LAWYERS ARE PAID A LOT FOR THE SAME REASON PLUMBERS AND GARBAGEMEN ARE PAID A LOT: PEOPLE WOULDN’T DO IT FOR LESS. Lawyers With Lowest Pay Report More Happiness. Likewise, the law jobs people find satisfying are able to attract people without having to pay as much.

My colleague Ben Barton — who has a terrific book on this subject coming out soon — comments: “The headline is a little misleading, since the lowest paid lawyers work as Starbucks baristas right now. Better to say that government/public interest lawyers are happiest. The After the JD Survey actually found that lawyers working in JD required jobs in corporations were the most satisfied with their careers, even ahead of the government lawyers. Unsurprisingly, the worst off were JD holders in non-law jobs.”