Good Friday morning.
It's National Donut day. 😋.
The US is now officially in a trade war. And like all good wars, we've started one with our friends-Canada and Mexico.
Below the article on Law School rankings is an audio clip of Michael Cohen threatening a journalist on behalf of Donald Trump.
Query: What kind of idiot practices law like that?
Answer: An idiot who works for Donald Trump.
The Blawg Above The Law has their new law school rankings.
1)University Of Chicago
2)Virginia
3)Duke
4)Harvhard
5) Stanford round out the top five.
Yale came in at 7; Colombia at 13 and NYU at 14, and to the chagrin of Judge Moreno, Notre Dame barely made the top 20 at 18.
University of Utah is #50.
Tactics:
The way we practice law, if some jadrool
spoke to us like this, we would call him on his threat in a second.
spoke to us like this, we would call him on his threat in a second.
Those who can....do.
Those who can't...threaten.
It looks like another wet and rainy weekend. ☔⛈
Keep dry and fight the power!
Keep dry and fight the power!
Good Morning Miami podcast today discusses the rumor that The REN (a Venue) will be opening in Brickell City Center. I could go for some pork belly tacos with Jicama slaw and the organic habanero cream.
ReplyDeleteYum.
Wonder if they will have the microbrewery running?
Didnt click the link, but not having Yale top 5 is silliness -- and I hate Yale.
ReplyDeleteThe truth of the matter with regard to law schools is that the whole thing is a scam. The entire country needs about 60 law schools -- one state flagship and a gaggle of Ivys + Stanford etc -- to staff the demand for lawyers in our economy, a demand that shrinks yearly and will shrink entirely once legalzoom type technology makes most small business law automated.
Meanwhile, Florida alone has like 12 accredited law schools pumping out thousands of JDs every. Damn. Year.
What happens to these kids? Well, the schools don't care. Law schools are cheap as shit to run, just need a big classroom and a lecturer. No labs, no real investment. Charge each student 30-40k a year, all in. No 22 year old on earth can afford to pay that out of pocket, so they take on student loans that are non-dischargeable and backed by the fed govt. So the school gets paid even if 80% of its graduates default on the loans, which be the reality, as thousands of Floridian JDs realize the market has no place for them.
Great, get a non-law job now that you have 100k debt and no discernible professional skills ("Um... I got a B+ in Civ Pro, so I can do retail!") Not to mention the opportunity costs of not working for three years.
It is truly a higher ed scam, lining the pockets of baby boomer school admins and leaving the tax payers holding the bag when unemployed JDs default.
How to fix it? Well, if the ABA had some balls it would dis-accredit about 90% of law schools. All these FL schools with less than 50% bar passage rates? The ones whose average LSAT score is sub-150? Bye bye. Sure you can give 'em your money and study there, but you get no accredited JD. Second, get the fed govt out of backing up the ruinous student debt. If kids have to default because they were misled by admissions deception, let the schools suffer. Also mandate that the schools accurately report the numbers of law jobs their grads have 5 years out. (The numbers released now are fudged to high heaven and even top schools "employ" grads in their library for 8 months to claim better numbers). Third, make the bar exam more rigorous, not less. Limit repeat takers.
Restore some dignity to the profession. There is nothing shameful about elite competence when lawyers have power over people's lives.
Finally, we all need to be frank when college kids tell us they want to be a lawyer. Ask them if they've worked or interned at a real law firm. Ask them how they will pay for law school. Ask them if they have a law job in mind that will be waiting for them upon graduation. Do them the real favor of making them deeply examine the decision before investing three years of not getting paid and taking out huge loans for an industry that is already oversaturated.
2:45
ReplyDeleteThat was a great post
I agree with you 2:45. I warn all kids who want to go to law school that they better love the law and hard work. Otherwise they should go to business school unless they get into a 10 ten school.
ReplyDeletefar down
ReplyDeletevery far down
2:45 is dead correct. john Grisham wrote a novel about the law school scam. When i graduated college, i contemplated going to grad school for either political science, history, or American literature but was told time and again there were no jobs so i went to law school by default. i hated it from day one and that hatred has only grown after 36 years. i think i would have been happier driving a cab and reading books about Reconstruction and Heminigway while singing Harry Chapin's Taxi as i fell asleep every night after nursing a scotch at some local watering hole.
ReplyDeleteThe problem with 2:45 is that it closes doors to new generations of lawyers. If only the well-to-do can go to law school, the profession becomes an elite club. If only the well-to-do have the connections to have a job waiting after graduation, the profession becomes an elite club. We lose diversity in the process. That said, I agree that sub-150 LSAT schools and sub 50-60% bar passage schools should be shuttered, but helping students finance law school should remain a goal.
ReplyDelete2:45 is on point.
ReplyDeleteThe once strong lion roams he hall. Weakened and diminished. Raging against all because he knows his time is short.
ReplyDeleteThese rankings always make you question the criteria, as none seem to put a premium on creating real trial lawyers. Temple at #28? They are not the most expensive or exclusive law school, and they haven't produced any Presidents; but they have been winning national mock trial championships for four decades. Every year they crush Penn and other "elite" schools. A good number of Dade ASAs have come from Temple. This Temple Law alum has no regrets.
ReplyDelete