My stepmother is a lawyer, her father is a Judge, I work part time for a law firm. The hardest thing coming out of law school is passing the bar exam. I have friends that it has taken them 2 times. It took my cousin who lives in new york several times. Not sure how many, but it wasn't easy. Then finding a steady job. The hardest thing my stepmother said she had to do was lay off attorney's who had worked only a year or less at the firm where she's a partner. Firms are always laying off lawyers to cut cost especially corporate law.

So many lawyers end up doing other jobs for money, because they have to pay back the loans, other bills, and survive. The first years they are broke. The firm I work for there are lawyers who interned and once graduate from law school, pass the bar, are in hopes they get on full time. So many former lawyers go into other fields so they can pay bills, loans, and live. The economy is bad especially for them. Then there is getting the rest of their fees from clients. The retainer fee is used for filing, court, and other things that run out.

It depends on which field and what state or states you want to practice.