In the mid-Aughts or so, a degree from a top law firm was seen as a ticket to basically anything. Maybe you could be a law professor (and law schools were seen as ka-ching ka-ching for universities). Or you could go into biglaw and be a partner in 5 years. Or you could find jobs in government, or lower paid but still lucrative enough dogooder opportunities. I know someone who left behind a successful career in non-law academia to go to law school just before the bust hit. He doesn't have major student loans, but he's still fucking miserable. Wrong decision.
And, yes, the plight of highly paid serfs is much less of an issue than the plight of lowly paid serfs, but when even the "elite" are getting screwed it's a sign that shit really is fucked up and bullshit. No one makes partner anymore. They pulled up the ladder.
