I think the better question is why wouldn’t they consider academia. This sub probably needs to hear this: Lifestyle matters! I can’t count the number of posts I’ve seen where people talk about hating their life in big law. That is a problem!! Academia is one of the most prestigious career paths, and you will be far less stressed than in any other legal field. My sister is an undergrad professor and I seriously can’t believe how awesome her life is. She teaches like 2 classes every other quarter (so essentially has 4-5 months off every year) and gets paid to travel and do research.

I think impact is subjective, but a lot of people see themselves making the biggest difference by teaching students. I know there are many impactful legal careers, but in terms of BL I personally feel like slaving away for a giant firm helping make big companies richer isn’t making a huge difference in the world.