The truth is, many young lawyers are not averse to pupillage. What they reject is poverty disguised as “sacrifice.”
I meet many young lawyers who truly desire mentorship and want to learn under seniors, grow, and build capacity, but there’s a corresponding responsibility on seniors to pay living wages.
They don’t want to branch out on their own immediately after law school they want to work, learn and grow under seniors, but that becomes almost impossible when the pay does not even cover basic living expenses.
We cannot keep preaching pupillage while ignoring the hardship that often comes with it. If we truly want to breed sound, ethical and well-grounded lawyers, we must start by paying living wages.
If we really want to be respected as learned seniors, we must first be learned friends in thought, word & deed.
A living wage is not a luxury. It’s dignity. Anything short of that is modern-day slavery.