tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56186631581616651992024-02-18T22:37:41.008-05:00Esq. NeverOne law school graduate's attempt to find a fulfilling career in spite of his legal education.Esq. Neverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18248019550876835145noreply@blogger.comBlogger109125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5618663158161665199.post-53134810409096969872019-07-23T14:00:00.000-04:002019-07-26T09:34:45.365-04:00What Happened to JD Underground (JDU)?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSqoyr73jFfPYLS5Y74mPrnypCg1k7QHt2QUu_fB9dTyJUXiPqJfZtxjhxct5fBgTKvuQUHAl5lPa5nKFSd604iKsxFaTDWRI76hY_D3fJN8zJ1DlrVYcvMEyzpg4FbW2a8iFQ95TQjcA/s1600/jd.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="668" data-original-width="1446" height="147" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSqoyr73jFfPYLS5Y74mPrnypCg1k7QHt2QUu_fB9dTyJUXiPqJfZtxjhxct5fBgTKvuQUHAl5lPa5nKFSd604iKsxFaTDWRI76hY_D3fJN8zJ1DlrVYcvMEyzpg4FbW2a8iFQ95TQjcA/s320/jd.PNG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
At about this time a decade ago, I had recently graduated
from law school and was on the cusp of taking what would be both the most
intense and the most meaningless exam of my life (my state bar exam). Soon
thereafter, I would come to the full realization that my wayward decision to
attend law school had obliterated both my career prospects and my financial
solvency before I had even celebrated my 30<sup>th</sup> birthday.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
To memorialize this occasion, my plan was to author one
final post as a retrospective of what has changed in the law school universe
over the past 10 years. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of those
major changes, however, has been the closure of many of the resources, which
once were required reading for those interested in the wayward practices of the law
school cartel.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As this present site is only rarely updated, it draws very
little traffic on its own. In the past, I have relied on two outside sources to
generate views for any new posts: Nando’s Third Tier Reality and JD
Underground. After nearly a decade of heroically profiling every ABA school
(and their corrupt practices), Nando both stopped blogging and inexplicably
removed TTR from the web. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Likewise, about a month ago, JD Underground (JDU) – the
subject of this post - met a similar fate. It would not make sense to spend
time writing a retrospective on the law school scam that nobody will read, but
as probably one of the few former JDUers with the SEO (or at least the web
presence) to attract a few eyeballs, I thought I’d instead use my final posting
to address JDU’s closure for those who wonder what happened.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
To offer a full explanation, I think it’s necessary to give
a little history, but for those who want the condensed version (or TLDR, as the
kids say these day): There was some internal strife among JDU posters which led
the administrator to just shelve the whole site.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If you want the longer story, read on, but please note that
I was just an infrequent poster and not an insider. There may be more to the
story, which I welcome you to share in the comments. Everything disclosed below
is from my (limited) perspective.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>History</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
JDU began in 2007 (shortly after I enrolled in law school).
My understanding is that it replaced a site called JD Jive, which also served
as an online forum for disaffected lawyers and law students. It featured a
no-frills interface for the aforementioned attorneys and students to share war
stories and gripe about their circumstances. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
JDU wasn’t – strictly speaking – an anti-law school message
board. It did feature some threads poking fun at delusional 0L’s (non yet
enrolled students), who thought they would easily be able to repay six figure
student loan balances after law school. There were, however, also discussions
about bar exam prep, law firm reviews, and other more mundane matters of legal
practice.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I believe I checked out the site once or twice while in law school.
In my youthful foolishness, I dismissed much of what I read. I assumed that
even if things were as bad as JDU sometimes claimed, I would at least be able
to take on doc review work and easily satisfy my loans and move on. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I became more of an avid reader of the site after graduating
from law school. I think I mostly relied upon it for information on
when my state’s bar results had historically been released. Once I completed
the bar, and it slowly sunk in just how perilous my situation was, I started
taking more of the critical comments to heart. Moreover, several of the recession
wave of scam blogs began positing links directly from JDU. The truth had been
revealed: I was just a chump the law school cartel had bamboozled and then
shuttled out into the post-law school abyss. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Soon thereafter (with little else to do), I joined the
anti-law school brigade with this blog. Like the others, I used JDU as a
resource to generate traffic. It was through these links that a number of
reporters from various publications found my blog (and the others) and
contacted me. These early articles helped bring the scam to the
attention of a wider community.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As mentioned, at the time, JDU wasn’t purely an anti-law
school resource. The founder (who went by “admin”) always seemed a little
ambivalent about the cause, and there were other posters who commonly challenged
the scam blog movement with quips about “whining” and “entitlement”. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
JDU had a bit of a reputation of being a “wild west” forum
where insults flew easily and caustic comments were the norm. I can’t recall
the exact evolution of the site, but eventually there was an off-topic section
with fewer law school-oriented comments. I think at one point there was a medical
grad sub forum as well as special fora with topics such as dating.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One of the reasons why my memory is a little sketchy
regarding this era was that as I started to repair my life, I spent less and
less time on JDU. I may have only visited it a handful of times between 2012 and
early 2015.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Starting in 2015, I found myself in a position where I had a
little more time, and I was curious about some of the developments in the
anti-scam movement. By this time, almost anyone who wasn’t a self-interested
party in the law school cartel recognized something was rotten in the system.
JDU was no exception. Almost all the apologists were gone. (Even the once
rabidly pro-law school Top Law School Forums were willing to listen to reason.)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Nonetheless, JDU had initiated some reforms. The law school
forum could no longer could be used as a battering ram against the scam. If
someone asked a question about going to law school, posters had to take care to
be very gentle should they want to dissuade that person. Standard anti-law school
terms like Third Tier Toilet (TTT) could no longer be used. Bans were also
frequently employed against violators. (This may have contributed to the site’s
eventual decline in activity.)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Except in the rare cases when I had a new article to share
or there was something about the scam bloggers I wanted to address, I used an
alias other than “Esq. Never”. That said, almost all my posts were about the
law school scam (school closings, law school lies, etc.). I weighed in a few
times about the Dan Markel case, but I almost never interjected on non-legal
subjects and tried to avoid US political discussions.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Off-Topic section was the home for most of these
exchanges. While I never really contributed, I’ll concede there could be some
amusing threads. There was one character named “George Constanza”, who like his
namesake, apparently drew the short straw in life and really hated the modern
social scene. Another guy posted as “BizzyBone123”, who pretended (?) to be
some type of Cuban rapper. On the less amusing side, a poster named “Myth”
apparently was killed in a tragic accident and was memorialized in a few
threads on the site.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
That JDU had attracted such a colorful cast of characters probably
helped lead to its downfall. The acrimony really dialed up on JDU (as it did
across the country) after the 2016 election. Admin was kind enough to create a
political subforum to shelter the rest of us from the brawls. (There was also
the “Dome” which served a similar purpose in keeping the more salacious and
offensive exchanges sequestered.)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Towards the end, the two remaining sub-fora: Politics and
“Dome” eventually were merged into the Off-Topic section. It seemed like this
was done because the site was less lucrative than it used to be. There were
only a handful of active threads on the law forum and OT wasn’t that active
either. Maybe the better economy had produced less law related griping and
social media had undermined the reach of such a forum, but regardless, admin
became convinced things needed to change</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>The Fall</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The merger, however, turned the OT section into a near free
for all. The rivalries from the dome spilled over and the animosity between
Trump supporters and detractors helped fuel the contentious atmosphere even
more.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On Friday, June 14 (2019), JDU shut down for good. On the OT
section, there were a number of posts wishing everyone else goodbye. One thread
allegedly had the inside scoop. Apparently, there was an “offline” e-mail group
among some of the regulars. Tensions were boiling over in that arena, and one
user was threatening legal action over some things that had been disclosed
about her on JDU.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There had been warnings about this earlier on. Admin had
asked other posters not to comment on discussions related to the e-mail chain.
Nonetheless, it seems that given the decline in revenue and the threat of legal
troubles, it wasn’t worth it for admin to continue to maintain the site for the
benefit of its dwindling following.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Presently, the site just redirects to a generic page with
some spammy advertising links. It’s not clear if admin just gave up the domain
or if he still owns it but parked it in order to extract a little revenue from
those said links. In either event, it seems unlikely the site will come back
online.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Legacy</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As mentioned, JDU served an important role in warning
potential law students of the perils of going the JD route. It also was an
important hub for other sites to grow and to connect mainline journalists with
the scam bloggers. There’s no doubt that it helped propel the movement even as
it was at times bogged down by law school shills, goofiness, and rivalries that
may have brought the community down.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For the time being, the law school scam battle is in a
détente (neither advocates nor opponents seem to be very active). It will be
interesting to see what happens when the next recession hits. Sadly, JDU won’t
be a force during that stage, but at least it was able to witness the fall of
a few ABA accredited schools. Perhaps, the next revolution will make
more use of ascending social media tools.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Unlike JDU, Esq. Never will remain up (for whatever it’s
worth) until it’s deleted by Blogger. Like JDU, however, I personally plan to
end my internet involvement in commenting on the scam. I know I’ve been in the
periphery of the periphery (who knows if anyone will even read this post), but
it’s been a decade: I’m glad to see some changes, and maybe there will be more,
but on this, I agree with admin, there comes a time to just officially close
things down.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Best wishes to anyone who has followed the sporadic postings
throughout the years, and for anyone considering law school, please read some
of the earlier posts and be very, very cautious in making a decision that can
literally upturn your entire life.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>E.N.</i></div>
Esq. Neverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18248019550876835145noreply@blogger.com34tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5618663158161665199.post-51097505182348335742017-05-01T16:04:00.000-04:002017-06-30T08:56:30.469-04:00The Baghdad Bob of the Law School Scam<br />
Were you ever convinced that the Iraqi army would repel and defeat the invading U.S. forces in 2003? If you lived in Iraq and only listened to Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf's broadcasts you may have been so persuaded. Better known as "Baghdad Bob", this colorful propaganda minister was widely ridiculed pretty much everywhere outside of the Middle East for his bombastic and disingenuous predictions that Iraq would prevail against the American onslaught.<br />
<br />
Enter Stephen Diamond, who has been dubbed by some of our friends at <a href="http://www.jdunderground.com/all/" target="_blank">JD Underground</a> as the "Baghdad Bob of the Law School Scam". Like his Iraqi counterpart, reality has little bearing on this man's pronouncements and predictions. Diamond wasn't particularly active at the start of the scam blogging movement, but over the years, as the walls of the scam have begun to crumble, he has become one of the more vocal defenders of the law school cartel.<br />
<br />
Like some of his compatriots, he has sought to dismiss criticism of the scam as gross exaggerations of the public service I'm sure he thinks (or wants others to think) that he provides. Periodically, Diamond chimes in with claims that the employment market for lawyers has improved and all the anti-law school hysteria will soon be put to rest. Here's <a href="http://stephen-diamond.com/2015/01/15/as-market-reality-sets-in-law-school-critics-get-testy" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">an example from early 2015</a>. <br />
<br />
Apparently, this extraordinary rebound in the attorney labor market couldn't save Indiana Tech or (more recently) Whittier Law from taking academic dirt naps (to say nothing of plunging enrollment and revenue at law schools across the board). Undeterred, the good professor's latest foray into the post law school employment discussion was made in conjunction with Whittier's announced closing: He points to some <a href="http://stephen-diamond.com/2017/04/21/whittiers-big-mistake/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">irrelevant uptick in the legal market</a> in Orange County and then sits back expecting us to deduce that this means the average Whittier grad has nothing to fear at graduation. <br />
<br />
Like the actual Baghdad Bob, the man is just blowing smoke while the tanks come rolling in. Similar to most law school defenders, Diamond treats all law graduates equally in his "analysis". A generally improving labor market for attorneys may be just dandy for those BigLaw practitioners with several years of experience under their belts. It doesn't really mean much, however, to those toiling away in document review, sharing desks with debt collectors in some shady "small law opportunity", or who aren't even practicing law. It also means little to most Whittier grads who are likely to both end up in one of the aforementioned sorry scenarios and have a $170k+ bounty on their heads.<br />
<br />
Let's put Diamond's thoughts on Whittier to the side for a minute, though. After all, what brought Diamond to prominence in the law school scam debate wasn't his incisive analysis of labor economics. Instead, it was his penchant for bizarre conspiracy theories. While he may be a political liberal, when it comes to defending the cartel, Diamond goes full "Alex Jones" on us.<br />
<br />
When David Lat wrote an anti-LS op-ed in the Washington Post, <a href="http://stephen-diamond.com/2015/04/09/washington-post-feeds-the-law-school-myth-making/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Diamond first hinted</a> that his grasp on reality may be a couple bucks short of a full student loan payment: "Above the Law’s David Lat was let into the pages of the Washington Post today in an attempt to feed the beast of myth making about law school. This is becoming a bit of a habit at the Post which recently allowed one of its own columnists to mislead the public about law schools as I explained here. Perhaps it’s the influence of their new owner, Jeff Bezos, known to lean libertarian."<br />
<br />
Whatever one thinks of libertarianism, it would be pretty hard to argue that the Washington Post is exactly its flagship publication. Nonetheless, in Diamond's mind, if the libertarians haven't yet fully infiltrated the Post, they are at least <a href="http://prawfsblawg.blogs.com/prawfsblawg/2015/04/ohio-.html" target="_blank">the driving force behind the anti-scam movement</a>: "It's a "fact" that this crowd is out to destroy the American law school and higher education itself as an institution. That is the clear goal of the Koch Brothers backed Cato Institute. Anyone who tries to deny that is either collaborating in that effort or naive beyond belief. I have made this crystal clear from the earliest days in which I joined this debate. " (Comment @ Apr 30, 2015 6:16:48 PM)<br />
<br />
One would assume, friend of this blog, <a href="http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2017/04/fresh-mangoes-whittier-law-school-edition" target="_blank">Paul Campos</a>, who shares Diamond's liberalism but not his alternative reality, would dispute that he's just a tool in the Koch brothers' nefarious scheme to destroy the social welfare state by forcing people like Diamond to get a job that isn't funded on the back of 20 somethings assuming six figures of debt.<br />
<br />
It's clear that all is not well on Planet Diamond, but what of his recent comments on Whittier Law biting the dust? As mentioned, he ties some moderate improvement in the local economy to (yet another) predicted boom, which will leave the average Whittier grad rolling in dough - or being able to fight Trump - or both!<br />
<br />
Diamond, however, goes further; it's not just that he thinks Whittier may have been in a dire but salvageable situation. No, in his eyes, Whittier Law made a BIG mistake. Let's get this straight - this is a school with only a 22% bar passage rate, 30% employment in ANY JD required job, and where students graduate with an average debt load of $179 large - and he can't fathom that there's <i>any</i> reasonable justification for closing the school down???<br />
<br />
Of course, "Baghdad Bob" Diamond won't even concede that the sub 25% bar passage rate is cause for concern. On this one, <a href="http://prawfsblawg.blogs.com/prawfsblawg/2017/04/the-hubris-of-the-unknowing.html" target="_blank">he just outsources the analysis</a> to his fellow law school apologist, Professor Simkovic. (Comment @ Apr 24, 2017 9:27:01 PM) This isn't surprising as Simkovic is the Michael Jordan to Diamond's Scottie Pippen when it comes to spinning LS employment data given his million dollar JD guarantee. Of course, even if Whittier's bar passage rate doubled, that would still be pretty pathetic.<br />
<br />
Diamond, however, isn't content just to serve up this thin, Simkovic brand gruel. Once it became clear nobody was willing to swallow his malarkey, he became agitated, and in a Ron Artest-like fashion, jumped into the metaphorical stands throwing rhetorical haymakers - complaining about cyber-bullying, conspiracy theories, and racism(??). (<a href="http://prawfsblawg.blogs.com/prawfsblawg/2017/04/the-hubris-of-the-unknowing.html" target="_blank">For example</a>, "Unfortunately they won't get any help from at least one past president of the AALS despite his leading role in pushing for a racially insensitive bar passage standard. " [Comment @ Apr 25, 2017 12:12:03 PM])<br />
<br />
Sure, Diamond and co. are more than happy to speak of access to law school for minorities, so that the trodden can exercise their inalienable right to pay people like him lots of money for very little in return. Once these URM's are out the door and saddled with $200k in debt and lousy job prospects, for some reason it seems like his egalitarian impulse isn't quite as strong. <br />
<br />
In fact, while we've made much of this august scholar's tenuous grasp on reality, there's also a distinct lack of compassion on his part for any graduate: whether black, white, or purple. You see, most of Diamond's (et. al.) arguments about employment hinge on the idea that the legal market's woes are purely the result of the recession. Sure, for the elite graduates, times were good before the crash, but the document review cesspools were operating at full tilt long before the downturn. Furthermore, freshly minted JD's, who had expected reasonable working conditions after graduation, were toiling away in sadistic legal mills for terrible pay, and plenty of students cut their losses and found jobs that didn't require a JD prior to 2009.<br />
<br />
What about people in these situations either pre or post recession, Diamond? Do you just deny they exist? Are they myths perpetrated by the Cato Institute/Illuminati/Lizard-People cabal, which is apparently behind the rest of the transparency movement? <br />
<br />
It's amazing how much ink the law school scam defenders will spill as they seek to exploit every avenue to justify a system that charges too much, fails to train attorneys, and offers lousy job prospects. In their zeal to defend their paychecks, however, they'll nary give one thought to someone who just wanted a decent career but now spends day after day mindlessly clicking a mouse in a document review sweatshop just to stay afloat. How about those who look at their monthly Navient statements in despair and see a debt that can never be repaid and will inhibit home ownership or having a family? Would one of the law school apologist professors really want to trade places with someone "practicing" cut-n-paste, slip-n-fall law in a shady back office?<br />
<br />
I could go on, but I'm sure Diamond and co.'s response would be that I'm just making things up or relying on a few isolated anecdotes. After all, if he can look at the abysmal employment figures and deny there's a problem, nothing is going to move him.<br />
<br />
Of course, it's pretty understandable why he's treating the fall of Whittier like Christendom treated the fall of Constantinople. You see, Diamond teaches at nearby Santa Clara. Like Whittier, SC is a lower tier school, which also "boasts" pretty lousy numbers of its own: 28% unemployment rate (class of 2015) and only 40% actually employed as attorneys. For the time being, a majority are able to pass the bar (66%), but given their student profile, who knows how long that will last? <br />
<br />
The Turks are in range: With declining revenue and no real prestige, it probably wouldn't be farfetched to predict that that the larger university will eventually pull the plug on Santa Clara law and with that Diamond's cushy job. <br />
<br />
I remember reading a sports publication where a journalist was talking to a recently graduated frat bro. His description of the the despair of the poor young man whose life had transitioned from the frat house to the corporate cubicle was palpable. You could practically see the tears in this guy's eyes as he recounted how he was cast out of his bacchanalian world of sleeping until noon and partying like a rock star into one that featured fighting rush hour traffic and calculating sales figures in Excel.<br />
<br />
Like the Whittier Law faculty, so too may Diamond very well be cast out of his own academic paradise. Sorry, bro - it's time to get an actual job, but don't worry, I hear the market for attorneys in Orange County is quite strong.Esq. Neverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18248019550876835145noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5618663158161665199.post-78690751425648812682017-04-20T14:46:00.000-04:002017-04-20T14:46:50.183-04:00We Have a Scalp - Whittier Law's Last Stand<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
You know that neighborhood restaurant that has been around
since your parents or even grandparents were kids? Everyone loves it - the food
is pretty good; the staff is friendly, and it has that great nostalgic feel.
Then one day, it's forced to close its doors. Usually little things have
chipped away at it for a while: Newer, hipper restaurants have come onto the
scene, older patrons move on or pass away, etc. Finally, their rent gets jacked
up and they're forced to close. They have a nice sendoff and everyone is a
little sad that an era has come to end.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Yeah, this is nothing like that. While Whittier Law has been
in business for decades, no one should shed any tears about this "going
out of business sale". It may be unfair to say the school has been a scam
since its inception, but it certainly has been part of the greater law school swindle
for the past couple of decades.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Check out the profile of those unfortunate enough to
graduate from this school from the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/19/business/dealbook/whittier-law-school-to-close.html" target="_blank">New York Times</a>:
"Last July, only 22 percent of the school’s graduates passed the
California bar exam, according to state data. The employment rate for long-term
jobs requiring a legal degree was 29.7...Students who graduated from Whittier
last year had an average of $179,000 in pre-interest debt..."</div>
<br />
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There are reports that some stakeholders at Whittier Law are
suing to try to keep the doors open. Might I suggest that they instead express
gratitude that they aren't being arrested and charged with fraud for abusing
the student loan system for years via misleading marketing materials and
gouging their students?</div>
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<br /></div>
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For those who are unaware of the details, Whittier College
decided it had enough of the antics down the street at its eponymously named
law school. By "antics", I mean Whittier Law had become a financial
liability. Prior to the scamblog and transparency movements, law schools were
reliable cash cows for the larger universities and colleges. Now that Whittier
Law has ceased to serve this purpose (and is likely costing big bucks for
Whittier proper to subsidize it), it has been cast aside like a Whittier Law grad's
resume at a respectable law firm - or for that matter any half decent Burger
King.</div>
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<br /></div>
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I'd like to think that someone on the Whittier board of
trustees looked beyond the dollars and cents and recognized that it was
unethical for a school with such pitiful outcomes to be kept afloat.
Nonetheless, the decision was probably all about the money. This is fine. It
means that word is getting out that one shouldn't go to law school, and if one
does, one shouldn't do so without a generous scholarship. The combination of
declining enrollment and the need to offer deep discounts for those who do
enroll apparently torched Whittier; other schools are likely also feeling the
same burn.</div>
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<br /></div>
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In January 2015, I <a href="http://esqnever.blogspot.com/2015/01/the-bell-tolls-for-scam.html" target="_blank">wrote</a>:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>This means, that unless the ABA abruptly jettisons all
standards, the absolute garbage schools are going to start coming close to the
end of the rope. They may be willing to tolerate students who don’t know the
difference between long arm statutes and chewing on their own arms, but the
state bar examiners won’t be so kind.</i></div>
<i>
</i><div class="MsoNormal">
<i>...</i></div>
<i>
</i><div class="MsoNormal">
<i>For many schools, this is the pathway toward a level of
financial calamity that was once only reserved for their graduates.
Nevertheless, the alternative – academic degradation – will instead send bar
passage rates into the cellar (with the attendant possibility of loss of
accreditation).</i></div>
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<br /></div>
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I wish I could claim to be prophetic, but this really was
just common sense. (Sorry, I don't know what the stock market will be like in a
month nor who will win the World Series.) For the abysmal schools
(like the late Whittier Law), when the choice is between liberalizing your
admissions policy to enroll barely literate knuckle-draggers or lowering
tuition to $99.99/semester (after discount), it's axiomatic that you aren't
going be long for this academic world.</div>
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<br /></div>
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As others have pointed out, what makes this so monumental is
that this is the first fully ABA accredited institution to bite the dust. Cooley
had to close a campus. I think some dinky unaccredited schools closed their
doors. Indiana Tech barely took flight before its engine burst into flames.
Charlotte Law's board is still shopping around its collective soul to see if there's
some way to salvage that scholastic toilet. </div>
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<br /></div>
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The law school scam has been stubborn to roll over. Heck, it
has been nearly a decade since the Great Recession wave of scam bloggers were
active and this is the first real scalp we've taken.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I know referring to "scalping" isn't exactly
politically correct, but I'm actually a bit "liberal" when it comes to
Custer's Last Stand. General Custer was an arrogant officer, who couldn't
fathom that he could be beaten but a bunch of Indians - sorry, Native Americans,
and his hubris cost him his life. </div>
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<br /></div>
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I see a bit of a parallel to the present situation. I have
never forgotten an early article about the scam when one dean dismissed us as
just a disgruntled minority of graduates. After all, at the time, the law
schools were printing money, and we were unemployed and underemployed losers
typing away on our free blogging platforms.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Now, however, the tribe is bearing down on the beaten and
bloody law school cartel. If the fall of Whittier Law has paved the way for other universities to be so bold, prepare yourselves for the forthcoming massacre, scammers.</div>
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<br /></div>
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In the meantime, play us off, Atlanta Braves fans:</div>
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<br /></div>
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Name="Message Header"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="11" QFormat="true" Name="Subtitle"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Salutation"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Date"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text First Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Block Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Hyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="FollowedHyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Document Map"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Plain Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="E-mail Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Top of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Bottom of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal (Web)"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Acronym"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Address"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Cite"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Code"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Definition"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Keyboard"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Preformatted"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Sample"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Typewriter"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Variable"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal Table"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="annotation subject"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="No List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Contemporary"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Elegant"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Professional"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Balloon Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Theme"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" QFormat="true"
Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="41" Name="Plain Table 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="42" Name="Plain Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="43" Name="Plain Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="44" Name="Plain Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="45" Name="Plain Table 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="40" Name="Grid Table Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="Grid Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="List Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="List Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="List Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 5"/>
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<![endif]-->Esq. Neverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18248019550876835145noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5618663158161665199.post-14704642666881060812016-09-15T14:03:00.001-04:002016-10-06T19:50:32.045-04:00Villanova Law: A Case Study in Second Tier Employment OutomesI have to concede, there are times when I truly miss having this blog as an accessible platform to denounce the law school scam. Nevertheless, while I have been a victim of such an insidious system, I have been very blessed in recent years and wallowing in this pool of injustice just isn't healthy. That's why I left my blogging venture behind me years ago.<br />
<br />
Moreover, the environment is very different than it was during that tumultuous time. Back then, it was just the bloggers versus the law school cartel. Today, any honest person with a modicum of sense recognizes that the law school emperor has no clothes. Blogging won't move the goal posts any further - only economic and political forces will bring the system crashing down.<br />
<br />
Thus, as I have allocated my limited free time, I have resisted the temptation to post my thoughts on such topics as law professors who claim that a law degree virtually guarantees an additional one million dollars in lifetime earnings or the travesty that was the Thomas Jefferson Law School verdict.<br />
<br />
I still peruse <a href="http://www.jdunderground.com/" target="_blank">JD Underground</a> for updates on the scam, and one post recently caught my attention because it included a link to the ABA's compilation of employment statistics - broken down by school.<br />
<br />
Many other organizations such as Law School Transparency have extracted and crunched the numbers - exposing most schools as very poor investments. I, however, thought it would be helpful to create a case study of a single second tier school to evaluate the employment outcomes graduates can expect.<br />
<br />
I have decided to profile Villanova Law for the class of 2015 (the latest data available). Villanova makes a good case study because it is neither an urban school in the heart of a metropolis like the New York schools nor is in the middle of nowhere like a more rural institution. It has access to the Philadelphia, New York, and DC markets. It also resides in a large state and borders New Jersey and Delaware (which has no law school of its own.)<br />
<br />
The conclusions derived from this analysis should be applicable to most schools ranked between 26 and 100 in US News and World Report while graduates from schools ranked lower probably will have worse outcomes. If one disagrees, this analysis can easily be applied to any of the data sets for other schools.<br />
<br />
There is no way to directly link to the data set, but the data for the Villanova Law class of 2015 - as well as all other classes/schools - can be downloaded here: <a href="http://employmentsummary.abaquestionnaire.org/">http://employmentsummary.abaquestionnaire.org/</a><br />
<br />
For May 2015 graduates, the survey includes ten months of post-graduate data (i.e. graduates had ten months in which to a find a position in order to be considered "employed").<br />
<br />
According to Villanova's own website, tuition and fees are now roughly $43,000 or $129,000 over three years. The school estimates the total cost of attendance (including living expenses) is about $66,000 per year or just under $200,000 for three years. Throw in interest and any undergraduate loans and a graduate could easily find himself approaching $250,000 in debt at graduation.<br />
<br />
It certainly would be reasonable for a prospective student to question what type of return he's going to receive if he's going to go a quarter million into the red.<br />
<br />
Based upon the hard (and self-reported) numbers compiled by the ABA, a $200k JD is hardly a sound investment.<br />
<br />
The data indicates that there were 213 graduates in 2015. After 10 months, 27 were unemployed and seeking employment. That's a 12.7% unemployment rate after nearly a year of job searching. The national unemployment rate in May 2016 was 5.5%. For such a massive investment, graduates are more than twice as likely to be unemployed than the US population as a whole.<br />
<br />
The data further notes that 138 of graduates found employment in jobs that require bar admission - the types of jobs people would expect if they graduate law school. This comes out to just under 65% of graduates - or nearly two-thirds of the class.<br />
<br />
Of those who are neither employed as attorneys nor unemployed, a smattering (8 students) are not seeking employment, employed by the law school, pursuing another degree, or have been deferred by their employers.<br />
<br />
Virtually everyone else has a non-legal job - the bulk of whom are classified as having "JD Advantage" jobs. Only two are listed as being employed in another professional field while two others are listed as being employed in a non-professional field.<br />
<br />
(Sidebar: I'm not sure how <a href="http://abovethelaw.com/2016/05/law-student-turns-to-sugar-daddies-for-financial-help-graduates-law-school-debt-free" target="_blank">this proud alumnus' career choice</a> will be classified next year.)<br />
<br />
This is where some of the chicanery of self-reported data begins to show. Let's be clear: there is virtually no such thing as an entry level "JD Advantage" job unless you're talking about being a Lexis or Westlaw sales rep or the school is shoving doc review roles into this category. Otherwise, feel free to search the job listings and see just how many non-attorney roles you can find where a company is really looking for someone with a JD.<br />
<br />
Trust me, as someone who has had to answer the interview question - "So, why do you have a law degree?" - more times than I can count, a JD confers no advantage.<br />
<br />
Anyway, back to the numbers. Given that it's unlikely any of these non-legal positions actually require a law degree, I think it's fair to lump these jobs (JD advantage, professional, and non-professional) together with the number who are unemployed after 10 months. If you add these groups up, the sum is 67. Divide by 213 and you get 31.4%.<br />
<br />
This is what I call, the "Worthlessness Factor". These are the people, who after investing in a legal education either can't find a job or can only find a job that could have been secured without enduring the law school ordeal. Therefore, their law degree is essentially worthless.<br />
<br />
If you remove the aforementioned special circumstances - the 8 people who pursued an LLM, landed an MRS, etc. - the breakdown is that almost exactly 2/3rds of the class found attorney positions and 1/3rd of the class would have better off buying lotto tickets.<br />
<br />
Back when law schools used the the first year to weed out poorly qualified students, they used to scare the 1L's during orientation with a line like, "Look to your left, look to your right. After this year, one of you won't be here." They should amend this adage to read, "Look to your left, look to your right. One of you is essentially going to borrow and flush 200 large right down the toilet."<br />
<br />
But what of the other 2/3rds. Theoretically if you can finish in the top two thirds of the class, you should okay, right? Well, let's take a look at the second table where the ABA breaks down the data for those are able to find employment.<br />
<br />
It's impossible to link the data from the two tables directly because the categories shift - though we know the unemployed and special cases are no longer included. The "Business and Industry" category roughly matches the size of the "JD Advantage Category" - though some "advantage" jobs may be with the government.<br />
<br />
"Business and Industry" - like "JD Advantage" - is also code for "does not require a law degree". Unless, you're offered a role to be a GC for your buddy's hair-brained startup that hawks some crummy mobile app, you're not going to work in a corporate legal office right out of school. It's not surprising that there's overlap between the two categories.<br />
<br />
Taking a look at the numbers, let's first look at the number of graduates who landed a position at a firm...any firm: 85. I'm going to calculate the percentage out of the the graduating class as a whole - not just the number employed - because we're looking at overall outcomes for graduates.<br />
<br />
The percentage employed at a law firm is pretty dismal: 40% (rounding up). That's right, only 2 out of 5 LAW graduates end working at a law firm. We're not even being selective - this includes everyone from the Skadden bound graduate to the guy working part time for a shady firm located underneath a highway overpass.<br />
<br />
Let's examine the breakdown a little more. Most - though not all - law students dream of the elite jobs. The jobs that will produce six figure salaries and will confer upon the attorney the prestige he so desires. When you're talking about six figures of debt, it is probably fair to expect a pretty decent return on that investment.<br />
<br />
The jobs that pay such impressive salaries are referred to as BigLaw. BigLaw usually is defined as firms that are larger than 100 employees. According to the ABA data, there are 27 such students (interestingly this is the exact same number as those who are unemployed). It's probably fair to throw in the three graduates who landed federal clerkships because they are likely BigLaw bound.<br />
<br />
Combining the various tiers of BigLaw (most fall into the 500+ attorney bucket) and those with federal clerkships, the percentage comes out to 14%. Because maybe one or two other students have a BigLaw caliber government or PI job, we can call it an even 15%.<br />
<br />
This isn't horrible for a second tier school. (Typically the cutoff for attaining such a job is being in the top 10%.) Nonetheless, 85% of graduates are walking away with non-elite jobs. That should definitely give anyone pause before assuming a mortgage size student loan balance.<br />
<br />
A common fallacy among prospective law students is that even if they fail to land a BigLaw or another elite job, they'll just settle for a "mid law" position. It's a fallacy because the distribution of entry level law firm roles is bimodal rather than normal: the bulk of law jobs aren't at mid-size firms; instead, they are concentrated at the extremes (small law or big law).<br />
<br />
The data supports this analysis. If we exclude the 30 students who landed elite jobs, only 8% of the remainder (everyone who didn't land a BigLaw or fed clerkship position) ended up at a firm with between 26 and 100 attorneys. Even if we're generous and count everyone employed by a firm with 11 - 100 attorneys, it only comes out to 15%. That is if you miss the BigLaw ship, you pretty much only have an 8-15% chance of landing a mid law job (most of which are likely uninspiring insurance defense shops paying between $60-80k).<br />
<br />
If a graduate does land a law firm role, chances are he or she is going to end up joining a small firm of 2-10 employees. A plurality - 31 graduates with law firm jobs - ended up working for a firm of this size. A majority worked for a firm that was between 2 and 25 attorneys.<br />
<br />
While there may always be a small law gem here or there, small firms tend to be the most likely to have high turnover, psychopathic employers, and fail to provide basic benefits that the employees of Starbucks and Whole Foods take for granted. Salaries rarely exceed $50k and may even dip down into the $30k or below range. Because the law schools aren't forced to disclose salary data, we don't know exactly how bad median salaries may be. Nonetheless, you probably don't want to gamble nearly a quarter of a million bucks hoping that this analysis is too pessimistic.<br />
<br />
Moreover, of all graduates who end up working for small firms, one out of five of them aren't even employed full time.<br />
<br />
The public interest and government employment numbers are probably the hardest to parse, but only about 10% class end up in either category. Even if someone claims that he/she doesn't really want to go into private practice and instead wants to serve the public interest, this isn't a significant portion of the class. These categories presumably include all assistant DA, PD, legal aid, and general bureaucratic (including non-attorney) roles.<br />
<br />
Finally, there are state clerkships. Aside from *maybe* one or two graduates who end up working for a state supreme court, these jobs are mostly with low level state courts, don't pay much, and aren't designed to be long term career opportunities. Yes, they can sometimes serve as launch pads for better roles, but often it's a stepping stone to moving to an aforementioned small firm. For every clerk who lands a decent role at a boutique firm, many more will wrap up their New Jersey traffic court clerkships only to be unemployed or left scrounging around for work fighting speeding tickets.<br />
<br />
This leads us to another figure, the combined percentage of graduates who end up unemployed, in a non-legal role, working at a small firm, or working in a state court clerkship. This comes out to 62% of the class. If you throw in the "special circumstances" - not looking for work, pursuing an LLM, etc., the number is 66% - just under 2/3rds.<br />
<br />
Early on we noted that about 1/3 of the class pretty much has nothing to show for their time in law school. This figure indicates ONLY 1/3 of the class is likely to have a job that even begins to justify the six figure price tag: BigLaw associate, Fed clerk, potentially interesting public/government role eligible for PSLF, or anything that could be theoretically considered a mid law associate role.<br />
<br />
Now, I can see someone criticizing these calculations or this analysis. Maybe someone feels I'm too pessimistic or I wasn't consistent in calculating the various rates. My calculations were intended to provide the most clarity regarding prospective employment outcomes, but it's fair to disagree. The numbers are out there and anyone is welcome to drill deeper into the data.<br />
<br />
In fact, while I used Villanova's numbers, my point wasn't to vilify this particular school. (I intentionally veered away from mentioning the school's name too often in this post.) It's merely a case study. I hope this blog post will instead serve as a catalyst for prospective students to apply a similar analysis to the school he or she is considering. The breakdown will likely be similar (if not worse) for any school outside of the top 25.<br />
<br />
You see, regardless of whether you'd spot the school a few additional percentage points here or there, it doesn't change the overarching analysis. Graduates will still face twice the unemployment rate of the population as a whole. Only around 15% of graduates are going to end up with the type of elite positions most law students covet. Mid Law is hardly a backup plan as it still constitutes a small portion of the class. A full third of the class won't end being attorneys. Most of those who are employed in the legal field are heading to small law or low level clerkships.<br />
<br />
This isnt' conjecture, hearsay, or propaganda. This is based upon real, SELF-REPORTED data. As a prospective law student, you have to ask yourself, do I really want to take out a mortgage (in essence) for these results? Do I really want to forgo three years of work experience, retirement savings, etc. to possibly end up as state judicial clerk or personal injury associate pulling down $45k a year?<br />
<br />
Obviously the choice is yours, but if you're a potential law student, you're the one - not a smooth talking dean or a law professor with a phony baloney "study" - who will assume the debt and the career options (or lack thereof) with which your degree will saddle you. If you borrow and gamble six figures worth of tuition for a limited chance to get a decent legal job and you lose, there will be no sympathy and no turning back.Esq. Neverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18248019550876835145noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5618663158161665199.post-29413954953735694952015-01-20T08:11:00.000-05:002015-01-20T15:39:25.680-05:00The Bell Tolls for the Scam<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
One of the ironies of (at one point) anonymously
managing<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a blog lamenting the plight of
dejected law grads is that I achieved a certain level of fame – most likely the
greatest celebrity I will ever experience in my life.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
No, it didn’t amount to the fame of a well-known legal
scholar nor of even some of my other former “scam blogger” contemporaries.
Nevertheless, I certainly never expected to be interviewed or profiled by the
National Jurist or the Wall Street Journal.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It was, of course, ironic because all of the attention was
directed towards a pseudonymous caricature, and instead of heralding success,
it was a byproduct of my miserable condition.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Nevertheless, my anti-LS scam compatriots and I were usually
one side of a story that also featured at least one apologist for the reigning
system – whether law school dean, an ABA representative, or just a general
mercenary for the machine.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In those days, condescending and dismissive remarks were the
norm. I remember one dean bemoaning that LS critics tended to make the most
noise because they were the most displeased. She further asserted that the
majority of graduates were happily and quietly pursuing post-JD endeavors.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We now know this to be nonsense. In the years that have
elapsed since this and other blogs have gone dormant, the mainline media has
recognized that something is amiss as class after class of law grads are thrust
into the unemployment grinder.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Washington Post, the New York Times, and Slate have all
run stories to this effect. If they don’t fully endorse the idea that the law
school cartel is managing<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a full blown
scam, they are at least exploring the repercussions of saddling freshly minted
JD’s with mind blowing debt while the schools shout ‘caveat emptor’ and hungrily
look towards the next harvest.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Sure, every now and then an apologist pops his head up from
the trenches in order to predict the imminent recovery of the legal market or
to offer an unpersuasive case for paying the equivalent of three or four
Mercedes for an unmarketable degree.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Nobody is buying it, though. The damage has been done. Yes,
law schools are still signing up poor naifs who never paid attention to begin
with, but class sizes have shrunk drastically. Anyone who has done a modicum of
research knows that a nightmare awaits most law grads.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, though. What changed
between 2009 and our present period in which enrollment is tanking, faculty is
being axed, and even multi-campus outlets are shuttering some of their satellites?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For one thing, while the conventional wisdom about law
school has moved closer to the truth, it still adheres to at least one fallacy:
The idea that law school was an A-Okay option prior to 2009.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This was not the case. Yes, between 2003 and 2008, a T-14
degree probably would land you solid employment. Even grades in the top 50% at
a top 25 school would make you competitive for large firm jobs.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This more sanguine picture, however, concealed the dark
truth about the fates of non-elite students. After three years of study and
tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of debt, these students ended up in toilet
law legal mills, document review sweatshops, or non-legal roles that would have
been easier to secure without the JD.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For years, the strategy of the law school cartel was clear:
dangle the ostensible treasures afforded to the top 10% in front of prospective
students and then lump toilet law proles and document review slaves into the
‘ol “Employed – JD required” bucket for reporting purposes.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The masses bought it; the mystique and prestige of the law
degree was preserved while unctuous law administrators and professors feasted
on the ceaseless blood money flowing from Sallie Mae and Access Group via the
financial futures of so many deceived souls.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s little wonder that the perpetrators of the scam saw the
crash as more of a hiccup than a catastrophe. In their collective minds, all
they needed to do was enjoy the influx of prospective students fleeing an
ailing labor market and lie and deny whenever pressed about the fate of their
recent graduates.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
They reasoned that once the market rebounded, it would be
business as usual. There would once again be enough elite, “golden children” to
mask the plight of the average graduate, and the scam could start humming along
as usual.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The law schools, however, grossly miscalculated the extent
of the crash. When the bottom fell out of the legal industry, it didn’t just
filter out some participants, it utterly obliterated the sector’s very
infrastructure. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Cost conscious firms carefully scrutinized their legal bills
in an effort to save costs; the reverberations impacted the entire industry all
the way down to the mills and document review.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
BigLaw associate classes appear to have permanently shrunk.
The ripple effect has made hiring down the chain even more competitive than it
previously was. Less funding for public legal resources has introduced added
pressure, and the once safe haven of document review – if safe havens can be
found in poorly ventilated, converted boiler rooms – is nothing like it used to
be.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
While the overall economy has more or less rebounded from
the Great Recession, the legal industry remains stagnant.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We can quibble about the mechanics of the sorry state of
legal employment, but it is undeniable that five years out, there isn’t enough
good news for the LS cartel to countervail the tales of debt and despair that
dominate legal employment articles.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The economy is likely the best it’s going be during this
present expansion, and at some point, there will be another recession. This
will bring only further misery to attorneys and further deprecate the law
school brand.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The jig is up. Even the slickest deans haven’t been able to
spin the situation. Their previously enticing coos of prestige and prosperity
sound more and more like a cacophony of used car salesmen trying to unload
those jeeps from the 90’s that used to flip over.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This, however, still begs the question why haven’t we seen
the cartel collapse under the pressure of these seemingly irresistible economic
forces?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The easy answer is to point to the ubiquitous loans and
their “generous” repayment terms.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
To be sure, were the federal student loans to disappear
tomorrow (particularly if coupled with the ability to discharge private loans
in bankruptcy), the law school cartel would vanish as well. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Moreover, without GradPLUS loans and the IBR/PAYE repayment
plans, the default rate among recent graduates would be astronomical. As
depressing and infuriating as the post-law school horror stories are today, the
criminality of such a situation would quickly bring the enterprise crashing
down whether by the market or the courts.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Nevertheless, from a short term perspective, you can
essentially go to law school for free. Moreover, when you graduate, you will
never pay more than 10% of your AGI in student loan repayments.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Two hundred large in debt is hard to overlook even under
these conditions, but if people really did believe that signing some promissory
note and spending three years at school meant entrance into the upper middle
class upon graduation, this might still be enticing.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The “free” education argument, however, isn’t washing with
more and more prospective law students. Sure, the debt may be “manageable”
(though non-repayable), but if there’s no pot of gold at the end of rainbow,
why even assume supposedly manageable debt.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The law school machine has been routed in the PR game, yet
despite the hits it has taken, no major, accredited law school has fallen.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
While discouraging, I am nevertheless optimistic that we’ll
eventually see some of the schools give up the proverbial ghost. The student
loan elixir has delayed the inevitable, but at some point, market forces will
give way to a necessary correction.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It remains to be seen whether the closing of a few law
schools will either result in institution wide reform – more practical
coursework, lower tuition, and fewer semesters – or simply a reduction in the
number of “firms” in this saturated sector.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For the time being, however, law schools have to grapple with
the present economics of reduced demand for their services.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
With fewer prospective students, law schools only have two
unpleasant choices: Reduce tuition and hack away at the scam’s <i>raison d'être</i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"> or attempt to retain the present cash flow
and torpedo the prestige to which these pseudo-august institutions so jealously
cling.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">There really is no
other choice. Bread and circuses won’t fly anymore. If prospective students are
unpersuaded that there are ample legal jobs available, no amount of moot court
rooms with mahogany benches and cutting edge technology is going to drive them
in.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">If enrollment
continues to decline, maintaining both high academic standards and fiscal
solvency will be a difficult feat. There will be a smaller and smaller pool of
quality applicants, who will be on the lookout for either bargains or true
prestige.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Prospective students
will still be courted heavily with scholarship offers from schools that at one
time would have been far outside of their leagues. It’s unlikely that the
“pedigree” of a top 50 or even 25 school would be enticing in comparison.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">As enrollment
tanks, this will be a very costly strategy to pursue. Cutting costs could
mitigate the impact of decreased revenue from tuition, but less impressive
facilities and fewer perks like lavish moot court trips could make law school
an even more miserable environment.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Moreover, cutting
faculty could mean the availability of fewer interesting courses, and a reduced
support staff would likely result in delays in important administrative tasks
(transcript requests; graduation verification).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">I’m certainly not
advocating retaining the largesse of the cartel, but for students with
shorter-term time preferences, the loss of such immediate perquisites could
serve as disincentives to matriculation.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">While reducing
tuition either directly or more subtly via increased financial aid is a costly
endeavor, sacrificing student quality could be an even more dangerous game.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Schools somewhere
in the middle can tolerate poorer LSAT scores and GPA’s for a while. They just
need to hope that their peer institutions need to make similar sacrifices, and
they can at least hold their relative place in the LS pecking order – for
whatever that’s worth.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">While the mid-tier
schools can try to wait out the rough seas in their metaphorical dinghies of reduced
academic standards – awaiting either miraculous salvation or the final storm to
take them under – the bottom feeder schools don’t have such luxury.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">At first blush, one
might see this as business as usual for the true toilet institutions. These
schools never really served any purpose but to separate the fool from his money
to begin with. What should they care if someone barely signed his name to the
LSAT and did nothing else?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">While the TTT(T)
class of schools may have no problem emptying the local sanatoriums and having
classes full of law students drooling on themselves while some old codger
drones on with a canned lectured about <i>Penoyer</i>, the ABA may think
differently.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Sure, the ABA and
related bodies have been pleased to let the cartel run on its merry way, but
they are starting to face more pressure. Moreover, even during the heyday of
the scam, they were only willing to tolerate a certain bar failure rate.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">This means, that
unless the ABA abruptly jettisons all standards, the absolute garbage schools
are going to start coming close to the end of the rope. They may be willing to
tolerate students who don’t know the difference between long arm statutes and
chewing on their own arms, but the state bar examiners won’t be so kind.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">In summary, as long
as conditions remain the same or continue to deteriorate, the law schools are
stuck in a vicious cycle of financial decline and academic debasement. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Only the most elite
schools – the only ones with any purpose under the present law school model –
can attract strong student bodies. Middling schools will have to contend for
what were once mediocre matriculants (and will pay heavily for them).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">For many schools,
this is the pathway toward a level of financial calamity that was once only
reserved for their graduates. Nevertheless, the alternative – academic
degradation – will instead send bar passage rates into the cellar (with the
attendant possibility of loss of accreditation).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">The nation’s
fixation on higher education at any cost and the undying spigot of student
loans mean that law schools still have time to limbo to see how low they can go
both financially and academically.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Nonetheless, as
mentioned, nothing short of a radical reversal of fortune for the legal labor
market will change this trajectory. With this phenomena unlikely, the collapse
of the law school scam is all but inevitable if not immediately imminent.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Yes, it would be
nice if the courts or the government did their job and pulled the plug on this
colossal fraud. Nevertheless, the slow, painful death of the scam is underway
even if the government won’t give it the swift execution it deserves.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">The law school
apologists may be able to grab a few more bucks on the way out. They may even
be able deny and continue to spin on their way to their demise, but evidence of
the collapse abounds.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Faculty buy-outs
are on the rise. One law school is teetering on bankruptcy. Enrollment rates
are low as they’ve ever been. Deans are sucking in as many transfer students as
possible to try to simultaneously retain revenue and preserve their academic
rankings.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Perhaps the most
telling sign is that the deans are even marching to war against each other in
an academic survival of the fittest. The aforementioned scrounging for transfer
students has pitted the American and George Washington deans against each
other.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Regardless of the
specific observations, the once unsinkable scam has hit the iceberg and is
taking on water faster than it can bail it out.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">When I was
consistently blogging about five years ago, the debate was somewhat
theoretical. It was a political debate like the death penalty or tax policy.
Each side had their own arguments and metrics.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Sure, the anti-scam
movement was correct, but in the same way you may feel you’re correct about the
political issue de jure. Someone is always going to disagree with you, and the
debate will often get lost in a morass of competing statistics, rhetorical
barbs, and outright insults.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">While debates over
philosophy and theory may be difficult to resolve, debates over the feasibility
of a commodity are subject to a market test. A business owner (or shifty law
dean) can proclaim to the world that his product is the best, but if the masses
believe he’s hawking overpriced schlock, he’s out of business.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Sure, he can believe
that consumers are fools and they don’t know what they’re missing, but that
will be all the consolation he will have as he fills out the bankruptcy
paperwork.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">I began this
article with the irony of attaining “fame” while guarding my anonymity, so let
me end with another unexpected twist.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">At one point, the
law school cartel and I actually had the same thought process. We both assumed
the secret sauce of their scam just needed two ingredients: Easy money (in
unlimited student loans) and a healthy dose of marketing deception.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">In the case of the
law school cartel, the realization of this miscalculation has resulted in the
gnashing of teeth as they recognize Rome is burning. For me, however, it is an unexpected
signal that - after all the debt, despair, and ruin imposed by the law school
machine – an immoral empire will eventually be brought to its knees.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Esq. Neverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18248019550876835145noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5618663158161665199.post-12086415782281206332012-06-25T00:01:00.001-04:002012-06-25T00:22:21.596-04:00Questions that No Law School Dean Will Ever (Truthfully) Answer<i>I'm in the process of preparing some new useful (I hope) content for <a href="http://findinganonlegaljob.com/">Finding a Non Legal Job</a>.</i> <i>In the meantime, I decided to take another crack at a traditional "scam blog" article.</i><br />
<br />
Above the Law has recently started running <a href="http://abovethelaw.com/2012/06/law-school-success-stories-high-risk-high-reward/" target="_blank">a series on law school success stories</a>.
It profiles law graduates who claim to be better off thanks to their
J.D.'s. To be fair to ATL, they have published a number of stories about
the difficulty in finding legal employment and some of the associated
problems with law schools. They also disclaim that these success stories
aren't necessarily representative of the environment awaiting heavily
indebted and poorly trained law school graduates.<br />
<br />
That said -
what is the point of these stories other than to blunt the increasingly
dominant message that law school in it's present form is a bad
investment and needs to be seriously restructured? While law school
critics rightly point out that the full employment statistics churned
out by the law schools are borderline fraudulent data, nobody claims
that there is a 100% UNemployment rate either. I have no doubt that
there are a decent number of graduates who find at least OK jobs, and
some subset of this group may even really enjoy their work (or at least
their salaries).<br />
<br />
Focusing on this subset is nothing new for law
school apologists. One of the charges these folks make against law
critics is that these critics just couldn't hack it in the law, so
they're projecting their own dissatisfaction. I saw a comment on JD
Underground the other week alleging this very thing.<br />
<br />
Quibbling
over this charge isn't particularly fruitful. Yes, some anti-law school
commentators didn't make it too far in the law. Some did. The diversity
among the opponents of the law school cartel is too great to ascribe a
single underlying motive to the entire movement.<br />
<br />
While I never
went down the path of practicing law, I do know some peers who appear to
be happy with their decisions to become attorneys. This doesn't matter.
I congratulate anyone who has found success in the law (or any other
field). I don't object to people becoming lawyers. Lawyer jokes aside,
society does need a certain number of attorneys to write contracts,
prosecute/defend criminals, etc.<br />
<br />
The objection isn't to the
desire others may have to become attorneys. The objection is to the law
school system which: 1) knowingly plunges its students into untenable
levels of debt 2) fails to provide these students with marketable
skills, and 3) pumps out more graduates than the market can absorb into
an industry that will only pay a select few (of those lucky enough to
find relevant employment) anything approaching a reasonable salary.<br />
<br />
Yes,
some graduates are satisfied with their post law school opportunities,
but highlighting this cohort is just a tactic law schools use to deflect
criticism regarding the far larger carnage their collective greed has
inflicted onto everyone else.<br />
<br />
The law school deans and related
apologists are quite skilled at trotting out their success stories.
After all, these expert marketers are great at dismissing serious
objections and instead offering well engineered PR campaigns, but here
are some questions I'd love hear the law school deans address...<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Do you honestly believe that it's worth $150k to $200k plus for a degree from your school?</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Does
your answer change if you knew that most experts believe you shouldn't
borrow more than you expect to make your first year out of school?</li>
<li> </li>
<li>Doesn't that reasonable rule preclude most of your students from attending your institution?</li>
<li> </li>
<li>In
the cases of particularly heavy debt loads, doesn't that preclude ALL
students from attending your school? (The absolute highest starting
salary even at Big Law is $180k.)</li>
<li> </li>
<li>Law school tuition has
increased considerably over the past decade, do you honestly believe the
benefit of attending law school has justified this?</li>
<li> </li>
<li>If you said yes, are you saying that you dismiss all the reports of the terrible job market over the past couple of years?</li>
<li> </li>
<li>If yes, could you please explain why there are Craiglist ads offering $30k-$40k for entry level attorneys with top credentials?</li>
<li> </li>
<li>Do
you believe that $30k - $40k is reasonable compensation for someone who
undertook three years of graduate education at the cost of six figures
worth of debt?</li>
<li> </li>
<li>If so, would you make this investment?</li>
<li> </li>
<li>Would you encourage a family member or close friend to make such an investment?</li>
<li> </li>
<li>Do you believe it's possible to live a normal life with such a salary and loan repayment obligations?</li>
<li> </li>
<li>Would you feel comfortable raising a family under such a scenario?</li>
<li> </li>
<li>Would
you swear under oath that the employment statistics your school
publishes are the truth - the whole truth - and nothing but the truth?</li>
<li> </li>
<li>If
yes, would your answer change if this means that the figures aren't
based on partially reported data; don't include temporary work; don't
include working for the school (except in a long term, professional
capacity); don't include menial non-legal jobs; don't include paralegal
jobs; don't include entry level, non-legal jobs that were pursued only
as default options?</li>
<li> </li>
<li>Your schools likely lists roughly 10-25% of
its graduates filling "business" or "corporate" jobs - Do you believe
all (or at least the vast majority) of these jobs are serious
professional positions?</li>
<li> </li>
<li>Would you swear that none of these jobs
are simple service sector jobs that could be filled by someone without
even a college degree?</li>
<li> </li>
<li>Assuming 10 - 25% of your graduating
class ends up with non-legal jobs, do you honestly believe 10 to 25% of
your class willingly enrolled in your school to end up NOT being
attorneys?</li>
<li> </li>
<li>If yes, do you honestly believe that there are any
employers that are specifically seeking (or strongly desire) non
practicing recent law graduates?</li>
<li> </li>
<li>Can you name ten such employers?</li>
<li> </li>
<li>Can you name one?</li>
<li> </li>
<li>Do they pay anything close to your advertised average starting salary?</li>
<li> </li>
<li>Do
you honestly believe that the average starting salary reported by your
school accurately reflects what an average student will make after
graduation?</li>
<li> </li>
<li>If you answered yes, and I survey ten students
ranked in the middle of your class, how many of them do you think will
make within $10,000 of the average starting salary the year after law
school?</li>
<li> </li>
<li>Will any of them?</li>
<li> </li>
<li>What if we exclude document review?</li>
<li> </li>
<li>Do
you believe temporary document review is reasonable employment for a
licensed attorney who completed three years of schooling at your
institution?</li>
<li> </li>
<li>If yes, would you personally be happy reviewing electronic documents for relevance as your sole professional task?</li>
<li> </li>
<li>If
no, and you stand behind the published salary data your school offers,
why do so many of graduates end up in this line of work?</li>
<li> </li>
<li>Once again, assuming you stand by your salary data, why was this an issue even (or particularly) before the recession?</li>
<li> </li>
<li>Do
you believe any students would have really enrolled in your school if
they knew they would have to work long term in document review?</li>
<li> </li>
<li>Do
you believe that students would have enrolled in your school if they
knew they would end up in small personal injury law, low level insurance
defense law, debt collection, or landlord tenant law?</li>
<li> </li>
<li>If
so, would you have been happy working in these areas of law after
receiving an expensive graduate degree and forgoing three years in the
workforce?</li>
<li> </li>
<li>Do you believe that after three years at your LAW school, your students are capable of actually practicing law?</li>
<li> </li>
<li>If so, would you be willing to be represented by any recent graduate assuming he/she passes the bar?</li>
<li> </li>
<li>Do you honestly believe there are enough law or related jobs available to employ your graduates after they enter the workforce?</li>
<li> </li>
<li>If so, why is there story after story in any number of mainline publications discussing the number of unemployed law graduates?</li>
<li> </li>
<li>If not, do feel any culpability for leaving a generation of law graduates indebted and unemployed?</li>
<li> </li>
<li>How do you sleep at night?</li>
</ul>Esq. Neverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18248019550876835145noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5618663158161665199.post-44820863986530929882012-04-16T14:38:00.000-04:002012-04-16T14:38:55.016-04:00Taking the JD Off Your Resume - An UpdateI recently saw a post on JD Underground recommending that applicants remove the J.D. from their resumes in order to try to land a non-legal job. I have a few things to say about this matter, so I thought it would make a nice segue into what I guess has become my annual update.<br /><br />I can certainly empathize with this sentiment. The JD pretty much guarantees that you'll hear the inquiry "Why aren't you practicing law?" during every job interview you'll have from now until eternity.<br /><br />The problem, of course, is that if you simply take your law degree off your resume, you'll have to come up with a method for explaining the three year gap. For the most part, however, the only "method" you'll have available to you is to lie through your teeth. I don't recommend this for a number of reasons. If you go down this route, it will definitely have to be some amazing fib (remember, you're covering up a THREE year gap) and it will have to be unverifiable (think background checks for new hires).<br /><br />If you're not prepared and not unethical enough to claim you were independently building shelters for displaced tribes in Africa, you've got little choice but to leave your JD on the resume.<br /><br />Here are a few tactics to handle this handicap:<br /><br />1) Provide a brief summary of your background on your resume to tackle the subject head on. In your summary, include a sentence that reads something like "Recently obtained a J.D. for purposes of improving analysis and writing skill sets for application in a corporate role."<br /><br />2) If you do land an interview, and the subject comes up (and it will), make a similar statement about wanting to go to law school because of the benefits it offers aside from practicing law. Also, mention the number of people who go to law school but don't end up working as attorneys - it was about 20% at my school PRE-recession. You can also note that law school doesn't really teach you to practice law; instead it helps you develop critical thinking skills. Not only is this persuasive, it's also for the most part, true.<br /><br />3) On your resume, under education, don't put down "State University Law School, Juris Doctorate, May 2009"; put down "State University, J.D., May 2009). You'll be amazed at the number of people who have no idea what a J.D. is. Many will just assume it's a masters degree. Plenty will also be too embarrassed to ask what a J.D. is. It won't always work particularly if you're looking for work right out of school, but it can prevent a red flag from going up immediately in the minds of HR screeners, hiring managers, and recruiters.<br /><br />Will these tactics always work? No, but they give you a better chance of slipping by the gatekeepers. Once you explain the potential benefits of a law degree, some hiring managers may even see it as a slight benefit.<br /><br />Once you land a job and have some significant post-law school work experience, the J.D. will become less of a focus because your potential employer will a) be convinced that you're actually not interested in practicing law b) be more concerned about your recent work experience than your education.<br /><br />In the interviews I have gone through since landing my first permanent post-law school job, the law degree has become more of a curiosity than anything else. Occasionally, the issue hasn't even been raised; if it has, I've had little trouble dismissing it as a detour on my path as a corporate prol.<br /><br />I could probably get away with dropping it off of my resume given that most interviewers are usually too lazy to actually do the math and uncover the gap in my work history. I, however, have refused to do so.<br /><br />Perhaps I'm violating my own words of caution regarding the sunk cost fallacy, but after wasting so much time in law school and going into considerable debt, I'm simply unwilling not to try to extract at least some value out of my J.D.<br /><br />Now I'm not backing away from my long standing contention that a law degree doesn't qualify you for any position other than being an attorney - and it barely serves that function. I'm certainly not suggesting anyone should go to law school with the intent of going into a non-legal industry. That's just throwing money away.<br /><br />Nevertheless, the J.D. is a graduate degree, and it's one that many people still believe is an indication of one's intelligence and academic prowess - rather than one's ability to sign a promissory note.<br /><br />You're not going to get a financial analyst job - at least one that requires experience because a hiring manager thinks, "Gee, this guy doesn't know anything about finance and can barely open an Excel document, but he is well educated. I'm going to hire him over the other candidates with multiple years of Bloomberg experience."<br /><br />If you are, however, a financial analyst with experience, and you also bring a law degree to the table, many employers will then be willing to give you some credit for your degree in the hiring process - at least if you can give an acceptable explanation for having the degree.<br /><br />For example, I interviewed for a position a couple months ago where I think the hiring manager just interviewed me because she was thoroughly confused by the trajectory of my education. I think I offered a good explanation, and I ended up one of two finalist candidates for the role. I didn't get the job because the other candidate had a little more of the experience for which they were looking, but my J.D. didn't hurt me and may have helped a bit. (It was, of course, no substitute for the relevant experience they wanted.)<br /><br />On a more positive note, I recently did take a new position where my J.D. may have actually helped. It's a more senior role with better compensation. While I had most of the skills and background for which they were looking, the job description said the company wanted someone with about a decade of experience and a masters degree. I haven't even been out college for 10 years. The hiring manager said I beat out a bunch of other strong candidates, and I have to believe that the J.D. did help cover some of the missing work experience and substituted for the masters degree.<br /><br />Now before any LS apologists start whooping it up that the J.D. did turn out to be useful, let's get a few things straight. It's true they wanted someone with more experience and a graduate degree, but if I didn't go to law school, I could have easily gotten the experience (and if necessary a cheaper and more useful masters degree) in the same time it took me to get the law degree. I also would have done so without incurring the debt and other opportunity costs.<br /><br />Furthermore, while it's a big increase in pay for me, I'm pretty sure I'm making less than they originally envisioned paying for this role - so the J.D. wasn't exactly a perfect substitute for the work experience.<br /><br />So where do I stand? I will be in a senior, non-managerial position with a large corporation. I will make in the mid $60K's plus an annual bonus and benefits. This is roughly the equivalent of what an I.D. attorney would have made at a mid-sized firm pre-recession. It's probably on the lower end of what I would have reasonably been making right now had I not gone to law school, so it looks like I'm starting to right this craft.<br /><br />I've also been able to knock out about $20k of loans since graduating - though there's plenty more to go, and I'm finally able to move out of my parents house - albeit with roommates.<br /><br />I am very grateful that I seem to be in a much better position than many other recent graduates, and perhaps even a large swath of the population as a whole. Nevertheless, it definitely bothers me that I'll be paying for years for a degree I don't really need and that my career has been set back at least a few paces.<br /><br />I was glad to see that TJ Law lawsuit is being allowed to proceed, and I'm sorry that the NYLS case was thrown out. It's definitely heartening to see that the mainline press and individuals across the political spectrum have acknowledged (and even protested) the scam. In the end, I really don't see how it can be sustained. When tuition hits $70k a year at private schools and graduates struggle to land $40k a year entry level jobs, you have to think somebody's going to blow the whistle and bring this game to a close - particularly now that the taxpayers are on the hook for any unpaid loans.<br /><br />I wish everyone else the best on finding gainful employment and trying to rebuild their post LS lives. I've always been happy to provide advice via e-mail, and I've answered a number of inquiries since I stopped regularly posting. Feel free to reach out if I can assist you at all.<br /><br />I'm also thinking of starting a new blog dedicated to the providing advice about the non-legal job search tailored to those with J.D.'s. I'll keep you posted. (Positive feedback for this idea will likely encourage me to move ahead.)<br /><br />Thanks for reading - E.N.Esq. Neverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18248019550876835145noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5618663158161665199.post-812602739306596502011-02-14T07:00:00.005-05:002011-03-11T18:54:37.225-05:00Update: Mission Accomplished"Yes," I somewhat exasperatedly replied when a gentleman called about my resume and asked if I recalled applying for a position with his company. I then dutifully gave him a series of stock answers I had memorized to the all too familiar standard questions interviewers are apparently required by law to ask.<br /><br />I didn't mean to come across as uninterested or even ungrateful for this opportunity, but I was tired. This had been just one of a number of telephone interviews I had entertained over the last few weeks. Meanwhile, I was on the third interview for a promising (and even lucrative) position in what probably could be described as consulting. Furthermore, I was trying to juggle these interviews without jeopardizing my current position.<br /><br />So, for all you whiners who complain about law school, you should realize that you just need to think positive thoughts and everything will work out...Just kidding. Actually, I loathe the law school cartel as much as ever, but the rest of what I have written is true.<br /><br />Some of you may wonder why I decided to start this post with such a sanguine introduction. Well, if you've read this blog before, I'm sure you know that a year ago things weren't looking so good. I repeatedly woke up with thoughts of offing myself. I couldn't buy an interview, and I was constantly being pressured to just "network" in order to find myself a great legal position...all while I watched people who barely graduated from colleges that aren't even accredited make great salaries, buy homes, and raise families.<br /><br />In fact, here's a quote from a January 27, 2010 post:<br /><br />"Right now, I'm even being strung along by temp agencies with the possibility of getting hired for JUNIOR document review positions."<br /><br />Yikes. What a difference a year makes.<br /><br />But what's the point of this post? Well, I never was really satisfied with how I ended the blog. No, I'm not staging a comeback. The current crop of scam bloggers are far more worthy of their blogger sites than I ever was, and I couldn't be more proud of the way they've permeated the media - everything from Slate to the New York Times.<br /><br />Instead, I just want to provide one final update regarding what happened to me after I left the scam blog movement in order to preserve what was left of my mental health and try to rebuild my life.<br /><br />In a nutshell, I can finally do what I had endeavored to do from inception of this blog: Declare "Mission Accomplished". Yes, slightly over a year and a half after graduating from law school, I now have a real, salaried, non-legal job in an industry in which I'm interested.<br /><br />Here is my story:<br /><br />For those of you who haven't had time to read through all of my prior posts, getting to this point was an arduous and depressing struggle. I left law school unsure of what to do. With few exceptions, the law didn't really interest me. The economy was in shambles and the legal sector, which had never been that healthy (in terms of providing jobs for the non-elite) was experiencing a complete meltdown. I was already toying with the idea of just going into "business".<br /><br />Like many unemployed recent graduates, I reluctantly (after five years of living on my own post-college) headed back to live with my parents, hoping that I could quickly find a new job. In the hopes of maximizing my employment options (namely through document review), I decided to spend the time and money preparing for the bar exam.<br /><br />For a few of months afterward, I once again drank the law cartel's kool-aid as I dutifully played the networking game - going to CLE's, having people put me in touch with their lawyer friends, and even taking an unpaid internship with a personal injury firm.<br /><br />One day while sitting in a converted filing room, struggling to use a typewriter to fill out some superfluous form that wasn't available on-line, I had an epiphany: The law had been nothing but a curse to me. I had continuously sunk time and money into into this pipe dream, and it was time to get out.<br /><br />By November of 2009, I began my quest to escape this horrid "career path" - not that there were actually any legal jobs to set me off on a legal career anyway. I knew it would be difficult with my three year gap in work experience, the scarlet letter of a J.D. on my resume, and a lousy economy.<br /><br />I was right. It took me months to even get one interview. I sent out hundreds of resumes and attended career fairs that offered a choice between selling insurance on a commission basis or joining the military. When I did get a rare interview, it was usually because the company was too disorganized to screen candidates properly and almost always ended in disaster. Networking, recruiters, and temp agencies proved to be equally unfruitful.<br /><br />Finally, in June, I was able to impress two guys with a new start-up enough that they were willing to take me on as a contractor on a trial basis, which is where I left off my blog.<br /><br />At first things went pretty well. The work was pretty interesting and I was learning new things. The pay wasn't great, but I could work as many hours as I wanted, and I was getting in on the ground floor of something that could really take off.<br /><br />Unfortunately, it eventually became apparent that I didn't know enough about the industry to take a leadership position in the company, which is what they were really looking for. I did complete some projects that impressed them, and they encouraged me to really take things to the next level. I briefly committed myself to doing this, but I was already working fifty hour weeks, enduring a long commute, and making little money; I just couldn't bring myself to invest anymore into the company.<br /><br />With a heavy heart, I ended up coming in one day and politely informed one of the partners that I didn't think I could fulfill the role they needed. He was sympathetic and thanked me for my hard work, and so I was back to square one.<br /><br />I was exhausted, so I took a little time off, but I got a certification that was relevant to my industry and started reading industry publications and even considered starting a blog to demonstrate my knowledge.<br /><br />Once I started looking for work again, however, it wasn't too long until something landed. I applied for a temp to perm position with a company that was in the e-commerce industry that did similar work to my previous employer.<br /><br />The most amazing thing was that my resume was actually read and considered by an HR rep from the company. (Usually, the JD was poison to any trained HR professional.) She scheduled a phone interview with me that actually was surprisingly intense.<br /><br />I then got a call back. I was shocked to learn that there were some hiring managers who wanted to talk to me. I came in and things went so well that there was even the suggestion that they would hire me for a full time position outright.<br /><br />That didn't happen, but I was offered a temp position working for one of the company's larger clients. I accepted it, hoping that this was the path to finally gaining full time employment in the industry I was trying so hard to enter.<br /><br />At first things seemed pretty good, but I suffered plenty of indignities. I was constantly reminded of my temp status whether by being excluded from meetings or not having the same access to technology. I even bristled every time I was introduced to someone by my "rank".<br /><br />It didn't help matters that I was often being bossed around by people who had just graduated college within the past few years...That is people who were still in high school back when I graduated college. I also earned an hourly wage that barely would be acceptable to the average Wal-Mart employee.<br /><br />Nevertheless, you know what I did? I just shut up and grinned and endured yet this additional affront made possible by my JD.<br /><br />I did make a few other efforts to find full time employment. I shockingly received a call from another HR representative from a HUGE company who thought my resume was a good fit for the financial analyst position for which I applied a month earlier.<br /><br />The screening interview went great. The woman was really on my side and said that even if this job didn't work out, she'd definitely be able to find something else for me given my background.<br /><br />The panel interview didn't go quite as well. The first guy with whom I spoke seemed pretty confused as to why I was even looking at this position. I was questioned about the JD, the gap in my resume, and to paraphrase him slightly "Why in Sam Hill did you spend all that money on your degree?"<br /><br />That's probably the best question I've actually heard from an interviewer. (Closely followed by, "So you have a law degree...what is that some sort of hobby of yours?")<br /><br />At one point, he actually tried to help me brainstorm ideas as to how to find gainful employment (elsewhere, of course)!<br /><br />The last woman with whom I spoke seemed to accept my explanations about law school, but she also questioned me about the cost of attendance. Note: Financial executives don't really want to hire idiots who go into six figures of debt and forgo three years of wages for a worthless degree. Go figure.<br /><br />Not surprisingly, I never heard back. (Despite promises that I would hear back from HR.) Oh, and that promise of there definitely being something for me, guess what happened...That's about lie 346 during this process.<br /><br />I also got to a second round interview for another company that was located nearby to where I live and seemed like a great place to work. I didn't seem to have the stats background they wanted, though. Oh, they did promise to be in touch...Yeah, need I say more?<br /><br />After taking time off for these interviews, I decided to put my energy into getting promoted from my temp role. The company was pretty laid back, the starting salary for full time analysts was pretty good, and I got to work in a skyscraper...and I'm referring to an actual office, not some subterranean dungeon in contrast to temp jobs in some <span style="font-style: italic;">other</span> industries.<br /><br />After a few months, I finally had my quarterly review with my manager and his manager. I got a strong score on my performance review, and my manager said he was pushing for me to move into a permanent role.<br /><br />Finally, I got called into the "big boss' " office for my review. I was complimented on my performance and was asked general questions about how I liked the job. I was also asked if I planned to try to get into law...*sigh*....even three months of employment wasn't enough to convince an employer that I didn't want to be a stupid lawyer.<br /><br />And then...the review ended. I was asked if I had any questions. I actually grew a bit of a spine and asked if there were any plans to make me full time. To which the reply was, "<span style="font-style: italic;">Are </span>you interested in working here full time?"<br /><br />"No, I'm actually so pleased to live at home as I enter my thirties that I want to make sure I never make enough to jeopardize this dream come true!"<br /><br />What a question. Pro tip: Always take the initiative to push your boss if you (reasonably) are looking for a raise or promotion.<br /><br />I was informed that there had to be a specific opening, but that it was definitely a possibility.<br /><br />A possibility? Great. Three months of work for that. Did I mention that when I joined, HR said I would be on the fast track to permanent employment.<br /><br />I then decided to take more initiative; I applied for a bunch of new jobs and posted my resume on Monster.<br /><br />This is when everything changed. Not only did I get slightly less than a 50% response rate to my resume - compared to a .05% response rate in the past, but I had recruiters (both internal and third party) unilaterally contacting me about my resume. Where were you guys for the last year?<br /><br />I have no idea if this means the economy is coming back, or if I have a great resume, or if actually having a job makes me more attractive to employers. Whatever the reason, it was definitely nice to be courted by employers for once. It was like those old milk commercials in which the skinny loser adds some more dairy to his diet and voila!, he's big man on campus.<br /><br />I actually got within a hair of landing a job with a big company with a well defined career path and great starting salary, but I was missing one necessary skill set (that I could have obtained through a process a lot easier than getting a law degree).<br /><br />As things turned out, I actually finally got promoted to a full time analyst position with a salary in the mid-40's and full benefits (health, dental, vision, 401k, vacation, etc.). Good enough for an exhausted man whose other options looked like they were going to pay about the same.<br /><br />There's still some other options open, but for the time being, this looks like the job I'll have for a while. This would have been a great position if I had taken it back in 2006 instead of going to law school. It's not quite as impressive after taking four years (including the year of unemployment) off from the workforce and incurring more debt than I want to think about. (Thank you IBR!)<br /><br />Also, I work with coworkers and for bosses who are actual humans, who even care about me from time to time. I have benefits. I'm on a career track. I don't have to go to housing court in the bad side of town or write horrible memos that nobody will read. When I look out, I can see the downtown of a major city instead of the industrial boiler in the bowels of some subterranean sweatshop.<br /><br />All of this said, I'm obviously upset about law school, and I know it doesn't sound like it, but I'm quite grateful that's it's all over. I'm out. I don't have to work in law, and I can start rebuilding my life and repaying my debt (for the rest of my natural life).<br /><br />So let's take a look at the final break down:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Number of resumes sent:</span> Hundreds? Thousands?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Negative responses:</span> Plenty, but not anywhere close to the number of resumes I sent out.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">First round interviews ending without an offer:</span> 4<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Second/Third round interviews ending without an offer:</span> 3<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Withdrew application after being asked to interview or further interview:</span> 4<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Received and accepted offer:</span> 2*<br /><br />* - I resigned from the first position<br /><br />Let's also see how I stack up against the goals I set forth when I first started this blog.<br /><br />Feel free to check out the post: <a href="http://esqnever.blogspot.com/2009/11/mission-impossible.html">http://esqnever.blogspot.com/2009/11/mission-impossible.html</a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Compensation: </span>I said I wanted $40,000; I make a few thousand more. Looks good.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Professional: </span>I wanted a job that required a college degree. This definitely does. It even requires some previous work experience.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Non-Legal:</span> My current manager, who even interviewed me, didn't even realize I had a law degree. I'd say I'm safe on this point.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Minor Points: </span>I didn't need to move. I got a very cheap certification, but I didn't head back to school. There was no bailout via an inheritance or a wealthy spouse, and I'm actually in the industry that I wanted to enter.<br /><br />I guess that's mission accomplished as I try to fly away from the flaming wreckage that is my legal education and "career".<br /><br />I kind of feel like a veteran of a war - and yes, I'm well aware that that soldiers have experienced worse things than any law grad - who somehow survived the carnage of the battlefield. He can never forget what he saw. He has wounds that last a lifetime. He may not even feel particularly proud of what he has done, but it's over. He can return back to society. It isn't so much joy that he's feeling. It's relief.<br /><br />I hope that everyone else out there can also feel the same relief one day.Esq. Neverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18248019550876835145noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5618663158161665199.post-79668175361212837122010-08-09T07:32:00.002-04:002010-08-09T07:32:00.618-04:00The End of Esq. [Never] - Final PostWhen I first started this blog, I was not sure what direction it would take. While I linked to the other scam bloggers, I think I saw this blog as more of an attempt to chronicle my quest to find a non-legal job and to occasionally share my thoughts about law school, the legal industry, and, of course, the dishonesty involved in both.<br /><br />(As it turned out, however, the career search aspect became a secondary concern as my contempt for the law school scam began to take prominence. More on that in a moment.)<br /><br />One thing I did know from the start was that I didn't want to end this blog until I could triumphantly declare that I had secured a serious, decent paying, non-legal position despite my J.D., work experience gap, and the miserable economy.<br /><br />I sincerely regret that this will not be the case.<br /><br />A few posts ago, I informed you that I was taking on a temporary, contract position with a company that was designed to evaluate whether or not I would receive a permanent offer. While I am pleased to report that my "employer" envisions me working at the company well past the initial evaluation period, it is going to take them longer than expected to determine if they plan to take me on as a permanent employee.<br /><br />While this is a contract position, I still work long hours and have a long commute. This has left little time for blogging. While I have not run out of things to say, I have exhausted my motivation to say them.<br /><br />Over the past month, I had hoped to receive the final word about the position, my specific role, and my annual compensation. Sadly, it appears that it could be weeks or even months before this is settled. There is also the possibility that in the end, I will not end up working full time with this company.<br /><br />With no particular date in sight when I can foresee declaring victory, and with little time to blog, I have decided to "prematurely" bring this blog to a close.<br /><br />As mentioned, I have run out of steam to maintain this blog. After 100 posts, while I may have some additional thoughts to share that may be either interesting or entertaining, I don't know if I can really add anything more of substance. I've made my case as best I could through personal anecdotes and more detached analysis.<br /><br />In addition, whether this present position works out, or I am just able to finally have some recent, substantive work experience on my resume, I believe I am on the road to leaving the law and securing an actual career.<br /><br />Moreover, while I stand resolute that the law school deans and their cohorts are as crooked as the day is long, I am somewhat concerned about the cynicism and bitterness that I have expressed in this blog. In all honesty, I do not want to be an angry or resentful person.<br /><br />I believe most of what I've said on this blog is accurate and defensible. I know that one man's sincere regret is another man's "whining", and I am not oblivious to the duplicitous tactics of some of the law school apologists and administrators. That said, I do not think it's healthy to be a in a bitter feud with anyone - even the more corrupt and miserable elements of society.<br /><br />I certainly am glad that there will continue to be a scam busting community, and I hope it grows into a larger, more visible organization, but I'm not the right person to be part of this movement. I don't regret most of what I've written, but I do regret some of the occasionally snide and nasty ways in which I've expressed myself.<br /><br />As I mentioned at the beginning of the post, this blog went in a somewhat different direction than I expected. With my resumes ending up in oblivion and my networking connections flaming out, I didn't have much to write about regarding my job search.<br /><br />When "A Law School Carol" unexpectedly garnered national legal press attention, I was pushed into the forefront of the scam busting movement. I hope this event was able to draw greater awareness about the community and in some ways contributed to the success of some of the more popular blogs such as Third Tier Reality, But I Did Everything Right, and the Jobless Juris Doctorate.<br /><br />I would have never believed that simply by creating a blog and some simplistic cartoons I would be featured in three national legal publications and the Wall Street Journal blog. Moreover, being able to draw hundreds and sometimes even thousands of hits every time I publish a new post has been an honor. Maybe I should write into my law school's alumni magazine to advertise these accomplishments!<br /><br />I contemplated revealing my law school in my final post, but I decided it wouldn't serve much of a purpose. Listing the school could possibly hurt me in the future, and my objection is to law school as a whole and not specifically Syracuse Law....oh wait, I mean the University of Florida Law...oh, I mean Loyola Law, uh, yeah that's it...<br /><br />I did, however, plan on posting a narrative about my job search, a closing argument about why law school is a bad idea, and a final farewell after I posted my intended "victory" post. While I don't have the energy to write three full posts, let me conclude with three micro posts within this one:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">***<br /><div style="text-align: left;">In all, I spent 13 months unemployed since I graduated law school. Eleven of those months were post the bar exam. Eight of those months were months in which I was seriously committed to finding a non-legal job.<br /><br />I sent out over a hundred resumes. I probably received a total of fifty responses - most of which were outright rejections. I was asked to come in for four interviews for serious, professional positions.<br /><br />The first interview went well at first but quickly collapsed when it turned out that I lacked the requisite technical knowledge to succeed in the position without additional training. I was annoyed that neither the job listing nor my resume made any mention of serious programing experience. I was also displeased because I couldn't get a hold of anyone at the company to find out my status.<br /><br />The second interview was a disaster. The security guard didn't even have me in the computer to let me up to the office. The guy who interviewed me clearly had no idea what was on my resume and asked a total of three questions. I had to fight traffic and pay for parking. Obviously, I couldn't get a hold of anyone in the office after the interview. I'm still shocked by the lack of professionalism I experienced.<br /><br />The third interview was far more professional. The interviewer was the CEO of the company. He was polite and professional but not very friendly. I appreciated that he not only read my resume but also memorized it.<br /><br />Unfortunately, this was the interview I was dreading. The first three questions were essentially "Why the #$%! did you go to law school if you don't want to practice law?" I actually think I handled these questions well, but his interrogation pushed me into defensive, moot court mode, and made me come across as too adversarial and quick talking throughout the rest of the interview.<br /><br />In the end, I'll admit that I blew the interview by coming across as too aggressive and over-eager. Though, I don't think the interviewer and I would have gotten along very well, so maybe it was for the best.<br /><br />While the interview was as professional as could be, and everything that went wrong was entirely my fault, I did become annoyed after the interview. I called the guy afterward, but he kept brushing me off instead of just thanking me for coming in and but saying that they had gone with another candidate. Moreover, during the interview, he actually promised to put me in touch with a networking connection (not a great sign at an interview), but he never followed through despite my requests.<br /><br />My fourth interview was with my current employer. I actually wasn't expecting to get a job. I had a phone interview with my company, and it turned out that I wasn't at all qualified for the position for which I applied. Nevertheless, they invited me in to talk more about the company.<br /><br />I didn't think this would amount to much, but I figured I'd go because it wasn't like I had much else to do. I actually considered not wearing a suit, and almost walked out when one of the interviewers took a call during the interview without excusing himself.<br /><br />Then something odd happened - after I reiterated that I probably lacked the requisite skills to fill the role, he brushed it off by saying that it didn't matter. He then had me interview with another employee. Then he came in and talked to me again. Then I talked to another employee. Then he came in and asked me about my salary requirements. Anything above minimum wage that didn't require me to wear a paper hat sounded pretty good at that point, but I gave him a realistic figure.<br /><br />He said he'd think about it, and the next day called me back to offer me a contract position that paid around what I wanted (albeit sans benefits and with the requirement to pay the SE tax for the time being) to evaluate my work before taking me on permanently.<br /><br />The position could generally be called an IT/business position, which is what I wanted. I would prefer it to be a little more development/tech oriented, but otherwise it's pretty much exactly what I was looking for.<br /><br />I was generally offered this role because my "employer" (technically "client" since I'm an IC) thought I was an intelligent guy with a pretty solid computer background. For the record, yes, they did see the JD as a plus, BUT before you apologists start yucking it up, let me point out the following: 1) This was one 1 of over 100 employers; 2) I presently make less than I did at my pre-law job; 3) I'm not even a permanent employee; 4) I still have a mountain of debt to worry about - IBR or no IBR.<br /><br />I am, however, very grateful for this job, and I enjoy it. I'm also learning a lot of new thing, which will be marketable should I have to move on. I don't think I will voluntarily do so because there are some great opportunities available at this company.<br /><br />For those of you still looking for work, I'm afraid I don't have much new advice to offer. Trying to sell yourself as a generally intelligent and capable person is a good idea, but learning some new, marketable skills is really the best approach. Try finding software that is used in the field in which you're looking and see if you can master it to give yourself a head start. If you're a writer, learn about SEO. If you're creative, look into learning about filming and video editing.<br /><br />Besides that, just keep trying. If you have something to offer, eventually you'll find somebody who will pay you for it.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">***<br /><div style="text-align: left;">While things seem to have turned around for me, I wouldn't wish this experience on my worst enemy - maybe a law dean or two, but I'm talking about actual humans here.<br /><br />If you're a prospective law student, I don't know what I else I can tell you that isn't already available elsewhere on my blog to try to convince you not to go to law school.<br /><br />At the end of the day, if you ignore these warning, I guess it doesn't really affect me. I have my debt and my shame already, but you see, I do care. Maybe you think I'm a loser. Maybe reading my blog makes your blood boil. Maybe you're a pompous punk who thinks that he'll sooner grow a tail than end up begging for an unpaid internship with the local DA after passing the bar. It doesn't really matter; I still don't want this fate to beset you.<br /><br />In other posts, I've tried to appeal to your reason; let me use this last post to appeal to your emotions.<br /><br />Aside from those of you who know you want to be lawyers - and unless you've actually worked closely with practicing attorneys, you DON'T know - the people who go to law school are either recent college graduates or dissatisfied young employees who think a legal career will be more lucrative and/or more exciting than their present options. (Law schools prey on these poor souls with the ruthlessness of a lioness picking out and pouncing on a wounded wildebeest.)<br /><br />If this is you, let me empathize with you. I was fortunate when I graduated college. The economy was doing well in 2004, and I landed a decent paying professional job. In some ways, I had it all. I lived in a luxury apartment (albeit sharing the rent with a friend), I had savings, and I had no debt. I could eat out with friends, and I could pretty much buy (within reason) whatever I wanted.<br /><br />Yet I wasn't happy. My job was mundane and boring, and while it paid the rent and let me live a stable life, I wasn't exactly rolling in the dough and didn't think I could support a family on my salary. I also envisioned holding a job that was exciting, challenging, and lucrative.<br /><br />Then I drank the law school Kool-Aid. I believed the data about the average starting salaries. I listened to the anecdotes about appearing in court, working with interesting clients, and researching compelling issues.<br /><br />Sure, I knew that at the very big firms, the work wasn't that interesting, but I was never all that interested in working at the largest firms anyway. Besides, if the money ever seduced me into taking such a job, I could always move over to a smaller firm with more interesting work later on.<br /><br />All I "knew" was that there's lots of work for lawyers because everyone needs lawyers, even the average law graduate was making good money, and whatever job I received, it would have to be better than my current job.<br /><br />Sound familiar?<br /><br />So I dutifully dumped tons of money into LSAT prep courses and the application process. I researched the schools and essentially felt like I was a senior in high school again, weighing my options as I embarked on a new chapter in my life.<br /><br />I actually laid awake paralyzed with fear one night, worried that I had blown the LSAT and would have to stay at my job and forgo law school (back then you only had one chance at the LSAT). If only I HAD bombed the LSAT!<br /><br />Maybe my job was boring. Maybe I wasn't making enough money. Maybe I needed to find a new career path, but the answer certainly wasn't to be found by going six figures into debt and wasting three years of my life all to attend a school that would give me neither practical training nor a pipeline into a new and better industry.<br /><br />On the eve of law school, I had a good job, my own place, and a positive net worth. When I graduated law school, none of these facts were true.<br /><br />Let me put it this way, if I had access to a time machine, I would go back in time to find myself sitting at my desk, reviewing law school brochures. I would then rip the glossy brochure out of my former self's hands and throw him to the ground. I would proceed to kick him several times and tell him if he ever even considered applying to law school after this, I'd be back to finish the job.<br /><br />Sure, I'd probably have a few bruised ribs today, but I'd also probably not be in the process of requesting Sallie Mae to put me on the IBR, so I "only" need to hand over 10% of my salary for most of the rest of my life.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">***<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">With that, I guess it's time to close up shop. Thank you to everyone who took the time to read, comment, or contact me with your stories.<br /><br />It was an honor to hear from so many people who changed their minds about law school because of this blog, derived some comfort by reading my posts, or just found this blog to be an entertaining way to kill some time at work.<br /><br />If this blog has helped one person find a non legal job or convinced a single person not to go to law school, then I'm convinced that my efforts have been worth it even if "Esq Never" hasn't moved the law school industry even an inch towards reform.<br /><br />While I don't have any intention of pulling a "Brett Favre", I may occasionally post articles on <a href="http://underdogesq.blogspot.com/">Underdog, Esq. </a>if I believe I have anything particularly compelling about which to write, but I wouldn't expect any such articles for a while.<br /><br />I will leave this blog up (but not add to it) and available until Blogger goes the way of Geocities and deletes all of its pages.<br /><br />I wish everyone the best of luck, and I hope that all of you who are currently suffering from unemployment and underemployment (thanks to your JD's) end up landing on your feet.<br /><br />While I don't want to discuss law school or the scam anymore, if I can ever help anyone in the future with advice about transitioning into a non-legal job, please feel free to e-mail me. I can't promise an immediate response, but I'll do my best to check my esqnever at hotmail dot com account and try to respond.<br /><br />With that, this is Esq. Never - signing off.<br /></div></div></div></div></div></div>Esq. Neverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18248019550876835145noreply@blogger.com28tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5618663158161665199.post-44964309704377510812010-07-26T22:25:00.000-04:002010-07-26T22:25:24.951-04:00Esq, Never's 100th PostWell, after nine months of blogging about the non-legal job search and the law school scam, I've finally reached 100 posts. It would be great if I could use this occasion to make an exciting announcement - but I can't. I wish I had something particularly creative for this post - but I've been too busy.<br /><br />Instead, I'm going to do what every great production of the past has copped out by doing when it reaches a milestone of some sort - A "Best Of" episode!<br /><br />For those of you who have been regular readers since the beginning (or those who have read through the archives), I'm afraid there won't be much new in the post. For those who may have missed some of my earlier posts, I'm going to try to highlight some of the articles I've enjoyed the most that you may want to check out.<br /><br />If you've already read these posts, I'm going to provide a few additional comments that you may or may not find interesting.<br /><br />Thanks to everyone for reading. I hope others have found my blog to be either informative or entertaining.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Best of Esq. Never<br /></span><br /><a href="http://esqnever.blogspot.com/2009/11/not-another-law-blog.html">Not Another Law Blog</a><br /><br />My very first post. Find out why not all unpaid internships are bad. Mine, for example, finally convinced me to move on with my life and leave the futile search for an attorney position behind me.<br /><br /><a href="http://esqnever.blogspot.com/2009/11/but-i-have-law-degree.html">But I Have a Law Degree!</a><br /><br />I wish I had put more effort into getting more people to adopt this catch phrase. Sure, you know somebody who graduated from Bob Jones University who is doing just fine while you're barely qualified to pick up cans on the side of the highway with you first tier J.D., but you have a law degree!<br /><a href="http://esqnever.blogspot.com/2009/11/law-school-carol.html"><br />A Law School Carol</a><br /><br />I'm probably the only 2009 law school graduate (at least from my school) to be featured prominently in the National Law Journal, the ABA Journal, the Wall Street Journal (law blog), and the National Jurist.<br /><br />Is this because I'm secretly some hotshot attorney biting the hand that feeds me? No, it's because I spent part of my year of unemployment creating a cartoon known as "A Law School Carol".<br /><br /><a href="http://esqnever.blogspot.com/2009/11/thanksgiving-turkey.html">The Thanksgiving Day Turkey</a><br /><br />Thanks to law school, I'll probably have to eat crow at every single family gathering for the next decade.<br /><a href="http://esqnever.blogspot.com/2009/11/e-mail-scam-alert.html"><br />E-Mail Scam Alert!</a><br /><br />This is almost as honest as the marketing materials that most of the law schools use.<br /><br /><a href="http://esqnever.blogspot.com/2009/12/fallacy-of-sunk-cost.html">The Fallacy of the Sunk Cost</a><br /><br />Say it with me: There's no use crying over spilled milk. There's no use crying over spilled milk. There's no use crying over spilled milk.<br /><br />This makes sense, so why do so many people continue with law school or with being lawyers just because they've incurred some associated expenses? My guess is that most lawyers never took an economics class in college. Oh wait, I majored in economics, and I still made this mistake. Never mind.<br /><a href="http://esqnever.blogspot.com/2009/12/greatest-sham-on-earth.html"><br />The Greatest Sham on Earth</a><br /><br />"Wow! You passed the bar! Congratulations! Now, let's squeeze you into an overflowing room for one of our fifty swearing in ceremonies this year. See everyone else who is here? You'll be competing against them for the eight attorney positions that are available in the state."<br /><a href="http://esqnever.blogspot.com/2009/12/im-everything-i-ever-hated.html"><br />I'm Everything I Ever Hated</a><br /><br />I used to be pleased with myself for avoiding falling into the trap of earning a worthless liberal arts degree. Thanks to law school, that's no longer the case.<br /><a href="http://esqnever.blogspot.com/2009/12/federal-student-loan-program-it-seemed.html"><br />The Federal Student Loan Program</a><br /><br />Speaking of economics. Here's an economic analysis of why the law school scam has been able to prosper and thrive. Hint: Free student loans + shameless law school deans = lives of misery and shame for law school graduates.<br /><a href="http://esqnever.blogspot.com/2009/12/seasons-greetings-to-law-school-deans.html"><br />Esq. Never's Season's Greetings to Law School Deans</a><br /><br />I'll bet you think I don't like law school deans, but this year I actually had a present for them: An Esq. Never original poem.<br /><a href="http://esqnever.blogspot.com/2010/01/pride-and-prejudice_22.html"><br />Pride and Prejudice</a><br /><br />Remember how that after Elizabeth married Darcy she found out that his wealth was actually illusory and that Pemberley was financed through his Sallie Mae student loans, so she subsequently left him for that loser who was in the military? No? Well, that's probably why Jane Austen made Mr. Darcy a businessman and not a barrister.<br /><br />Yes, I'm kind of ashamed I know that much about a romance novel aimed towards women. Another reason why I'm glad this blog is anonymous.<br /><br />In any event, if you're prideful about going to law school, I can guarantee you that you won't live happily ever after.<br /><br /><a href="http://esqnever.blogspot.com/2010/01/picture-worth-thousand-words.html">A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words</a><br /><br />Look at this picture and tell me it doesn't send a chill up your spine. Bonus: If you're a recent graduate who still thinks you have a crack at a serious attorney position and can look at this without breaking a sweat, you must be fearless, an idiot, or legally blind.<br /><br /><a href="http://esqnever.blogspot.com/2010/03/networking-trail-of-tears.html">The Networking Trail of Tears</a><br /><br />What's worse? Being a Cherokee who is forced to live in Oklahoma or being an attorney forced to rely on the kindness of your network to get you a job? This is an honest question. I don't really know.<br /><br /><a href="http://esqnever.blogspot.com/2010/03/craigslist-test.html">The Craigslist Test</a><br /><br />Want to find a used washer, an apartment, or a one night stand? Craigslist can help. Want to find an attorney position - or at least one that pays better than home depot? Craigslist probably won't be quite as helpful.<br /><br /><br />There are some more recent posts that I think are pretty good, but I assume most people have read them.<br /><br />I know plenty of people question whether it has been worth my time to run this blog, but if it has stopped one person from going to law school or plays any role in eventually encouraging some reform, then it has been worth it for me.<br /><br />Law school is a scam. There's no reason for there to be an entrenched system that charges thousands of students so much money while providing a reasonable rate of return to only a tiny percentage of graduates. It shouldn't be allowed to be propped up by unjustified loans and distorted employment data.<br /><br />I'm glad that I've been able to play a small role in attacking this corrupt system for 100 posts. I also hope I've been able to assist those looking for non-legal jobs. It's been my pleasure to bring you this blog, and I hope you've enjoyed it.Esq. Neverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18248019550876835145noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5618663158161665199.post-15922269496115965692010-07-19T14:00:00.005-04:002010-07-19T21:53:16.230-04:00Calico Cat<span style="font-style: italic;">Calico Cat was one of the first bloggers to try to expose the law school scam. He did so as a top 10% (at graduation) student from a tier 1 school back in 2004! Imagine what he would have to say about today's environment.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Unfortunately, this forefather of the scam busting movement's site is no longer available, so I have decided to run his salient essay on this blog. (Thank you, Google Cache.)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The lousy post-graduation opportunities for new attorneys are nothing new; it's just that both the economy and COA are much worse today. Don't be fooled. Even if the economy recovers, happy days will not be here again (for lawyers).</span><br /><br /><p style="font-weight: bold;" class="ecxMsoNormal">Law school: the big lie</p><p style="font-weight: bold;" class="ecxMsoNormal"><br /></p> <p class="ecxMsoNormal"><span style="font-style: italic;">(Reprinted from the now defunct <a href="http://www.calicocat.com/2004/08/law-school-big-lie.html">Calico Cat blog</a>.)</span></p><p class="ecxMsoNormal"><br /></p>Every year tens of thousands of wannabe lawyers enter law school. The majority will be extremely disappointed by their career opportunities.<br /><br />Thus the title of this essay: law school is a big lie. People enter law school with the idea that a law degree is their ticket to a comfortable upper middle class lifestyle. In fact, just the opposite, law school for most is a ticket to a worse financial state than if they had not attended at all.<br /><br />This news is hard for people to accept, because “everyone knows” that lawyers make a lot of money. Right? Well look at the salaries for government lawyers in your area. They probably start in the 30s. Why would anyone take a job paying in the 30s if law jobs pay six figures? They wouldn’t. After a decade or more of service to the state, you salary will most likely max out in the five figures. That’s a pretty lousy salary for a job that requires three years of graduate school education. There are plenty of people without any graduate education earning six figures, and they don’t have to pay back the student loans that lawyers have to take out in order to pay for law school. Bill Gates is the richest man in the world and he doesn’t even have an undergraduate degree.<br /><br />There are some lawyers who start out with a good salary. They work for what they call “BIGLAW” on the internet message boards. Big law firms pay their associates a starting salary in the six figures. But here’s the sad news: only a tiny percentage of law school graduates will ever get these six figure jobs at big law firms. Unless you go to a top law school, the six figure big law firm job will most likely not be yours.<br /><br />There are only 14 top law schools. That’s right. Not 10, not 15, but 14. They are, in descending order of prestige: Yale, Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, NYU, Chicago, University of Pennsylvania, University of Michigan, University of Virginia, Duke, Northwestern, Cornell, UC Berkeley, and Georgetown. And that’s it. Go to any other law school, and your chances of getting a big law firm job will be slim to none.<br /><br />There are also distinct levels of prestige within the top 14. Yale, Harvard, and Stanford are head and shoulders above the rest. Then Columbia, NYU and maybe Chicago round out the top 6. Attending one of these top top law schools will vastly improve your odds. The guy graduating at the bottom of the class at Harvard will have better career opportunities than the guy graduating at the top of the class at an ordinary law school.<br /><br />Outside of the top law schools, the only law school graduates having decent job opportunities will be those who graduated in the top ten percent of the class and who made law review. Law review and top ten percent are usually the same people because at most law schools the law review members are selected from those whose grades are in the top ten percent at the end of the first year. If like me, your grades weren’t in the top ten percent at the end of the first year, but you managed to graduate in the top ten percent, you are screwed because you weren’t on law review. Furthermore, most big law firms make offers to their summer associates, who get interviewed and hired during the second half of the second year, thus it’s mostly your grades during the first three semesters of law school that determine your entire legal future.<br /><br />If you are reading this, and you’re a law student who already received your first semester grades, and they aren’t top ten percent, then my advice is to drop out now instead of throwing more money down the law school black hole.<br /><br />Despite being warned that the only way to get a decent job in law if one attends a non-top 14 school is to make law review and the top ten percent, tens of thousands of suckers will enroll anyway. They think “I will be the one who makes the top ten percent” or “even if I don’t make the top ten percent, things will work out.” Let’s state the odds clearly: 90% of the class will not make the top 10%. You are not the only person in law school thinking they are going to bust their butt to make the top ten percent. 80% of the people start out thinking they are going to bust their butt. And some people from the 20% who are slackers are going to wind up in the top 10% too, because law school grades have a huge random element. One of the biggest slacker/party girls in my first year law school class made the top 10%. She wound up getting a high paying job at a big law firm because the law school gods decided to randomly grace her during her first semester.<br /><br />The law schools will trick prospective students with bogus statistics about the great career opportunities available to graduates. Don’t believe everything you read. First of all, there are the documented lies, like the admissions brochure for my law school alma mater, Arizona State University College of Law (ASU), which listed the average starting salary for graduates with job offers at graduation from private law firms. But what percentage of the class graduates with a job offer in hand from a private law firm? About 10%? Trumpeting the average salary for 10% of the class is damned deceptive.<br /><br />I further suspect that some law schools outright lie on their reported career placement statistics. Think about public companies. They have a strong incentive to lie on their financial statements, so that is why they have to prepare their statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and the accounting has to be audited by an independent public accounting firm. Despite these safeguards, companies like Enron are still caught lying on their financial statements.<br /><br />Law school career placement statistics do not have to be prepared in accordance with generally accepted principles, and they aren’t audited by independent public accountants. Therefore they can’t be trusted. Don’t be fooled into thinking that because they are “non-profit” they can be trusted, or that they are run only for the benefit of the public. There’s no such thing as no one making a profit. “Non-profit” only means that no one owns the residual profits from the law school, there are plenty of stakeholders making out like bandits. Law schools are run for the benefit of the law professors who have cushy six figure jobs, and the money for their salaries comes from the gullible chumps called law students.<br /><br />How cushy is a job as a law professor? Law professors earn six figures and only have to work six hours a week. And they get summers off too. How much better can it get? That’s right, law professors are only allowed to teach six hours of classes a week. If they taught more than six hours a week, the law school would lose its accreditation. Maybe some of the new law professors have to spend some time preparing for class, but by the time the law professor has a few years under his belt, he knows the material cold. Some of the older law professors were able to recite the entire textbook without ever even looking at it. In class one day, all the students looked quizzically at the law professor while he recited the exact details of a case that wasn’t in the textbook. Finally this was brought to his attention. It turns out that he was reciting from the last edition of the book. He didn’t even bother to look at the textbook in front of him to see that the case wasn’t in there.<br /><br />The only time that law professors have to do any real work is when they grade exams. And law school exams are only given once at the end of the semester. So we are talking about two weeks of real work at the end of each semester. And in one case, a law professor at ASU, was apparently too lazy to even put in his two weeks of work and he made up fake grades for the students in his class. When his deception was discovered, all he got was a temporary suspension, and a short time later he was back at law school teaching law.<br /><br />So we see, law professors have cushy jobs, therefore they have a strong incentive to lie on the career placement statistics because those are equivalent to a for-profit company’s financial statements, and it’s what the prospective law students look at to decide if they want to “invest” in the law school education.<br /><br />Another fallacy that prospective law students hold onto is that the law degree has some kind of value outside of law. They think, “if I don’t practice law, at least it’s a prestigious degree that will help my non-law career.” This is completely false. Having a law degree hurts your chances of getting non-law jobs. No one wants to hire you if you have a law degree. Because “everyone knows” that lawyers make so much money, they can’t understand why someone with a law degree would want to do anything else but practice law. If you say “I couldn’t find a job practicing law.” which is probably the truth, they will think “this person is a loser because everyone know how easy it is to find a job practicing law, and we don’t hire losers around here.” If you say “I was just exploring my options but decided I didn’t want to practice law,” then they will think “this person has no idea what he wants to do, we want to hire people who know where their career is going.” There is absolutely no way to spin the law degree in a way that it helps you get a non-law job. Hiring managers are looking for cookie cutter resumes, not resumes where people have education unrelated to the job. From their perspective, they’re not hiring a lawyer so they don’t give a crap if you know how to synthesize appellate cases (assuming they even know what “synthesize appellate cases” means, which is unlikely). The only way I have been able to find any jobs outside of law is to leave the law degree off my resume. Whenever the law degree has been on my resume, it has been the kiss of death that prevents me from finding a job.<br /><br />Finally, this essay would be incomplete if it didn’t discuss the burden of student loans. Whatever salary you make after graduating from law school has to be discounted by the cost of your student loan repayments. The student loan payments are not tax deductible (except to a very limited extent which will likely not apply to you). Your marginal tax rate will probably be around 45%, which means that for every $100/month in student loan payments, you need to have a stated additional salary of $182/month to cover the student loan payments. This means that if your law school education adds $500/month in student loan payments, you are paying $6,000/year in student loans and you need to earn an extra $10,910/year to cover the payments. This means that a $40,000/year job as a law school graduate gives you the equivalent disposable income of a $29,090/year job if you didn’t have a law degree. And it’s a lot easier to find a $29,000/year job with a bachelor’s degree than it is to find a $40,000/year job with a law degree.<br /><br />Even if you are one of the rare and lucky law school graduates who can obtain a six figure job at a big law firm, those jobs are rumored to be bad. I can’t say much about this because I never worked at a big law firm, but according to what I’ve been told, a large percentage of the partners at big law firms are jerks who treat their associates like garbage and make them work ridiculously long hours. Some of this may be unjustified whining, because I was treated like garbage at a job where I was making $9/hour. Nevertheless, one needs to consider that the ultimate goal of law school, a big law firm job, attained by only a small percentage of law school graduates, may not be the great reward it’s supposed to be.<br /><br />I predict that some prospective law students will find this essay, read it, and not believe it. Because no matter how much you try to tell a prospective law student the truth about law, they don’t believe it. “Everyone knows” that lawyers make a lot of money, how can this be true? Believe me, it’s true, and if you attend law school you will learn this the hard way. Don’t waste three years of your life and go into tens of thousands of dollars of debt that can never be discharged in bankruptcy to find out that your career opportunities suck after all that. Please, learn the truth now.Esq. Neverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18248019550876835145noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5618663158161665199.post-22412177595651460432010-07-17T20:23:00.001-04:002010-07-17T20:25:55.990-04:00I Joined the ABAIf learning this comes as a surprise to you, it actually came as a surprise to me as well.<br /><br />Apparently, while the law school scam is humming along nicely during the recession thanks to an endless supply of federally backed loans, the ABA hasn't been so fortunate. (I guess even recessions have bright sides.)<br /><br />This makes sense as struggling solos and unemployed lawyers, who need to decide between heating their homes or eating from somewhere other than the nearby dumpster, probably are not in the position to pay the annual $125 dues to the ABA.<br /><br />Therefore, it looks like Ms. Lamm and her criminal buddies need to engage in some creative marketing techniques to ensure the long term fiscal help of this worthless organization. One such tactic is apparently to offer free one year ABA memberships to "recently" barred attorneys with the hope that many of us will lazily renew our membership at cost the following year.<br /><br />I put "recently" in quotations because the ABA granted me free admission to the ABA under the guise of congratulating me for passing the bar - a "feat" that is now several months old.<br /><br />The letter they sent me promises that as an ABA member I'll get networking opportunities, access to the ABA website, and use of the ABA's "economic recovery resources". In other words, I get nothing.<br /><br />Oh, but they are going to mail me my PRESTIGIOUS ABA membership card. Yes, they actually used the word "prestigious". I didn't realize that being able to write a check for 125 dollars is all it takes to earn prestige.<br /><br />The most insulting part is that they advertise my ability to sign up for CLE's and that if I send in a survey, they'll match me with appropriate products and services. Pretty much they have to hide behind the veneer of doing me a favor when they're just trying find a way to sell my information to make more money for themselves. Thanks for looking out for me, ABA.<br /><br />Ah, but it isn't entirely a loss. After all, I received a certificate of membership to the ABA, which can double as a place mat for my Chinese food, and I was able to save a whopping ten bucks on a car rental thanks to some deal they have with Hertz.<br /><br />That almost makes up for the $90k I wasted on law school. Oh wait, it doesn't.<br /><br />Carol Lamm, if you're not going to do anything about the law school scam, please just leave its victims alone. Thanks.Esq. Neverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18248019550876835145noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5618663158161665199.post-75634027534559117452010-07-14T00:28:00.004-04:002010-07-14T01:05:33.622-04:00Five Weak Reasons for Attending Law SchoolAbove the Law recently<a href="http://abovethelaw.com/2010/07/in-defense-of-going-to-law-school/"> ran an article defending attending law school</a>. They were kind enough to link to this blog, but sadly not kind enough to provide a particularly compelling justification for their wayward advice.<br /><br />To be honest, I actually think this article may be an example of very subtle satire. Can David Lat really believe that educational trust funds and potential sinecures are really relevant to the debate?<br /><br />In any event, here are my summaries of his five "arguments" and my brief responses to each point.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Argument 1: Hey, winning the lottery <span style="font-style: italic;">is</span> possible.</span><br /><br />Sure, there's a better chance of getting a BigLaw job than winning the Power Ball. Nevertheless, when you win a lottery jackpot, you walk away free and clear with millions. When you "win" a BigLaw job, you still have to work long hours for an annual salary of $100k plus dollars.<br /><br />Would I have taken a job like this if it was offered to me? Sure, but that doesn't mean it's fun. Many lawyers are miserable and plenty end up washing out of these jobs after a few years.<br /><br />More importantly, however, is the penalty for not making the OCI cut for BigLaw. In the legal world, it's a loooong way down if you're not in the magic top X% of your class.<br /><br />If you play the lottery and lose, you're out a couple of bucks. If you lose the law school gamble, you could throw yourself into massive debt and torch your career trajectory for years to come.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Argument 2: You can always become a law professor or work for daddy</span><br /><br />If you don't have BigLaw grades, you don't have law professor grades. Plus, do you really want to be part of the law school scam?<br /><br />Also, we all know that if your name is William P. Buffington III, your old man can find you a law job. He can probably also get you a non-attorney position. This is axiomatic, and anyone in this position already knows he is set for life. This isn't germane to the debate.<br /><br />As for some of the other jobs listed, sure they're all possible. It's also possible that you could be a PG in the NBA, but I wouldn't risk six figures of debt on that potential opportunity either.<br /><br />I can't believe people still suggest that a law degree is useful for pursuing "alternative careers". Unless the alternative career they have in mind is in janitorial services or being a "professional companion" to male executives, please see the rest of this site for my rebuttal.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Argument 3: A B.A. in liberal arts is also worthless</span><br /><br />A J.D., for many people, is essentially a graduate liberal arts degree. It doesn't teach you anything practical, and aside from the mostly inaccessible legal jobs, it isn't valued by employers.<br /><br />You don't get out of a hole by continuing to dig yourself deeper; you get out by trying to climb out by working your way up from low level jobs and picking up some practical skills.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Argument 4: Not Everyone Takes on Debt</span><br /><br />Yes, but most do. Once again, if your old man can write a check to cover the ordeal, congratulations. This website probably isn't for you. For everyone else, even "a little debt" can still mean big payments for many years in return for a largely worthless piece of paper.<br /><br />Debt isn't even the biggest problem. Thanks to the IBR, even larger debts are now manageable (if annoying).<br /><br />The big problem is having a three year gap in your resume and a degree that makes you overqualified for virtually every non-legal position that would otherwise be accessible to you.<br /><br />Even if you do go the attorney route - for those who aren't at the top of the class - your sentence is a life of toilet law and/or document review slavery.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Argument 5: Pride</span><br /><br />I have been introduced as Attorney [My Last Name], and I receive mail addressed to [My Name], Esq. I also live at home with my parents and spent about 14 months unemployed. That kind of takes some of the wind out of the old sails.<br /><br /><br />I look forward to Lat eventually letting us in on the joke. This article would have been better suited for April 1.Esq. Neverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18248019550876835145noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5618663158161665199.post-31962189307537646692010-07-05T22:32:00.000-04:002010-07-05T22:32:44.172-04:00A Present from Esq, Never: Resume Advice for the J.D. Looking for a Non-Legal Position<span style="font-weight: bold;">Introduction</span><br /><br />After reading the title, some of you may think to yourselves that this "gift" is the equivalent of receiving tube socks for Christmas. After all, aren't "resume tips" a dime a dozen on internet?<br /><br />Others may contend, "Right, Esq. Never. Why on earth would anyone take advice from you - a man who has frequently complained that he couldn't even buy a job since this blog began?"<br /><br />Well, fair enough, but let me try to respond. As to the first point, it's true that virtually everything from ask.com to pay-per-click ad based "filler" sites host content regurgitating the same basic advice for preparing a resume. In my case, however, I'm offering advice that's specifically tailored to those with J.D.'s, who are looking for non-legal jobs.<br /><br />As to the second point, it's also true that I've struggled to find employment. However, within the past month or so, I've had three "waves" where I've submitted my resume via job listing sites (probably no more than ten submissions per "wave"), and I have received an interview for a substantive position each time. (Though the interview wasn't always substantive.)<br /><br />I also met a recruiter at a job fair who practically begged me to apply for an analyst position based entirely on my resume. (I declined because I am not currently in the position to relocate.) Finally, I'm on track to actually be gainfully employed (see my last post) also largely due to my resume.<br /><br />Now, maybe the economy is getting better. Maybe I, at least, live in a part of the country where the economy is improving. I don't know. It's certainly possible that more is at play here than my resume, but my improved fortunes in terms of receiving interest in my resume began when I made some improvements to it - thanks to some advice I received from a free resume critique at a job fair.<br /><br />At the very least, my resume isn't seriously flawed, and I want to take the time to help out others who have faced the same struggles I have.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Preliminary Points</span><br /><br />Before proceeding, here are some caveats. The university to which my law school is attached is pretty well regarded in the region in which I live. I had a reasonably practical major - economics via my undergrad school's business school. I worked for two years in a substantive position before law school, and I have pretty well developed computer skills.<br /><br />The good news for those of you liberal arts majors who went to law school right out of undergrad and can barely do anything more than check your e-mail and update your Facebook status on your computers is that I think a good resume can still compensate for limited practical skills.<br /><br />After all, I'm not really a specialist in anything. Economics requires good math skills and a logical thought process, but I highly doubt that any job will ever require me to calculate the optimal price for a firm to charge in a monopoly market.<br /><br />Moreover, while I had a solid, white collar job before law school, I was sort of a jack of all trades - I really didn't have a specific position like being a financial analyst or a programmer. Finally, while I have solid computer skills, there really isn't an area or relevant piece of software over which I have mastery.<br /><br />Therefore, nobody was really going to hire me because I brought a specific skill set to the table.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">What Not to Do</span><br /><br />With that out of the way, let's focus on how to write an appropriate resume.<br /><br />At the risk of sounding like some insipid career adviser guru, it's important to remember that your resume really is a sales pitch. Okay, if I heard some CSO slug say the same thing, I'd probably roll my eyes too, but it's true.<br /><br />Aside from your cover letter (which is usually essential), it's pretty much what every employer is going to use to judge you. It's an advertisement for your "employee services", and it needs to tell your prospective employer why he should shell out tens of thousand of dollars for those services by way of salary, benefits, and taxes. (Particularly because you have so many competitors).<br /><br />Now, don't take this analogy too far. Your resume should still be pretty conservative even though it's an "advertisement". Use of graphics and other gimmicks should be saved only for the most creative marketing and related jobs.<br /><br />What you don't want to do, however, is hand in some plain resume that contains only the most basic information about your background. Unless you have a background that immediately is going to catch somebody's attention (e.g. 4.0 GPA in CS from MIT), then you can't get away with this.<br /><br />If your resume just states your contact information, where you went to undergrad and law school, and that you worked a couple summers at the Olive Garden, your phone isn't exactly going to be ringing off the hook.<br /><br />Aside from having a "non-sales pitch" resume, the biggest mistake a J.D. can make in applying for non-legal jobs is using his legal resume to pull this off. Nothing says, "I'm just settling for applying to work for your business because I can't find an attorney position," like submitting a resume better suited for a law firm than the business to which you're applying.<br /><br />CSO's usually advises students to create a resume with this format:<br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"><br />Education</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />Law School: GPA (if good); Honors; Co-Curricular Activities (Journal/Moot Court); Other Activities</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />Undergrad: GPA (if good); Honors; Activities</span> <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"><br /><br />Experience</span> <br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Most Recent Legal Internship to Least Recent: Bullet points based upon tasks performed</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />Pre-Law Work Experience and Any Relevant or Impressive Internships</span> <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"><br /><br />Additional Skills</span> <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">CLE's/Other Practical Experience</span> <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Interests</span><br /><br /><br />This may work well when applying for attorney positions, but it's not going to work for other jobs. Some of you may be thinking, "No kidding, Esq. Never", but I'm not sure if it's quite that axiomatic.<br /><br />After all, if you're apply for both attorney and non-attorney positions, it can be very tempting to submit the same resume for each. Some people who haven't applied for non-legal positions before may not even have experience using a non-attorney resume. Also, there is a certain logic to using this resume for non-legal positions: Ostensibly, it does tell an employer that you're well educated, intelligent, and that you've spent the last few years working intellectually demanding jobs.<br /><br />The problem is, as mentioned, that it tells employers that you're really only suited to be an attorney and are not a good fit for the non-attorney positions to which you're applying (particularly entry level positions).<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Professional Summary</span><br /><br />So what should you do? Well, obviously, I'm not an expert, but let me go through the categories I used on my resume that helped me improve my job search fortunes.<br /><br />A great way to market yourself is to provide your prospective employer with a brief introduction to your resume. When employers have to sift through reams and reams of bullet point laden resumes, anything that can help focus your "sales pitch" is going to give you an advantage.<br /><br />First, give your professional summary a title that will grab the reader's attention. If you're a computer programmer, it would be something like:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Computer Programmer with 7 Years Experience Developing Software in Java and C++</span><br /><br />If you don't have a specific field in mind, then use a broad term and highlight some aspects of your skill set. For example:<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Entry Level Professional with Strong Writing and Editing Skills</span><br /><br />or<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Business Professional with Excellent Quantitative and Computer Skills</span><br /><br />After writing your title, you should then include your professional summary in paragraph or bullet point form. (I recommend a paragraph format, so it stand outs.) Use three or four sentences to summarize your background. Make it sound professional and objective. Do not use personal pronouns.<br /><br />Sentence 1: Hit the best points from your previous work experience.<br /><br />Example: <span style="font-style: italic;">Two years as a researcher using VB script and Access databases to organize, calculate, and report data.</span><br /><br />Sentence 2 (optional): Additional highlights from your professional work experience.<br /><br />Sentence 2/3: Undergraduate education - Can substitute additional explanation of work experience if more relevant than undergrad degree.<br /><br />Example: <span style="font-style: italic;">Graduated from well ranked communications program that emphasized public relations coursework and concise writing skills.</span><br /><br />Sentence 3/4: Addressing the J.D. It's going to come up at some point. This is your chance to take "the question" head on and try to explain why you pursued a J.D. even though you don't want to be a lawyer.<br /><br />Example: <span style="font-style: italic;">Recently received a J.D. [don't say law degree] for the purpose of enhancing [insert skill set here, e.g. analytical skills, writing skills, communication skills, ability to be a heartless parasite (j/k), etc.]</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Experience</span><br /><br />Now that you've given a summary of your background, it's time to get into the "meat" of your resume. How you approach the divisions within this section depends what type of experience you have.<br /><br />What you want to do is try to emphasize the non-legal skills you have acquired while downplaying your legal acumen. This can be tricky if most of your work experience is legally related. (If you were a paralegal for three years before law school and then had a bunch of legal internships, I don't know what to tell you.)<br /><br />Also note, we're including experience BEFORE education in order to help to downplay the law degree.<br /><br />There are three ways I would recommend dividing this section depending on your experience.<br /><br />If all you have is legal experience, then you really have no choice, start with your most recent legal position and list them all (see next session for some caveats) under the heading "Experience".<br /><br />If you have some non-legal experience, but they're only internships or part time jobs, you should divide this section into two parts. The first part should be called something like "Business Experience" or whatever best describes your non-legal experience. You should list this experience chronologically.<br /><br />The second section should be labeled as something such as "Recent Internship Experience" or "Other Experience". This allows you to chronologically list your legal internship experience while drawing more attention to your non-legal (and with any luck, more relevant) experience while still highlighting important aspects from your legal internships.<br /><br />For those who were fortunate enough to have worked in a full time position prior to law school, you should divide the "Experience" section into two sections "Professional Experience" and "Internship Experience" both under the larger banner "Experience". This, once again, allows you to draw more attention to previous work experience than your legal experience.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Improving the "Experience" Section</span><br /><br />The order in which your work experience appears is important, but there's more you can do to help emphasize your non-legal attributes and downplay (but still receive credit for) your legal background.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Chronology:</span> There is such thing as a "functional resume". That is, a resume that emphasizes skills rather employment history. This may be a tactic some of you can use, but from what I've heard this will confuse if not annoy employers. If you're taking steps to conceal when and where you worked, employers may assume the worst and not consider your resume.<br /><br />The reason why we're dividing the "Experience" section into subsections is because it allows you to maintain a chronological resume while still emphasizing your non-legal experience prior to your legal experience.<br /><br />Detail: This is pretty standard resume advice, but don't just list the tasks you performed. Give details about the assignments you were responsible for and emphasize your achievements.<br /><br />Example: <span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />Awarded 2006 salesperson of the year for most B2B sales in department amounting to over 20% of company's revenue</span><br /><br />instead of...<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Successfully engaged in B2B sales<br /><br /></span>If you want anymore advice on this type of writing, most resume assistance sites/books should be able to give you additional information.<span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Emphasize Non-Legal/Transferable Skills</span>: You need to be careful when explaining the tasks you performed for legal employers. If you worked for an administrative office, a non-profit, a company, or a judge during law school, that's good. It will be easier to spin your experience.<br /><br />If you worked for a law firm or anything that put you into a courtroom (i.e. a DA or PD internship), you may want to reconsider including this experience. It may be something to mention in an interview (e.g. "I can handle stressful situations thanks to arguing for indigent clients in municipal court."), but try to not confuse a prospective employer.<br /><br />Skills to Emphasize:<br />-Writing - particularly getting something published<br />-Research - particularly computer and on-line research<br />-Managing projects<br />-Meeting and speaking with clients<br /><br />Skills that are Generally Irrelevant:<br />-Court room observation<br />-Filling out legal forms<br />-Arguing/Appearing in court<br />-Taking depositions<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Education</span><br /><br />Education should be a chronological listing of the institutions from which you've received your degrees. Usually, this will be your law school and undergrad school though some of you may have a masters in between.<br /><br />There is still, however, work to do in this section to "de-attorney-ize" your resume.<br /><br />Law School: I recommend just using the name of the university, noting your J.D., the year it was received and then moving. Listing an impressive GPA (but not class rank) is okay, but nobody cares about Order of the Coif, Law Review, Moot Court, or any of that other garbage in the real world. Also, don't mention that you are licensed to practice law. "Just the facts" and then move on.<br /><br />Example: <span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />TTT University</span>, Anchorage, AK, J.D., awarded May 2010 </span><br /><br />Following this, you should list your undergraduate degree in a similar format, but this time do everything you can to emphasize your achievements and degree.<br /><br />Things to include:<br />-Major (particularly if it's a practical major)<br />-Good GPA<br />-Honors (Latin Honors, Honors Program, Honors Societies, etc.)<br />-Activities (particularly if you were an officer or leader)<br />-Relevant courses (computer courses, writing courses, math/quantitative courses, business/finance courses, etc.)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">If You Have Room<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></span>If you have additional space, you should add any other skills (particularly computer/software skills) you have, volunteer experience, and/or your (appropriate) personal interests and hobbies.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">So There You Have It</span><br /><br />I'm going to provide you with a sample resume at the end of this post, but this is pretty much the format I used. Am I full of baloney? Maybe, but this formula helped me.<br /><br />If I don't know what I'm talking about, well, at least you didn't have to pay for this advice. Nevertheless, I sincerely want to help everyone else who is going through this ordeal. Feel free to modify this format as you'd like. There's no magic bullet, but I hope others will see some success as well. Let me know if you think it's useful.<br /><br />(Look for Part II: More Esq. Never Advice: Cover Letters and Where to Apply)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Example</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Ralph Marley<br />123 Document Review Purgatory -555-5555 - helpme@Iregretlawschool.com<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Experienced Sales Professional with Ten Years Business to Business Sales Experience<br /><br /></span>Ten years as B2B sales professional for fifth largest software vendor in the state. Received multiple awards for outstanding sales performance. Graduate of ABC University with major in communications that offered practical curriculum in client interaction and business writing. Recently received a J.D. for the purpose of enhancing client assistance and presentation skills.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Experience</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Professional Experience</span><br /><br />Software Company, Anchorage, Alaska, Senior B2B Sales Representative (1997-2007)<br /><br />-Awarded Salesperson of the year award from 2000 - 2006 for generating the most sales for the company<br />-Frequently made sales presentations to top business executives that resulted in a successful sale more than 70 percent of the time<br />-Etc.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Internship Experience</span><br />County Office of Revenue, Anchorage, Alaska, Clerk (Summer 2009)<br />-[Sorry, too lazy to come up with some non-legal spin for a legal job]<br /><br />Hon. Judge Steven, Anchorage, Alaska (Summer 2008)<br />-Etc.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Education</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">TTT University</span>, Anchorage, Alaska, JD, awarded May 2010<br /><br />ABC University, XYZ School of Communications, Honolulu, Hawaii<br />BA in Communications, awarded May 1995<br /><br />Honors: Dean's List, Communications Honors Society<br />Activities: Assistant Editor, ABC Newspaper<br /><br />Relevant Courses: Public Relations, Marketing and Advanced Marketing, Web Design<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Additional Skills:</span> Quark Publishing, Powerpoint, Adobe Photoshop, Dreamweaver<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Activities/Hobbies:</span> Public Speaking Society, Volunteering at Dog Kennel, Amateur Photography<br /></div></div>Esq. Neverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18248019550876835145noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5618663158161665199.post-10546106973959765362010-07-02T17:52:00.000-04:002010-07-02T17:52:21.817-04:00Almost There...Plus, Ranking the Job Search MethodsWell, folks the end of my nightmare may be drawing near. I recently received word that I've been accepted for a temporary position.<br /><br />Now, that may not seem like big news, but I have received strong assurance that should things work out, the position will be made permanent. It looks like a great company, and I think if things do work out, I will be in a good position to put my career back on track.<br /><br />I'm going to hold off on giving any further details or analysis about the position and how I got it until I see what happens at the end of the trial period.<br /><br />As a bonus, let me break down the levels of success I've had with the various job search methods I've used.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Networking<br /><br /></span>Grade: D-<br /><br />This is the bread and butter of CSO and job search guru advice, but I've seen almost nothing but failure from using this method. I've e-mailed, called, and talked with people in person. I've talked to friends, alumni, school officials, former employers, and even potential employers.<br /><br />Sure, I've received plenty of encouragement, promises, and even a bit of advice, but most of what I've received has been pretty worthless. I've seen multiple promises broken; I've been blown off more times than I can count, and I've even been outright ignored by people who I know.<br /><br />Sure, the critics will say, Esq. Never, this is probably because you're a huge jerk and nobody you know wants to help you. It's a possibility, but given what I've heard from plenty of others, the majority of job seekers must also be "jerks" and this method simply doesn't work for us.<br /><br />I give it a D- because I did get put in touch with ONE person who was hiring, but was in a part of the country I wasn't able to move to at the time.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Recruiters<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span></span>Ranking: C-<br /><br />These guys (and gals) tend be quite friendly when you first contact them. Once they realize that your J.D. and minimal to non-existent work experience makes it more likely that they could place Dean Matasar on a date with <a href="http://www.notolawschool.com/">JJD</a>, you'll be lucky to ever hear from them again.<br /><br />Let's face it<span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span>,</span> these folks don't eat unless they can place candidates into positions, and this usually means taking cookie-cutter IT, financial, and administrative professionals and dumping them into corresponding positions at big companies.<br /><br />I got a few temporary employment offers through recruiters...or more specifically offers to be offered to the companies, but none of them actually turned into real interviews.<br /><br />One recruiter actually called me in to interview me a few days after contacting me. Meanwhile the company filled the positions with somebody else.<br /><br />Unless you have a cookie-cutter resume (and if you have a J.D., you don't), these people won't be much help.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Job Fairs</span><br /><br />Ranking: C+<br /><br />Job fairs can range from depressingly pathetic - just showcases for commission-only positions with insurance and financial advisory companies - to somewhat helpful - larger events that bring together serious employers.<br /><br />The best thing about job fairs is that they give you the opportunity to actually speak with people who may have influence on the hiring process. Unfortunately, in many cases, plenty of people manning the booths are just there to promote the company, and it won't give you a leg up in the hiring process. They'll be happy (maybe) to explain the position, but then point you to their website to apply. (If you're lucky, they may take note of your presence at the fair.)<br /><br />I got a couple bites after speaking to HR reps at a couple fairs, but unfortunately, the positions didn't turn out to be good fits for me.<br /><br />(Bonus Tip: If you're an attractive woman and don't mind being hired primarily for your looks, you should definitely investigate being an HR rep at these sorts of events. The women at many of these booths look like they also have side jobs as super models.)<br /><br />(Real Bonus Tip: Many times they have free resume critiques and other workshops that are surprisingly helpful.)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Job Listings/Job Fairs</span><br /><br />Ranking: B<br /><br />I know what many of you are thinking - you mean the black holes into which I've thrown my resume multiple times only to never hear a word back?<br /><br />Hey, I've been there. Between November and March, I had one single interview. I was lucky if even got rejection letters.<br /><br />Nevertheless, all of my substantive interviews have come from responding to jobs listings. In fact, virtually all of them have come from using my local Craigslist. I think this is the case because CL tends to attract smaller companies that are more likely to consider those with unconventional resumes.<br /><br />The key to finding employment via the job boards is to have a resume and cover letter that stands out. How do you write such cover letters and resumes? Well, for only $19.95, you can purchase my new e-book "Esq. Never's Guerrilla Tactics for Making Money off of Desperate Job Seekers"!<br /><br />Actually, I think I have found a good formula, and I plan to share it for free in a subsequent post.Esq. Neverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18248019550876835145noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5618663158161665199.post-24520529416412484942010-06-30T10:23:00.000-04:002010-06-30T10:23:15.386-04:00PSA: Rising 3L's Cut Your LossesLet me be blunt: If you've just completed your 1L year and you've learned that you are not in the top 25% (save those from the top 3 schools or who have some incredible family connections), it's probably time to start looking at other options.<br /><br />In fact, let me be even more blunt - If you're in this situation and you're even considering signing another promissory note with Aunt Sallie Mae and heading back to your TTT this fall, you, sir or madam, are <span>insane<span style="font-style: italic;">.</span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br /></span></span>If people who have the logical reasoning ability to crack 160 or even 170 on the LSAT can't recognize that pursuing entry into a glutted field with anything less than stellar credentials is a bad idea, then I have to agree with the critics of standardized testing: There must be something seriously flawed with the exam.<br /><br />While the willingness of 1L's to hang around doesn't negate the wickedness of the law school cartel, it certainly does make these students seem like less sympathetic characters. What else do they need? A front page story in the Wall Street Journal with the headline, <span style="font-style: italic;">If You Stay in Law School, You'll Be Unemployed and Living in Your Mom's Basement in Two Years</span>?<br /><br />Unfortunately, the WSJ hasn't been kind enough to run such an piece, but we have something that's pretty darn close in the US News and World Report article entitled, <a href="http://www.usnews.com/articles/education/best-law-schools/2010/06/25/law-jobs-will-be-harder-to-come-by.html"><span style="font-style: italic;">Law Jobs Will Be Harder to Come By</span></a>.<br /><br />In this article, the law school cartel's court statistician, <a href="http://thirdtierreality.blogspot.com/2010/06/let-it-air-out-excrementitious-nalp.html">James Leipold (of NALP)</a> admits that's it's going to be ugly for the class of 2011, and he's not exactly ready to predict a return to normalcy in 2012 either. (Though he does leave just enough room for hope so that 1L's and prelaws can talk themselves into going down with the ship.)<br /><br />If people like Leipold can't come up with optimistic things to say about the legal market, then you know that happy days aren't here again.<br /><br />How is this particularly relevant to rising 3L's? Well, while any sane member of the class of 2012, who isn't law review bound, should be preparing for his law school exit interview, members of the class of 2011 are in a far more difficult situation.<br /><br />After all, as the conventional wisdom goes, if you realize after 1L year that LS isn't for you, it's time to cut your losses and move on, but if you've already invested two years into law school, you might as well stick it out and at least get the degree.<br /><br />I respectfully disagree. Yes, walking away from two years worth of intensive school work (particularly when the third year is the least difficult) with little to show for it is not appealing. Nevertheless, one needs to keep in mind the <a href="http://esqnever.blogspot.com/2009/12/fallacy-of-sunk-cost.html">sunk cost fallacy</a> - it is irrational to make future decisions based upon costs that have already been incurred.<br /><br />For many people having a law degree and a license is of absolutely no help. They can't find (or really don't want) legal jobs. The J.D. does nothing to help a person find non-legal work. Even trying to bail yourself out with doc review work isn't really an option anymore.<br /><br />The cost of completing a third year is also prohibitive. At most private schools, tuition alone is between $30 - $50k. Throw in living expenses and the total cost could easily exceed $70k. Upon graduation, the fallacy of the sunk cost can become even more enticing. If you've completed law school, you "might as well take the bar exam". Of course, this little intellectual exercise can cost thousands more in test prep programs, exam fees, and even living expenses.<br /><br />What's more there's still the opportunity cost of forgoing yet another year (and a summer) of wages. Add up all these costs - plus the interest on the amount you'll need to borrow - and you'll see that "just finishing up your degree" is hardly something you can do on the cheap.<br /><br />Now, I know the psychological barriers to pulling the trigger and bailing out at this point are high. (To say nothing of the peer - and likely parental - pressure.)<br /><br />Therefore, let me pose some more modest steps you can take.<br /><br />It's still summer and the law school beast won't be demanding it's feast of your tuition dollars at least until August. Use this time to search for a job. If you can land something that pays decently and seems interesting, dump your law school faster than the average law school dean dumped his or her sense of decency.<br /><br />While landing a half decent job that quickly may not be the easiest feat ever, you do have some advantages when compared to the average law school graduate. For one thing, you're only two years removed from either college or full time employment. Moreover, nobody is going to be afraid that you'll just run off and take an attorney position when the economy improves because you won't be eligible to even sit for the bar.<br /><br />If employers seem skeptical about your decision to drop out, you can at least reply that you had hoped that law school would help prepare you for a variety of fields other than law, but once you realized that it had little application outside of practicing as an attorney, you decided to withdraw. Plus, a little lawyer bashing will warm the hearts of more than a few prospective employers.<br /><br />If you can't bring yourself to drop out and you don't land anything over the summer, you should dedicate yourself to using your 3L year to find a job. By this, I don't mean occasionally applying for something. I mean putting in as much effort as those of use who are out of school. Network, try to get internships (non-legal), send out a ton of resumes (learn what works and what doesn't), etc.<br /><br />Pretty much devote as much time as you can without failing out of school. Don't worry about law school. What do you think is going to be more important to your future? Getting a serious jump on finding a non-legal job or getting a "B+" instead of a "B" in Complex Litigation or making the "Octo-Final" round of the "Moot Court Tribal Indian Law" competition?<br /><br />You guys didn't listen when you enrolled in law school. Now, you have an opportunity to mitigate the damage you've already done to your careers. If those who have already graduated are any indication, those who fall for the fallacy of the sunk costs are, well, sunk.Esq. Neverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18248019550876835145noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5618663158161665199.post-13930692415774310712010-06-29T14:58:00.000-04:002010-06-29T14:58:13.978-04:00Good News; Bad NewsI have some updates coming about my recent interviews and other events from the sad tale that is my job search. In the meantime, I thought I'd give you some insight into what I've seen in the job market in recent weeks.<br /><br />I was somewhat surprised to hear the bad economic news this morning that <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/29/AR2010062901579.html?hpid%3Dtopnews&sub=AR">consumer confidence plunged this month</a> (and has taken the stock market with it). The main reason for the decline appears to be the weak labor market.<br /><br />Obviously, it comes as no real shock that the economy isn't exactly booming, but at least from my own experiences, things are looking up.<br /><br />One of the most depressing aspects of the job search used be just looking at the job boards for available positions. Entry level prospects usually only amounted to little more than sales positions or retail management trainee positions.<br /><br />More substantive roles were available, but they usually either required years of work experience or a well developed skill set - usually acquired by having a practical degree in something like computer programming.<br /><br />Recently, there have been far more positions available. Many positions also don't have the same strict guidelines they once did. I have found a number of roles where the employer actually appeared to be looking for bright, well educated, and talented candidates rather than someone who fits an inflexible rubric.<br /><br />Moreover, within the last month, I have probably been offered a chance to interview one out of every ten times I have submitted a resume. Though, I'm not sure if it's entirely due to an improved economy because I've also received some help making my resume more professional.<br /><br />The bad news, for many others with J.D.'s, is that a lot of the interest I have received in my resume has been based upon my previous work experience. (Though I have kept the J.D. on my resume.)<br /><br />For anyone else who is pursuing a non-legal career, have you guys also noticed an improved market and better jobs options? Feel free to weigh in using the comments section.Esq. Neverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18248019550876835145noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5618663158161665199.post-44162367847974438922010-06-21T14:23:00.000-04:002010-06-21T14:24:02.168-04:00For ShameThe other day I was talking to an elderly lady I knew. Sadly, she felt compelled to ask the question I dread hearing the most these days, "So, how's the job search going?" I tried to brush it off by saying I was still looking.<br /><br />Nevertheless, she persisted. She wondered how I was supporting myself, and I was again forced to remind her (and myself) that yes, I am a 28 year old with both a college and graduate degree who lives at home with his parents. She continued to lightly reprove me by reminding me that this was a long time to be out of work and that I needed to find something soon.<br /><br />Had this not been an old lady, who probably thought she was being helpful, I probably wouldn't have tolerated this line of questioning, but in truth, she was only expressing in words what I'm sure many people are usually thinking when they learn about my situation.<br /><br />What acceptable response can I possibly give? The myth of the law degree permeates society (at least for people who don't make hiring decisions). Nobody understands just how few legal jobs exist - and just how crummy most of them are. Few people realize that the J.D. will automatically exclude you from many non-legal positions.<br /><br />It's next to impossible to explain that because of the dearth of attorney positions and the difficulty of transitioning into another field, many law graduates are left in unemployment purgatory where the odds are stacked against them in finding any work at all during a recession.<br /><br />Over the course of writing this blog, I've written about most of the woes related to attending law school: the debt, the lousy employment prospects, toilet law, doc review sweatshops, arrogant professors, all of the incidental costs associated with attending LS, etc. These are all bad, but the worst part is the shame.<br /><br />When expectations are so high for law graduates and opportunities are so limited, people are confused. An unemployed lawyer? Something must be wrong here! And guess what? In the eyes of most of these people, that "something" is YOU.<br /><br />It's amazing the number of people who ignore first hand accounts of just how bad the job prospects are out of law school. I had a friend who went to a TTT law school (and is continuing after his first year) even though he knows all about my situation and that I went to a better ranked school than him.<br /><br />It doesn't matter if you went to a good school, had average to good grades, or a strong resume, these prelaws "know" that they just have to do better, and they'll be fine.<br /><br />In the same way, people who don't go to law school will judge you based upon what they "know". Can't find a job? You must either be a real loser or you're just not trying hard enough.<br /><br />The latter assumption has underscored what many people seem to feel about my job search. It doesn't matter that I've submitted tons of resumes, gone on interviews (which plenty of JD's can't even get), gone to job fairs, and networked with just about everyone I can. This is practically a full time job to me, but no, if other people don't see results, they assume you're just sitting at home watching the Cartoon Network instead of trying to find a job.<br /><br />There's nothing I can really do to rectify this problem. It isn't like I've been particularly picky when applying for jobs. I've told temp agencies I would accept clerical positions. I've applied (and begged for) entry level positions designed for recent college graduates. I've been willing to accept salaries south of $40k.<br /><br />The shame game doesn't necessarily end after finding employment either. Suppose I did land one of those low level positions, that's not exactly the sort of thing that's going to be trumpeted in my law school's alumni newsletter. Even if I could get a decent $40k a year, corporate job with room for growth, that still wouldn't impress too many people (even though it'd be a dream come true for me). Heck, if I became a corporate VP making $100k, I know some people would still be disappointed in me for not being a lawyer.<br /><br />For those who do become attorneys, there's still plenty of shame to go around. If you're paying back loans while finding yourself in small law, people are going to wonder why you don't drive a fancy car and live in a luxury condo. If you're chasing ambulances, you better believe people are going to make fun of you.<br /><br />How about being a doc review prol? Trying to explain what you do to a non-attorney probably isn't exactly fun. "Well, I essentially click a mouse all day in a windowless basement. Those three years of law school really were necessary for this."<br /><br />Going to law school certainly is a good antidote to pride. It's hard to be arrogant when you're in your late 20's or early 30's and either living with your parents or barely squeaking by while working a job that doesn't require a GED. There's not too much room for boasting when you spent three years in law only to make less money than you could make with a college degree.<br /><br />If you're somebody who hasn't been able to reign in his ego through any other means, give law school a try. It'll certainly help bring you back down to earth (and even lower). For everyone else, unless you want to be filled with shame every time anyone asks you about your career prospects, please stay away from law school.Esq. Neverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18248019550876835145noreply@blogger.com27tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5618663158161665199.post-48835668921136627272010-06-11T19:50:00.001-04:002010-06-11T19:50:41.592-04:00Response to a Commenter[Note: This comment appeared in the comments section to my last post. I've decided to address it as a separate post because it raises some important issues.]<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Just a question: What exactly is "toilet law?" It sounds like you are saying there is "Big Law" or "Toilet Law" or "Non-Profit/Public Sector Law" and that's it...am I getting that right?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">I'm only asking because I will be attending law school (on a scholarship) and would not work in so-called "Big Law." </span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Don't bother telling me not to go to law school--I've weighed everything and am going, at least as long as I maintain the scholarship. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">And on a side note--why WOULD anyone think that a JD would help with a non-law job? I think anyone who would go to law school based on that (or give that any weight whatsoever) is kind of foolish to begin with. The purpose of a JD is to practice law. Of course a job that gains no benefit form that isn't going to pay a premium for you (or even hire you) based on that! Instead, I'm sure most employers look at that and think that you'll just want more money either now or down the road while a "less educated" applicant will not want as much.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Gerald T. Studebaker </span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Esq. Never's Response:</span><br /><br />Gerald,<br /><br />Thank you for providing an intelligent comment from a pro-law school perspective. I'm sorry that you can't be talked out of going to law school, but I certainly hope that you're somehow able to succeed.<br /><br />"Toilet law" generally refers to small firms that are not very pleasant to work for. They have low starting salaries particularly when weighed against the average starting salaries depicted in the law school marketing materials. (See some of the links from my last post for examples.)<br /><br />Moreover, there is very little room for advancement, much of the work involves tediously filling out forms for different courts, and the time one spends in court usually takes place in some of more depressing court rooms in the jurisdiction. I urge you to take a look at Big Debt, Small Law's "about" section also linked in my last post.<br /><br />I know that you probably think that you'll just work for a mid-law firm or a "good" small law firm. This is not quite as feasible as you believe. Many of these boutique and mid-sized firms don't hire law school graduates straight from law school. In most cases, you actually need to work for Big Law and then lateral over to these firms once your time as a big firm associate comes to an end.<br /><br />Some of these firms <span style="font-style: italic;">may</span> hire a handful of recent graduates, but in those cases, the graduates will likely have the same credentials that most Big Law starting associates have (either very high grades or a degree from one of the top few schools).<br /><br />You may believe that you're a shoe in for ending up in that category, but just remember there are currently plenty of unemployed T-14 students, and even if we assume that the end of the recession will take care of this "anomaly", even before the recession, plenty of good law students were in tough shape. (Hence the topic of my last post.)<br /><br />If you don't believe me, Angel the Lawyer of "But I Did Everything Right!" graduated from a top 30 school with a scholarship (pre-recession). Big Debt, Small Law graduated in the top 1/3rd of his class from second tier, Seton Hall. This was also pre-recession. Both of them ended up in "toilet" law making only slightly more than many college graduates are able to make. They didn't even have real benefit packages (e.g. no real health coverage).<br /><br />The reason why so many bright students who miss the cutoff for Big Law but are still able to find firm work end up in "toilet law" is because those are the firms that tend to hire. Many small firms are small for a reason, and if they are going to expand they either want attorneys with a pre-existing book of business or at least somebody they don't have to waste time training.<br /><br />The law firm "mills" that make money on the volume of cases they are able to churn out tend to be the low level personal injury and insurance defense firms. Because they just need warm bodies to keeping pushing the clients and settlements through, they're willing (or at least were willing, pre-recession) to take on inexperienced recent graduates and continue hiring them as older associates burn out and can't endure working for these firms anymore.<br /><br />As for your query about non-legal jobs. You are correct that there is no reason to go to law school if you don't plan on practicing. Moreover, I'm glad you're going into school recognizing that getting a non-legal job after graduation isn't really an accessible option.<br /><br />Nevertheless, plenty of law students enter law school every year under the assumption that if that can't make it law, they'll at least be able to market their skills in another field. The law schools certainly do nothing to persuade law students against believing this fallacy. They often highlight the ostensible versatility of the J.D.<br /><br />Regardless, many students do eventually end up never practicing either because they hate the law or can't find work as an attorney. At my decent, second tier school, the school's own statistics indicated that almost 20% (1/5) of the students went into "business" after graduation! This was also based upon the Class of 2007, who graduated before the market crashed.<br /><br />The problem with the legal field is that there are so many attorneys and only a limited number of jobs. As I mentioned, before the recession, many of the surplus J.D.'s could find mind numbing temporary jobs working in document review. Now that those jobs are largely unavailable (at least to recent graduates), the only exit for many students is to try to find non-legal positions.<br /><br />Moreover, a good number of people end up going through law school and realize that being an attorney is not for them.<br /><br />Once again, I regret that you seem unwilling to listen to some of these warnings, but if you do end up in a position where you either lose your scholarship or don't have the grades to get a good job, I urge you to remain open minded to the possibility of dropping out.<br /><br />Best of luck,<br /><br />Esq. NeverEsq. Neverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18248019550876835145noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5618663158161665199.post-62688800709080841482010-06-09T07:00:00.003-04:002010-06-09T13:51:40.085-04:00The Essential Law School Talking Point: Blame the RecessionYou don't have to tell me that recessions stink. With unemployment hovering around 10% and unemployment for folks under 30 usually reported at about 15%, who knows when I'll ever find a job. Moreover, those statistics don't include the underemployed and people who have just stopped looking for work.<br /><br />Recessions aren't bad for everyone, however. Those with stable jobs that are largely unaffected by the business cycle (or are living off savings) can enjoy an indirect boost in discretionary income due to the falling price level. Certain speculators can take advantage of depressed prices and eventually profit when the economy and prices rebound. Even scam artists can take advantage of those who are out of work and are looking for an easy way to generate extra income.<br /><br />Speaking of scam artists, law schools aren't exactly hurting during the recession either. For one thing, the economic collapse has resulted in a skyrocketing demand for graduate education as throngs of dupes flock to the ivory tower to wait out the recession. This has allowed the law schools to keep the scam (and tuition prices) growing stronger than ever.<br /><br />Not only that, it has given them the cover they need to explain away the disastrous employment prospects that await their victims, err, graduates. "Surely, the law schools aren't to blame for the downturn in the economy," they contend. "Why everybody is hurting, and unfortunately the legal industry has been no exception." Plus, they make sure to add, "Prospective students should not be deterred; after all, the recession will surely be over by the time you graduate. Pay no attention to the plight of the classes of 2009/10."<br /><br />It's, of course, true that jobs aren't exactly plentiful in any field. Nevertheless, as I pointed in in my "<a href="http://esqnever.blogspot.com/2010/03/craigslist-test.html">Craigslist Test</a>" post, while there are few if any opportunities for attorneys (at least at the entry level), there <span style="font-style: italic;">are</span> listings for positions in other fields - even in legal support roles!<br /><br />There have also been multiple <a href="http://butidideverythingrightorsoithought.blogspot.com/2010/03/job-announcement-washington-dc-lawyers.html">Craigslist ads offering salaries south of $40k</a> in which the employer is only willing to consider the most elite applicants. Other firms have sought to hire new "attorneys" at <a href="http://toiletlaw.com/?p=365">hourly wages comparable to what one could make at Home Depot</a>.<br /><br />This ugly scenario can partially be attributed to the recession, but the reason why the market for attorneys is particularly atrocious (when compared to other industries) is because it never was all that robust to begin with. When the economy collapsed, the legal labor market got pounded into the ground.<br /><br />To be sure, <span style="font-style: italic;">aspects</span> of the legal industry were booming during the middle of the last decade. The large corporate firms were raking in the dough, and as a result, graduates from the elite schools, the top 10-20% of the "decent" schools, and a few "affirmative action" picks from the true toilets made their way into the coveted SA positions and eventually landed cushy first year associate positions.<br /><br />Those who were truly gifted at networking, were born into the right families, or were just plain lucky also did alright. Also, those who were willing to accept the vow of poverty could likely find some DA or PD position to allow them to get the experience of working in the courtroom and to call themselves attorneys.<br /><br />For pretty much everyone else, the golden age of legal employment wasn't exactly golden. Sure the media didn't really start to notice until their Ivy League golden children were no longer getting wined and dined by the big law plutocracy, but life wasn't so pleasant for the average unconnected graduate of virtually every school below the top 25 schools (and that's probably being generous) during this era.<br /><br />For one thing, grad plus loans and the IBR plan have only been available since 2007 and 2009 respectively. While tuition was slightly lower a few years ago, going into six figures of debt for a private law school degree was hardly out of the question. That meant that it was easy to rack up nearly half of ones debt in private, non-dischargable loans and essentially become Sallie Mae's indentured servant for life.<br /><br />But let's put that aside because the debt issue has been "solved". (At least until the the expense of the IBR blows up in the government's face.)<br /><br />One cliche from that "golden era" was that law students were forced to take the high paying but largely unfulfilling associate positions at large firms in order to effectively pay down their debts. The truth was, of course, that only a limited number of students even had this opportunity.<br /><br />What about the rest of the poor schlubs who were saddled with just as much debt but less impressive transcripts and/or academic pedigrees?<br /><br />It's true that between 2004 and 2008, this wasn't an automatic sentence of unemployment and living in your mom's basement. Instead it usually was a sentence of wishing you were unemployed while working in Paul Weiss' poorly ventilated document review basement.<br /><br />You see, this age of abundance was an era when the bright and well educated were flushed out of the back of law school machine only to work for some ambulance chasing parasite, click a mouse for $35 bucks an hour in a document review gulag, or abandon law altogether, rendering one's entire graduate education worthless.<br /><br />And you know what? Those really <span style="font-style: italic;">were</span> the good old days! I'm serious. As mentioned, today's toilet law firms essentially want top 10% students from tier one schools who were on law review. (All for the princely sum of<a href="http://esqnever.blogspot.com/2009/11/this-really-says-it-all.html"> $35k/year sans benefits</a>.)<br /><br />Doc Review gigs now <span style="font-style: italic;">require</span>s experience - meaning entry level attorneys are actually under qualified to click a stupid mouse. I've personally been waiting for almost nine months to get a JUNIOR doc review position that pays $17/hour. We all, of course, know the score when it comes to finding a non-legal job.<br /><br />Still, while I am left to dream about the days in which I could sit around in some third-world-worthy landlord tenant court or where I could actually be taken seriously at an interview for a job that doesn't require more than a BA, it probably says something about the law school industry when its most prosperous years were still a vile nightmare for most graduates.<br /><br />Think I'm exaggerating? Take a look at our friend, <a href="http://bigdebtsmalllaw.wordpress.com/about/">Big Debt, Small Law</a>. He graduated in 2005, top 1/3 of his class, from a second tier school. His reward? Cutting and pasting some mind numbing motions while representing the dregs of society for some ambulance chasing chop shop. Somehow, I doubt that this lovely career option was in the ol' Seton Hall brochure.<br /><br /><a href="http://temporaryattorney.blogspot.com/">Tom the Temp</a> was around long before unemployment launched into the stratosphere. In fact, his website gained notoriety largely based upon the sheer number of law grads who were being carted into these legal gulags to help the large firms keep up with their reams of discovery during the last economic expansion.<br /><br />At least back then, watching your career and dignity slip away into oblivion before your very eyes earned you around $35 an hour plus overtime. Today, if you can even find this sort of work, you'll be lucky to make $20. (Experienced "attorneys" only, of course.)<br /><br />Recall, it was during 2005, the height of the expansion, that <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119040786780835602.html">the WSJ blew the whistle</a> in its print edition on the fudged employment statistics published by the TTT diploma mills and helped expose the subterranean, doc review sweatshops.<br /><br />How about trying to jump ship and finding a career outside of the law? Well, admittedly, back before the recession, it seemed like more companies were willing to give those with law degrees a second look (or at least were more forgiving about resumes with an unexplained gap).<br /><br />To be sure, this wasn't because non-legal employers valued a JD; they just had a smaller pool of candidates from which to draw their "talent". A writer from the now defunct <a href="http://barelylegalblog.blogspot.com/2007/04/finding-non-legal-job.html"><span style="font-style: italic;">Barely Legal</span> blog</a> successfully transitioned into the corporate world before the crash, but guess what key piece of advice he has for those following in his footsteps:<br /><br />"[Your J.D.] doesn't entitle you to anything more than you were entitled to coming out of college."<br /><br />Did you catch that? After three years of law school and hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt (and possibly securing a law license), you'd better not expect any special treatment when applying for entry level positions outside of the legal field. Just try going into an interview with any sense of entitlement, TTT Grad, Esq., and see how far that gets you.<br /><br />On top of that, almost every employer that takes your application seriously for a non-legal position is going to grill you over your legal education to a degree that would impress even the fictional Jack McCoy. This might be the only time in your life that having moot court experience will actually be of any benefit - to help you quickly address a barrage of hostile questions.<br /><br />Barely Legal claimed that the only way to handle this inquisition is to simply explain that law school was just a detour in your educational development that helped you prepare for entry into the business world. I have found this advice to be pretty accurate.<br /><br />If you find this account unpersuasive, <a href="http://www.calicocat.com/2004/08/law-school-big-lie.html">Calico Cat</a> wrote a few years earlier (also during the same period of prosperity) that the only way he was even able to find a job was to leave the J.D. off his resume altogether. Oh, by the way, he graduated in the top 10 percent in his class* from a tier 1 school.<br /><br />So, let's assume the economy bounces back tomorrow. Let's further assume that the legal market returns to the way it was before the recession. I'd be overjoyed.<br /><br />Nevertheless, what would await the majority of graduates of the class of 2011 in this more prosperous environment? Working for toilet law firms for $30-$50k per year. Being able to take mind numbing, document review jobs for hourly pay without gaining any substantive work experience. Taking a job which only requires a BA/BS and therefore rendering three years of graduate education entirely worthless.<br /><br />Not exactly worth the $150k worth of debt.<br /><br />Here's the Essential Esq. Never Talking Point: <span style="font-weight: bold;">DO NOT GO TO LAW SCHOOL!</span><br /><br /><br /><br />*Based upon his final GPA; not his 1L GPAEsq. Neverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18248019550876835145noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5618663158161665199.post-18163549579582403852010-06-01T15:36:00.000-04:002010-06-01T15:36:27.769-04:00Prelaws Say the Darndest Things (Part 2)It's time for the latest installment of "Prelaws say the Darndest Things!" As always, these are actual quotes from prelaw message boards/forums made by actual future Best Buy clerks and AFLAC sales representatives.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Save Your Yuan </span><br /><br />I'm currently deciding between Temple and Villanova, with the hopes to transfer at the end of 1L.<br /><br />I am interested in international law with an emphasis on China/Asian law. Temple has a LLM program with Beijing for an extra semester. The program is run by Mo Zhang who is known for his academic work in Chinese Law. Villanova has an LLM program in Singapore where you spend 2 years at Villanova and 1 year in Singapore, followed by work in Shanghai/Beijing. Villanova has two professors who are Fulbright scholars in China and Taiwan, but they do not specialize in Chinese law. There is no extra semester at Villanova. Temple has an International Law Journal, Villanova does not.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Yeah, and I'm interested in obtaining the super ability to leap over tall buildings in a single bounce, but even that fantasy is more realistic than your chances of landing an attorney position in international law after graduating from some 2TT with a third rate international law journal.<br /><br />I guess Villanova is nice enough to throw in a worthless LLM with their worthless JD, but get a clue: Everybody and their brother wants to work in "international law" and a diploma from a school that can't crack the US News top 50 plus a year of partying in Southeast Asia isn't exactly going to put you at the front of the line for these jobs.<br /><br />There aren't word to describe the foolishness of actually paying for an LLM in International Law (from Temple?!).<br /></span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">That's Crazy Talk!</span><br /><br />Q: Would I be able to find a job in Colorado after passing the Bar (and attending University of South Dakota Law)?<br /><br />A: depends on where you want to work. As a general rule, yeah. unless the school in unaccredited why wouldn't you be able to?<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />Maybe because very few people these days can find actual attorney jobs or any jobs at all with the plague of a JD on their resumes...Unless you're talking about working at Arby's - but then again, why would having an unaccredited degree hurt you?</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />But sure, going to a TTT in a state outside of where you want to practice shouldn't pose any problems in the future. Remember, you clearly want to look to prelaw message boards for important career planning advice.</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Heckle and Jeckle Discuss the Florida Legal Market</span><br /><br />Heckle: I have said this before, I will say it again, there are only 4 law schools in Florida worth considering, and they are UF, UM, FSU, and Stetson. In the future, I might add FIU, but not at this moment. ["Advising" a student looking at Nova Southeastern.]<br /><br />Jeckle: Not me i want to work in the public defenders office or da's office so im sure most graduates of those four schools would not want to work in local government for 30-40k a year but i would to get the experience for a few years then open up a office.<br /><br />I reject the notion that one would not be successful unless they go to the "top four" schools in florda. I have a friend that goes to famu and interns for a lawyer that practices criminal law in orlando and graduated from barry. He makes 250k a year handling violation of probation and other criminal cases.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Good grief! The "top four" schools in Florida? Talk about a meaningless statistic. Florida is like everywhere else. The truly elite firms still prefer T-14 students even if they're not local. U Florida will give you a chance (during good times) if you have top grades, but it certainly isn't going to guarantee you a job.<br /><br />You've got to be kidding about recommending UMiami and freakin' Stetson, right!? You'd be better off hitting the Magic Kingdom in Orlando and converting your money into Disney dollars than wasting three years at those toilets.<br /><br />Sadly, apparently "Jeckle" seems to believe that that PD and DA jobs are slam dunks. Actually, students who don't hit the top 10% at the "top four" schools will quickly realize that the big firm jobs aren't going to happen for them and by the time they graduate many of them would kill for stable PD and DA jobs (particularly with the public service loan forgiveness).<br /><br />Oh, and you know a guy who INTERNS for a guy making $250k/year? Guess what, that's as close as you're going to get to the big bucks as well.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">That Was Easy!</span><br /><br />Rumors of people not being able to find jobs!!! OH MY GOD NO!!!!!!! So you are saying that if someone goes to law school they may not get a job? I heard that argument before and then I went to talk to the other academic programs at my school since a J.D. doesn't guarantee me anything, but it was the weirdest thing apparently M.B.A's, Clinical Psychologists, and even M.D.'s and basically every other academic program can't guarantee a job. Weird right?<br /><br />Apparently just getting an education doesn't guarantee you a job. I know it is impossible to get a job handed to you if you go to a tier 4, but I came up with this WILD IDEA and sent my resumes into a few firms and actually showed up for an interview and got hired. I know it's a radical concept that you actually have to try to find a job, but that is the horrors of going to a tier 3 or 4 you have to put in an ounce of effort. As you said these t-14 student's probably didn't accept that they might have to put an ounce of effort in and of actually doing something they just female dog and moaning that nobody is handing them a job. Welcome to real life is all I can say. At the end of the day just saying I go to so and so school doesn't matter. You got to put effort in to succeed in life. Shocking concept for spoiled rich kids I know, but some people actually have to put work in.<br /><br />[In response to somebody having the gall to complain that getting job with J.D. can be difficult...Perish the thought, I know.]<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Oh, so all this time, I just had to send in a resume, get an interview, and show up for the said interview. Well, why didn't somebody tell me?!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Yes, this is great advice, prelaws</span>. <span style="font-style: italic;">Dump a ton of money into a bottom of the barrel degree and just assume that sending in your resume to a few firms will get you interviews and inevitably a job offer. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Definitely ignore the number of students who have mass mailed their resumes to firms to receive nary a response back. Don't pay any attention to the fact that there are virtually no entry level attorne</span>y <span style="font-style: italic;">positions listed on most job boards - but plenty of paralegal and legal assistant positions available. Just having determination should be more than enough!</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />Pearls Next to Swine</span><br /><br />No tier 4 is going to fail out half their class or do anything much differently than any other school. Is Touro Harvard not even close! If you go to a tier 4 you won't have people chasing you down for a job, but if you put the work in you will get a job somewhere. You probably won't sit on the Supreme Court or Work in Big law, but if you want to a lawyer then Touro will be fine. You won't be living a jet-setting lifestyle, but not many lawyers do no matter what school they go to.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Well, there's actually a pearl of wisdom in this field full of dung</span>. <span style="font-style: italic;">It's true you'll hardly have access to a life of wealth and ease regardless of which law school you attended. But going to Touro vs. Harvard isn't a question of big law vs. small law. It's a question of big law vs. washing cars and changing addresses several times a year to avoid your creditors.<br /><br />If you want to be a lawyer, getting a degree from many tier 1 schools isn't enough to secure a serious law job. You're a fool if you think you'll get anywhere with a degree from TTTouro, a TTT among TTT's.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Esq. Never: Brilliant Financial Adviser</span><br /><br />I need a financial aid consultant because I need to understand what's the best strategy to maximize my situation and get the best aid. I am working and don't have time to figure this all out and I'm under time pressure to get it done.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Allow me to provide some free assistance. Do you have a pulse?</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">If you answered "yes", whichever school to which you've been accepted will be more than happy to accept your virtually guaranteed Stafford and GradPLUS loans to cover the entire cost of tuition and fees. </span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />But here's the best financial advice I can offer. You have a job. Presumably it pays your bills. Once you graduate law school, landing a decently paying job could very likely no longer be an option. You will also owe money to pay for your worthless degree. Please keep your current job and forget about law school.<br /><br />There. I just saved you hundreds of thousands of dollars and from the possibility of you throwing yourself in front of a train one day. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Hear No Evil</span><br /><br />Well, for starters, anyone with the name "lawschoolblows" is obviously biased. Continuing that thought, anyone who finds their way onto a thread for happily admitted new students who are trying to make friends and get excited for their first year at law school CLEARLY needs something else to do with their lives. Shame on you for your negativity and for giving unsolicited opinions that were clearly not asked for nor socially acceptable in this situation. So I am going to disregard most of the comments "lawschoolblows" just made.<br /><br />[NB: I did not make the post in question using the moniker "Lawschoolsblows".]<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Yes, shame on him for trying to save you from a life of debt and despair. Did you have the same attitude when the police officer visited your high school to warn you about the danger of tanking up and wrapping your car around an oak tree?</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />Just as the prom season inevitably leads to a bunch of drunken hooligans having their remains scraped off the pavement with a giant spatula, the start of a new law school year also features a flood of these naive 1L twits skipping into career perdition.</span> <br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Blind Leading the Blind</span><br /><br />Q: I am trying to decide between The University of Richmond (sticker) and The University of Baltimore (8K/year if I maitain at least a 3.25). Some things to consider....<br /><br />I want to got into IP law<br /><br />I would like to work in the D.C. or Richmond area after graduation<br /><br />My Parents live in Richmond so I could live at home if I went to U of R.<br /><br />Richmond being private is ~33k/year, Baltimore would be ~34/year the first year, but ~24K the last 2 years once I get residency.<br /><br />Richmond is 86th in the Rankings, Baltimoire is a T3 school<br /><br />A: I did campaign fund raising in Richmond a few years back (over 50% of our donors were attorneys), and while this is somewhat anecdotal, I found Richmond extremely well represented at all of the firms there. I would see Richmond and UVA and not much else at most of the firms. Additionally, the alumni network at Richmond seemed particularly active and engaged. I don't think this completely answers your question and I can't speak to anything about DC, but if you want to practice in Richmond going to school there seems like a good choice.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Let me get this straight. One goober is seriously considering choosing between paying full price at a school that's barely in the second tier and taking a measly 8k scholarship from an abysmal TTT. The other chump is egging him on by guessing that some of the attorneys at some fundraising event went to Richmond (likely years ago)?<br /><br />I can hardly comment on this. All I can say is that at least con artists like Bernie Madoff had to put some effort into their scams. I mean the law school hucksters can't even say their scam is a challenge. Even shooting fish in a barrel has to be more difficult than relieving law school lemmings of their tuition dollars.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Alumni Connections: The Last Refuge of a Loser</span><br /><br />Considering they're all about evenly ranked, yeah, alumni is probably the biggest factor. Fact is that employers tend to hire from their own school, and there are probably more people with AU degrees in DC than with WF or GM. Also, AU has extensive internship/externship opportunities (much more so than GM), so you could network while a student.<br /><br />However, I think Wake is significantly cheaper than American, both in terms of tuition and CoL. For me personally this would be a huge factor, but you seemed to place the most emphasis on working DC so the "safest" bet among those three is almost certainly American.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">If you get to the point where you're banking on alumni to help you get a job, you've already lost. (You're also likely working at a place that requires you to wear a paper hat.)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">What if...I Destroy My Life?</span><br /><br />I don't think I'd be necessarily unhappy in San Diego, but I know that I'd be happier in San Francisco. And that's where weighing the debt versus the preference comes into play.<br /><br />Plus, and I didn't mention this, Cal Western has a stipulation put on the scholarship and their curve is pretty tough (they drop the bottom 20% out of their 1L, which probably helps to keep their bar passage rate up with the T1/T2 schools). I'm not sure how to consider this, I know I have the dedication and ability that should keep the scholarship, but there is always the "what if". If I had to pay tuition at Cal Western, and I knew that now, I'd absolutely choose USF.<br /><br />[Choosing between Cal Western vs. University of U. San Francisco]<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"The 'What If?' " [???] If you go to one of these schools, it's really not a question of IF you'll come to hate your station in life; it'll be just be a question of the degree to which you hate it.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">ABA - They who are about to die, salute you!</span>Esq. Neverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18248019550876835145noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5618663158161665199.post-82760491930148506162010-05-19T14:17:00.002-04:002010-05-19T16:31:49.906-04:00Worst. Interview. Ever.I've decided to take a hiatus from my hiatus in order to bring you today's post. What's the occasion? Well, I actually (somewhat) recently had an interview. This is rare enough of an event that I would probably take the time to blog about it regardless of the circumstances.<br /><br />Unfortunately, instead of being able to use this occasion to either encourage my readers or to offer some additional insight into the job search process, the only thing I learned based upon this experience is that there's yet another layer to the frustration of trying to find a job with a JD in this economy.<br /><br />I'm not sure how many of my readers read (or are at least familiar with) ESPN.com's Bill Simmons, one of the website's better known sports columnists. I have mixed feeling about his columns. There are things I find aggravating about them - such as his ubiquitous references to television programs that are geared towards teenage girls, not middle aged sports columnists - but some of his pieces are fairly insightful.<br /><br />One feature that appears in his columns from time to time is his rubric for the "Levels of Losing": That is, how hard it is for a fan base to grapple with their team's loss in an important sporting event.<br /><br />If the defeat leaves you feeling like somebody just punched you in the gut, you're somewhere on the far side of the spectrum. If you're literally crying after you watch your side go down in flames, you're probably at the terminal point of athletic despair. (You also probably take sports a wee bit too seriously.)<br /><br />The reason why this is a recurring topic in his columns is because every once in a while a city faces a defeat so monumental that a new category has to be added to appropriately capture the anguish of the despondent fan base.<br /><br />The same revelation also seems to be applicable to the job search. Just when you thought you couldn't possibly see a new low in this miserable process, something new crops up to make you question whether the gulags and mass shortages in the former USSR were a fair trade off in order to have a guaranteed job.<br /><br />I'm not creative enough to develop a full blown "Levels of Losing" for the job seeker, but here's my abbreviated version (from least depressing to most).<br /><br />Category 1: Sending out well tailored resumes and custom made cover letters to jobs in which you're both interested and for which you appear to be qualified and never hearing a word back from the employer.<br /><br />Category 2: Being asked to come in for an "interview" with a recruiter for a position. Of course, the interview is scheduled for two days after you've applied. The recruiter gives you a full blown interview, but he/she is only "interviewing" you to submit you to the HR representative who will make the actual decision as to whether or not to give you a real interview. While all this is going on, the company in question hires somebody else. (Uh, more on this in a future post.)<br /><br />Category 3: Being asked to come in for a real interview with a company after months without getting any responses. You have a great interview and conversation with the interviewer who works on the marketing side of the company.<br /><br />Following this, you have a less impressive interview with a guy who works in the tech division. It turns out that they're looking for somebody with a stronger programming background - even though they don't have the courtesy to bother telling you this. Instead, they make up some excuse about the third person who was going to interview you being "unavailable" and claim they'll be in touch. They never call back and refuse to respond to your follow up inquiries.<br /><br />I thought that was as bad it was going to get - spineless and discourteous interviewers unwilling to let you know they're looking for somebody else and hoping that you'll go away if they just ignore you.<br /><br />Unfortunately, my recent interview experience introduced me to a fourth category:<br /><br />At first, things looked quite promising. I had taken some time off from blitzing the jobs boards to focus on reaching out to my network and going to some job fairs (more on this in later posts). I applied for the position in question during a brief spurt of submitting my resume for five jobs. I received no response from the first three, a rejection from one, and a request for an interview from the last - a pretty impressive ratio based upon my past experience.<br /><br />The job for which I received an interview looked great. It was tangentially related to the law - and I even mentioned the JD in my cover letter, professional summary, and body of my resume - the salary was quite good (at least based upon my low standards), and the position was even respectable enough to divert attention away from the fact that I wasn't actually practicing law.<br /><br />I recognized that this was possibly my one chance to land on my feet after the entire JD debacle, and I set forth to do everything I could to secure the position. If I was going to miss out on this opportunity, at least I would be able to say I tried my best.<br /><br />I promptly responded to the request for an interview as politely and (reasonably) eagerly as possible. I then began preparing for all potential questions that may come up. I highlighted my most relevant experience. I researched the company's website to develop intelligent questions and buttress my likely responses. I wrote everything out and rehearsed my "talking points". I even skipped out on another (albeit minor) opportunity in my career search to prepare for the interview.<br /><br />On the day of the interview, I left my house early to make sure there was no chance that I would get there late. When I arrived, I was about 40 minutes early, so I decided to head into a local coffee shop before the interview.<br /><br />I usually try not to arrive too early for an interview because it can create an awkward situation. Either they'll sit you down in a waiting area near the receptionist, who would probably rather attend to her work without somebody else sitting directly across from her, or if they put you in a separate conference room, there's pressure on the interviewer to attend to you quickly even though he wasn't expecting you until later. Plus, there's always the risk of the ladies being too distracted to get any of their work done with someone with Esq. Never's good looks hanging around the office. (Well, okay, maybe that last point isn't exactly the world's biggest concern.)<br /><br />In any event, I ended up leaving the coffee shop about 20 minutes prior to the interview. After the brief walk and going through security, I was about 15 minutes early. This seemed reasonable to me because most employers value promptness, and an employer probably should be prepared for an interview within that time frame.<br /><br />Despite being in a pretty nice building in the downtown area of the city, the office seemed a bit disorganized; there wasn't really any reception area. Instead, the office manager led me to an empty and somewhat cluttered sub-conference room. To my surprise, despite being a bit early, the interviewer quickly arrived to conduct the interview.<br /><br />The first bad sign was that he didn't even bother to take the time to print my resume. At the time, I chalked it up to my early arrival and perhaps the disorganized nature of the office. In retrospect, if the guy didn't bother printing out my resume and marking it up, he probably wasn't too intrigued with my candidacy to begin with.<br /><br />The interview started off well enough. He took the time to give me more background on the position, and I agreed that I would be able to perform the tasks assigned and that I was excited about this opportunity.<br /><br />Following that, he asked the general "catch all" question, "Tell me about yourself". I picked out three major accomplishments from my experience that were directly on point with what the job description called for. He seemed impressed. So far, so good.<br /><br />He then inquired about whether I had specific experience in a similar role. It was a bit of a curve ball because I did not, but the job description specifically said "No experience necessary" and nowhere on my resume (that they ostensibly read) did I claim to have such experience. I conceded that I did not, but quickly described my related experience, and he also seemed satisfied and reiterated that specific experience wasn't necessary. I felt like I was still holding on and that once we continued with the series of questions, my intense preparation would start paying off.<br /><br />He then asked a somewhat irrelevant question about my undergraduate experience, which I answered with a couple of lighthearted (but professional) anecdotes hopeful that I was beginning to establish a connection with the interviewer.<br /><br />He then looked down at my resume, and I began contemplating which direction he would take the interview. Would he want to talk about my work experience? My computer skills? Why I moved back to my home state?<br /><br />And then...he stood up, shook my hand, and started heading towards the door. Yes, folks, that's right. This interview into which I had dumped all of my effort lasted for THREE questions and for five (maybe ten) minutes!<br /><br />I stood up in disbelief. Was this guy serious? He had me drive out to his office for this? As he left, he said he needed to talk things over with his boss and they would get back to me to schedule a second interview. I had a brief optimistic feeling that perhaps they had just called me in to verify that I was the "chosen one" for this position; however, once he quickly added the condition, "...if we're interested," I realized that I had a better chance of getting a call from the Abominable Snowman than ever hearing from this guy again.<br /><br />Yes, I had come to play and leave everything on the field in order to snag this position, but it seems like I had lost before I even arrived at the office that day. I have to assume that they already knew they either were affirmatively going to hire a certain candidate or they somehow recognized that they didn't want me for the job after scheduling the interview.<br /><br />I don't know how else to explain it. He didn't bother asking me the "Why law school?" question or about my former job or even the almost obligatory "Do you have any questions for me?" query. He didn't even offer me a business card, which essentially says, "Don't bother wasting your time with a thank you/follow up." (I sent one to the office manager anyway.)<br /><br />Of course, following in the fine tradition of HR discourtesy, he also didn't bother to tell me that they were looking for somebody else nor did he respond to my follow up a week later - sent via the office manager.<br /><br />As an aside, if any of you end up in recruiting/HR, could please keep your own experiences in mind and perhaps treat applicants with some modicum of respect. (For anyone currently in this field who reads this blog, perhaps you guys could keep in mind we're not just some lousy products that you don't want to buy at the store. Besides, if you'd like to live a life of evil, there are probably some law school administration jobs that are more lucrative and require less stress.)<br /><br />Back to the subject of this post: I hope this company isn't this tactless in all of their candidate searches. What if I was black or a woman? This would have had EEOC suit written all over it.<br /><br />Nothing about this really makes sense. If say they met a candidate (or candidates) who had experience but was (were) willing to accept underemployment in a tough economy, wouldn't his (their) resume(s) have indicated this? If so, why bother bringing me in for an interview before having the chance to vet such a clearly superior candidate (or candidates)?<br /><br />Aside from somebody with experience, I have a hard time believing that they already interviewed somebody who was so good that it wouldn't even be worth the time to give me a full evaluation. How good does somebody (particularly without any direct experience) need to come across that they could decide beforehand that nobody else even deserves a hearing?<br /><br />Maybe some of you think that I'm being too generous to myself and that I'm unwilling to accept that I blew the interview. I honestly don't think it's possible. If I had a full interview and didn't come across that great, that's one thing, but only getting three questions? I don't think so. Unless I simultaneously broke wind and insulted the guy's mother, I don't think there's any call for dispensing with me with such a cursory "evaluation".<br /><br />Also, while I have many weaknesses, I think I'm actually pretty good at interviewing. When I graduated college, one interviewer called me back for a second interview because she said I "brought a lot of energy to the first interview."<br /><br />Folks, there are many ways to describe me (some of them probably not very nice), but energetic is not one of them. You can think of Esq. Never as kind of a more laid back version of Al Gore. Nevertheless, I am somehow able to make myself comes across as far more engaging during job interviews than I am in most other settings.<br /><br />In any event, whatever charm I may be able to muster for these interviews clearly couldn't overcome this disaster of an experience.<br /><br />Maybe somebody's cousin needed a sinecure or I inadvertently ran over the interviewer's dog at some point in the past.<br /><br />Regardless, there you have it, a category four job search defeat: Finding the "perfect" job - getting invited for an interview - diligently preparing for it - walking into the interview without knowing you're already disqualified - and then being dismissed without even the pretense that they took your candidacy seriously. Oh, and then having them continue to string you along while also ignoring your requests for further information.<br /><br />I don't know what could possibly qualify for a category five experience. I assume it would include a kick to the groin and being throwing down an elevator shaft, but I really don't want to know for sure.<br /><br />This blog post is based upon a sports analogy, so let me conclude with another sports reference.<br /><br />In Major League Baseball, just making the playoffs is somewhat of an accomplishment. This is in contrast to the NBA where half the teams end up in the post season. In baseball, if you make the playoffs, it means that you're only one of four teams in your league to extend your season into October. After slogging your way through a lengthy season, you either ended up as the best team in the division or as the best out of all of the other teams in the league.<br /><br />When a team clinches a playoff berth, there's obviously celebration both in the clubhouse and in the team's hometown. Nevertheless, the real work is just beginning. Sure, it's nice to be in the post season, but getting wiped out in the divisional series isn't going to impress anybody, and years from now, nobody besides hometown fans and baseball nerds are going to even remember the initial accomplishment.<br /><br />I've learned that it's pretty much the same thing with first interviews. Sure, after sending out reams of resumes, its nice to have some proof that somebody actually read yours and that they're even interested in considering you for the job. You feel happy for a couple of days, but it's almost meaningless.<br /><br />Yes, you can't win the World Series if you don't get into the playoffs to begin with, and you can't get an offer if you're not getting interviews. Nevertheless, just as a team shouldn't start making room on their trophy shelf in anticipation of a title during the first round, the job seeker should realize that a first interview <span style="font-style: italic;">is</span> a step toward getting a job, but it's only a very small one.Esq. Neverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18248019550876835145noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5618663158161665199.post-87022859121093206632010-05-12T16:53:00.002-04:002010-05-12T17:04:29.825-04:00HiatusHi, everyone. As most of the regular readers of this blog (or anyone who can read the date of the last entry) probably know, I haven't posted in a while.<br /><br />Nothing particularly interesting or cataclysmic has happened, but I am taking a break from blogging for a while. Writing lengthy (at least by blog standards) pieces for about half a year has been a bit draining. Also, searching for a job and attending to other projects is quite time consuming. In addition, consistently reflecting on my own job search plight and focusing on the corruption of the law school industry gets pretty depressing over time.<br /><br />I do plan to eventually return with some new posts, but for the time being (probably a couple weeks to a month), I plan on taking a break from being 'Esq. Never'. This will give me more time to focus on <a href="http://www.notolawschool.com/2010/05/msu-pays-students-to-praise-it.html">my pro-MSU Law blog</a> (j/k).<br /><br />See you in a few weeks.Esq. Neverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18248019550876835145noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5618663158161665199.post-57072469624487786982010-04-23T15:55:00.001-04:002010-04-23T16:21:13.833-04:00QA with Esq. NeverLet's go into the weekend with the QA I promised you a while ago. These questions appear in no particular order. I've tried to limit my answers to keep this post to a reasonable length.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">How old are you, E.N.?</span><br /><br />I am in my late 20's.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">What led you start this website?</span><br /><br />I sort of touched on this in my <a href="http://esqnever.blogspot.com/2009/11/not-another-law-blog.html">first post</a>, but I had some thoughts I wanted to share both about law school and trying to find a non-legal job. I initially thought the main point of the blog would be to chronicle my quest for a job, but given that a lot of my time was spent sending resumes off into oblivion, I focused a bit more on other subject matter. As I became more frustrated with how useless my degree truly appeared to be and learned that many, many other people were in the same or a worse boat, the blog took on more of a "scam busting" flavor.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">How did those job fairs work out?</span><br /><br />I actually only went to one of the three for which I signed up. I ditched the first two because the paltry number of companies present didn't seem to make it worth the trip. The one I did attend was actually quite good. I plan to blog about it in the future. I did get a few leads, but so far, nothing has worked out. It did help that this particular fair was aimed at a specific industry.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Why won't you reveal where you went to law school? What are you afraid of?<br /></span><br />My job search is difficult enough without possibly exposing myself and having an angry law school, alumni, etc. doing everything they can to further frustrate it.<br /><br />That said, even if I wasn't concerned about my anonymity, I'm not sure I'd really like to get into a fight with my particular school. I've said before that I don't think it's as sleazy as say Seton Hall or NYLS. It is, of course, overpriced and generally a useless institution, but it isn't the worst of the worst.<br /><br />This really isn't about Esq. Never vs. Law School X. It's about an entire industry that engages in deceptive marketing, exploits the cheap credit that flows from the student lending system, and doesn't really care that its "customers" end up indebted and unemployable.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Why are comments now censored (they used to display immediately)?<br /><br /></span>At one point I didn't monitor comments. I wanted to allow everyone to voice their opinions even if was the typical "You're a whiner" and "You should have done more research" canards.<br /><br />Sadly, one person wanted to post identifying information about me and ruined it for everyone. That said, I do not censor comments. They are only on a delay. I recognize this may discourage discussion, but for the time being, it is necessary.<br /><br />Aside from attempts to "expose" me, I have rejected comments that are entirely off topic, spam, or duplicate posts. If you search through my comments, you will find critical remarks about my opinions and even a decent amount of name calling aimed towards me.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Why are you so hesitant to weigh in on politics?</span><br /><br />Personally, I see it as irrelevant. Most people who go to law school have developed some sort of political viewpoint, and by siding with or against certain politicians, I believe I would unnecessarily anger other people who do not agree with me.<br /><br />I do not see the problems with higher education (and law school specifically) as part of a systemic problem with America. I see it as a bad "product" that deserves to be criticized. Just like there are websites dedicated to exposing "get rich quick" schemes and other ripoffs, I believe this blog serves the same function for the law school industry.<br /><br />The recession aside, I think life would have been just fine for me had I not made such a bad decision in attending law school. I believe the problems with law school can be solved through realistic changes to how legal education is provided that do not require ushering in the workers' revolution.<br /><br />That said, I do think there are governmental issues that relate to the problems with law school. Chiefly, I believe the culprit is the limitless supply of student loans. To remedy the situation, I advocate two policy positions. One "left-winged": Allow student loans to be discharged in bankruptcy; one "right-winged": End the federal student loan program at least for graduate, professional schools.<br /><br />These measure would cause the COA to plummet, force many TTT's out of market, and probably require the restructuring of the entire legal education system around a more practical model. The only expensive, theoretical institutions that would survive would be the ones that could truly guarantee jobs to their graduates that would allow them to service their debts.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">What will happen to Esq. Never when you get a job?</span><br /><br />Good question. For the time being, that isn't much of a concern.<br /><br /><br />Feel free to continue e-mailing me questions, and I will continue this series when I get enough to warrant an additional post.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span>Esq. Neverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18248019550876835145noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5618663158161665199.post-66283285863196746982010-04-20T14:00:00.002-04:002010-04-20T21:08:52.188-04:00A Scam Within a Scam...Within a Scam?If you've ever read Shakespeare's famous play, <span style="font-style: italic;">A Midsummer Night's <span style="font-style: italic;">Dream</span></span>, you probably know that it is famous (in part) because it features a play within a play. I'm knowledgeable enough about literature to know that fact. I, however, am not quite sophisticated enough to realize why it is particularly noteworthy.<br /><br />Nevertheless, while I may be ignorant when it comes to the intricacies of the Bard's greatest works, over the past several months I've become quite adept at recognizing the shady tactics of our friends in the law school and higher education industrial complex.<br /><br />First, there was Solo Practice University. For hundreds of dollars they promised to give solo practitioners (even those right out of law school) the tools they need to succeed. Of course, those tools consisted almost exclusively of a bunch of (non-state specific) videos for practicing different areas of the law. Like a set of videos for "Do-It-Yourself Surgery", such an approach to learning the law was a bit perfunctory, and the results were more likely than not destined to be rather messy.<br /><br />Then our friends at Law Crossings started spamming the job boards, claiming they could help graduates find their first attorney positions regardless of whether the applicant's GPA was 2.0 or 4.0.<br /><br />I watched a story on <span style="font-style: italic;">60 Minutes</span> the other night where a couple of psudeo-doctors convinced patients with a certain terminal ailment to pony up some big bucks in exchange for a nonexistent cure. You know what? I'll bet those "doctors" would be thoroughly disgusted by Law Crossings.<br /><br />Seriously. What type of scum bag is willing to further rip off somebody who already is unemployable and under a mountain of debt? They'd honestly be less repugnant characters if they just took your money in exchange for a swift kick to the groin.<br /><br />So now comes the latest in a long line of swindles. But this swindle actually has multiple layers. (Hence it being a "Scam within a Scam".)<br /><br />I recently received an urgent piece of mail from some company called ECMC. Prior to reading this piece of mail, I had no idea who ECMC was. In fact, I'm still not 100% sure who they are except that the company guarantees federal loans. Apparently, however, this company was in possession of personal data related to me. It also seems that their crack security team allowed said personal data to be compromised.<br /><br />Great. So let me get this straight. My law school and Sallie Mae conned me into going into massive debt for a worthless degree. Then for some reason they handed over my personal information to some other student lending company of some sort without telling me about it - though I'm sure it was buried in one of the 39 letters with 8-inch font they send me every week. Now, thanks to their bungling, another con artist has absconded with my sensitive, personal information.<br /><br />It doesn't end there, though. Even though they insist that no "savings, checking, or credit card account numbers" were compromised (uh, what about SS numbers?) - which there's really no reason they should have in the first place - they're offering 12 free months of credit monitoring through another company.<br /><br />Now call me cynical, but I can't help it at this point. If important data truly wasn't compromised, is this really necessary? If I sign up for this, how come I anticipate seeing myself being automatically re-enrolled at $59.99 a month once the free trial is over? Sorry, I don't have a lot of faith in a company that uses some doofus playing the guitar in a pirate-themed restaurant to advertise for its product. (Maybe that guy should go to law school - then he'd really have something to sing about!)<br /><br />So in addition to all my other woes, I have to choose between trusting that recently released inmate #68934 isn't selling my personal data over the internet to some guy in Nigeria or risk spending eight hours on the phone in 12 months trying cancel my brand new credit alert contract.<br /><br />Is paying that Law Crossings guy to kick me in the groin an option?<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">All the world's a stage filled with potential law students,</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> And all the men and women merely a source of revenue;</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> They have their savings and the ability to sign promissory notes,</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> And one man in his time can be conned many times,</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> His indebtedness being seven ages.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">-As The Law School Industry Likes It</span>Esq. Neverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18248019550876835145noreply@blogger.com16