Saturday, May 29, 2010

Quotes of the Day (Updated)


The generation before me came to the conclusion I was worth the investment. Maybe my generation is a little too selfish.
- Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Paul H. Anderson who graduated in 1968 with no debt and a 1965 Mustang.


The more urgent question is: What do you tell people who are thinking about going to law school? I don't recommend it to people looking to make a lot of money. ... If you're not interested in helping people in some way or providing service to your clients, it's not for you.
- From the same Star Tribune article, law school shill Niels Schaumann, vice dean for faculty at third tier toilet William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota.



How about not recommending William Mitchell College of Law to anyone who wants to find a full-time job after spending $52,000 yearly tuition? That way, shills like Schaumann would no longer make an average of $104,832 yearly blaming unemployed graduates for being too greedy.
- HardKnocks from But I Did Everything Right! in response to Niels Schaumman's dishonest and shameful comment in the Star Tribune.


Update, May 30th: A William Mitchell College of Law graduate stopped by with the following comment below. Are you listening Schaumman and WMCL shills? This is one of your many graduates drowning in debt and working for $11 an hour doing temp work. What are you doing about it besides blaming them for being greedy or not hustling enough? How can you sleep at night knowing you make six-figures off the backs of your unemployed graduates and still have the audacity to ask them for contributions?? Thank you to the WMCL grad for stopping by and sharing your tragic story and pointing out that the job shortage is nothing new. It's just that the media is jumping on this story now that the top tier grads are suffering too.

Hope all of our readers are having a relaxing Memorial Day weekend. I'm back to helping out with the backyard BBQ.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for posting this article, Hardknocks. I am a WMCL grad - although I have pretty much severed all ties to that place after the Dean sent me a letter begging for MORE money AFTER I had already made a contribution and stated in his letter, "[Insert my name here], would you really be as far as you are today if not for your law degree?" As you can imagine, this irritated me to no end and I decided to never give one cent to that place again.

As for the gentleman featured in the story, I actually know him. Ironically, right after I graduated from WMCL with HONORS, I was working as a TEMP for $11/hour at the same place where he was working for the summer doing some humiliating clerical type of work. This was back in the early 2000's. He was going off to Korea to be with his girlfriend. Anyway, the reason I mention this is because there was a legal job shortage even back then, but nobody believed it. This is NOT new, people, so I don't understand why everybody acts like this all happened it the last 2 years. I have been out of school for almost 7 years, and a majority of my classmates are drowning in debt and working piddle a$$ jobs just to make ends meet and pay their student loans. It annoys me that suddenly now this is "news" - why wasn't it news seven years ago? Maybe some of these people wouldn't be in the shape they are in, if the media had listened or cared back then!


Friday, May 28, 2010

Another NYU Graduate with Six-Figure Debt. Quelle Surprise!


Or not. New York is an expensive city, folks. If you go to an elite school there (NYU or Columbia) expect to fork over your life savings unless you get a lot of financial aid and scholarships.

The New York Times has found another student loan slave in the Big Apple, not really a difficult task. I have a friend who is getting her second Master's degree at NYU. I don't understand why anyone needs two Master's degrees, but this is what happens when young people can't find a job and buy into the higher education myth that an elite degree is sure to bring in the big bucks after graduation, which we have learned is no longer the case.
Like many middle-class families, Cortney Munna and her mother began the college selection process with a grim determination. They would do whatever they could to get Cortney into the best possible college, and they maintained a blind faith that the investment would be worth it.

Today, however, Ms. Munna, a 26-year-old graduate of New York University, has nearly $100,000 in student loan debt from her four years in college, and affording the full monthly payments would be a struggle. For much of the time since her 2005 graduation, she’s been enrolled in night school, which allows her to defer loan payments.
I don't think most graduates in a similar position as Ms. Munna are idiots or irresponsible. They were misinformed like the rest of us. Students and their parents invest $100k for a degree from an elite institution because they believe it will land them a job that pays enough to pay off those loans in a reasonable amount of time. No one plans to default or flee the country when they sign up for a student loan. You get a degree from an Ivy League or top tier college and you expect to get a decent paying white collar job. I can't speak for third tier graduates, but back in the good ol' days, the majority of graduates from my college and law school found jobs that paid more than factory line workers. That is why people, and especially working class people with academically gifted children, believe higher education is a good investment - perhaps the only investment - that will allow their children to enter a comfortable upper middle class lifestyle.

I don't understand why people are beating up on Ms. Munna in the comments for majoring in Religious and Women's Studies. And? I know people who are unemployed who majored in Humanities and Science. T14 law students are graduating without any job offers. Does your college major really matter that much anymore unless you are in Pre-Med or Engineering? Any degree in the Humanities is going to end you up in the unemployment line these days, whether it be Women's Studies or Political Science. More people should start questioning the financial aid offices and banks who take advantage of clueless teenagers by allowing them to take out a $40k loan in the first place.

Which is why I am glad the author questions how Munna was allowed to take out a $40k Citibank loan when she was only 17-years-old. In the process, the article reveals a bit of the the higher education scam at work, and why students are able to take on massive debt without any warning or advice from the financial aid office (emphasis mine):

The financial aid office often has the best picture of what students like Ms. Munna are up against, because they see their families’ financial situation splayed out on the federal financial aid form. So why didn’t N.Y.U. tell Ms. Munna that she simply did not belong there once she’d passed, say, $60,000 in total debt?

“Had somebody called me and said, ‘Do you have a clue where this is all headed?’, it would have been a slap in the face, but a slap in the face that I needed,” said Cathryn Munna. “When financial aid told her that they could get her $2,000 more in loans, they should have been saying ‘You are in deep doo-doo, little girl.’ ”

That’s not a role that the university wants to take on, though. “I think that would be completely inappropriate,” said Randall Deike, the vice president of enrollment management for N.Y.U., who oversees admissions and financial aid. “Some families will do whatever it takes for their son or daughter to be not just at N.Y.U., but any first-choice college. I’m not sure that’s always the best decision, but it’s one that they really have to make themselves.”

The complications here go well beyond the propriety of suggesting that a student enroll elsewhere. Colleges don’t always know how much debt its students are taking on, which makes it hard to offer good counsel. (N.Y.U. does appear to have known about all of Ms. Munna’s loans, though.)

Then there’s a branding problem. Urging students to attend a cheaper college or leave altogether suggests a lack of confidence about the earning potential of alumni. Nobody wants to admit that. And once a university starts encouraging middle-class students to go elsewhere, it must fill its classes with more children of the wealthy and a much smaller number of low-income students to whom it can afford to offer enormous scholarships. That’s hardly an ideal outcome either.

Finally, universities exist to enroll students, not turn them away. “Aid administrators want to keep their jobs,” said Joan H. Crissman, interim president and chief executive of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators. “If the administration finds out that you’re encouraging students to go to a cheaper school just because you don’t think they can handle the debt load, I don’t think that’s going to mesh very well.”

That doesn’t change the fact, however, that the financial aid office is still in the best position to see trouble coming and do something to stop it. University officials should take on this obligation, even if they aren’t willing to advise students to attend another college.

Is Munna to blame or should we start criticizing the universities and banks for lending young people money knowing that students usually start college with little idea of how to manage their finances or any sense of their income prospects in 4 years. What do you think?

Wanchai Ferry Prize Pack Giveaway

Wanchai Ferry and My Blog Spark have given me the opportunity to offer one BIDER reader a prize pack to try Wanchai Ferry for themselves.

I was sent the newest flavor, Beef & Broccoli from Wanchai Ferry through My Blog Spark. It is the first beef dish in their line of complete Chinese meals for two. Ready to serve in only 14 minutes, Wanchai Ferry Beef & Broccoli comes with beef strips, and an assortment of Asian-style vegetables, including broccoli florets, red peppers and water chestnuts. It also includes rice and a brown sauce accented with soy and garlic. Sounds good, doesn't it?

I love to cook and I love Chinese food, but I've never been a huge fan of frozen food, so this was my first time trying Wanchai Ferry. I was pleasantly surprised. It actually tastes like the Chinese food you'd get at your local Chinese restaurant. It's become necessary for me to eat at home more often rather than dine out during this recession, and sometimes you just don't feel like spending hours in the kitchen preparing and cooking. Wanchai Ferry frozen entrées are perfect to have on hand for those nights when you're staying in and don't feel like cooking or spending a ton of money for delivery.

Be sure to try the two additional new flavors of Wanchai Ferry frozen entrées, Kung Pao Chicken and Szechuan Style Chicken, which will soon join five other delicious varieties including Orange Chicken, Shrimp Lo Mein, Spicy Garlic Chicken and Sweet & Sour Chicken. Additionally, all of the entrées have no added MSG!

Get a coupon for $1.60 off purchase of Wanchai Ferry.

Also check out the website at http://www.wanchaiferry.com/MealTips.aspx later this summer for meal tips to enhance your Wanchai Ferry frozen entrée.

GIVEAWAY

One BIDER reader will win a Wanchai Ferry prize pack that includes one frozen sample of the Beef & Broccoli variety, in addition to two tea sets with organic green tea. A great dinner prize pack for an evening at home with a friend or family member.

Mandatory Entry:

Tell me which Wanchai Ferry product is your favorite.

Bonus Entries:

Follow BIDER and let me know in the comments. (1 additional entry)

Comment on another post and let me know in the comments that you did (1 additional entry)

Contest is open to US Residents, 18 and older. This contest ends June 3, 2010 at Midnight Eastern Standard Time. I will email the winner as well as post it on my blog.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Purdue Graduate Tries to Sell His Diploma on Ebay

Do you feel this way about your degree?

Back in February of this year, a Georgetown Law graduate attempted to sell his JD on Ebay for $59,250 to pay off the remainder of his student loans.

Today, Purdue University graduate Nick Enlow attempted to do the same thing, placing an ad for his 2008 B.A. in psychology for $36,000 to cover his $470 monthly loan bill to Sallie Mae. He also has a degree in philosophy from Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). Enlow works as a substitute teacher and lives with his fiancé who is working for Teach America. This is what Enlow had to say(emphasis mine):

"Going to college made my life worse," Enlow said Wednesday from near Jacksonville, Fla., where he lives. "That is something that I don't keep to myself. I tell everyone."

His line of thinking isn't the kind that Purdue officials find amusing, nor are they too keen on the auction itself.

But Enlow, 29, said he considers himself stuck in indentured servitude to Sallie Mae, his lender, because he is unable to get a decent-paying job with his current degrees to start paying a $470 monthly student loan bill. In addition to the Purdue diploma, he obtained a philosophy degree from IU through IUPUI. That one is not for sale.

The eBay sale is part stunt and part hopeful act of desperation that an "eccentric millionaire" will pick up the tab. Either way, the Indianapolis native is serious about kick-starting conversations on the worth of a college education and how it can be paid off.

"The universities are handing out too many degrees that have zero real-world application," Enlow said. "It seems to me, almost any major in the humanities or liberal arts will not gain you employment with a bachelor's degree."

Enlow admits to not having a clear post-college career path. During school he fell in love with learning -- reading classics and learning history -- and he assumed that after earning a diploma a job would come easily.

"I think that some of us still believe that when we walk across the stage and get that diploma that we are going to have some type of social status and businesses are going to look at us differently," he said. "But that is not true."
I hope Enlow finds BIDER and the other school scam blogs just so he knows that he is no alone and that he is even better off than most law and graduate school graduates who owe much more than $36,000 in student loans. Several days ago, Angel posted a CNN story about a NYU graduate who owed $275,000 in loans. Of course, Enlow's alma mater is not amused and fired back with a lame response that didn't address the student loan and unemployment crisis facing most graduates today:
"A degree in the liberal arts is not an automatic ticket to a job, but then again, no degree is," said Irwin Weiser, interim dean of Purdue's College of Liberal Arts."However, studying any of the disciplines in the arts, humanities, or social sciences prepares students to be successful because they learn to think creatively, critically and ethically, and to communicate what they think effectively."

"However, studying any of the disciplines in the arts, humanities, or social sciences prepares students to be successful because they learn to think creatively, critically and ethically, and to communicate what they think effectively."
Ebay later took down the sale today which violated its terms of use. Enlow even caught Sallie Mae's attention. The loan company contacted him yesterday to "discuss payment options". Hah. They contacted him to make sure he has enough money for next month's payment. Just another publicity stunt to act like they actually care.

Enlow said he would not contest eBay's decision.

"The dialogue has been started," he said. "What's done is done."

For-Profit Film School & Movie Studio Scams an Entire City




People in economically depressed areas desperate for jobs will place their faith in almost anyone who promises a miracle to end their suffering. Unfortunately, scam artists are taking advantage of the recession to deplete the little that is left in hard hit cities such as Allen Park, Michigan outside of Detroit. As if things couldn’t get any worse for Detroit, right?

Last summer
, Allen Park residents celebrated what seemed to be the answer to their prayers. A wannabe studio executive by the name of Jimmy Lifton (gawd, doesn’t his name just scream scam artist?) wanted to open a movie studio and film school in their town that promised to create hundreds of jobs and bring Hollywood projects to the area.

According to The News-Herald, the city sold $25.3 million in long-term general obligation bonds and $3 million in Wayne County-issued recovery zone bonds last fall to pay for the property.

Eight months later, the city has revealed that Lifton failed to pay the base rent of $25,000, along with an additional rent of $17,000 on April 3. More:

It also said Unity failed to separate utility meters and to provide information on Lifton Institute for Media Skills’ curriculum and a list of students and instructors to the city. It said that Unity failed to provide on a quarterly basis a balance sheet, a profit and loss statement and a payroll report for all people for any Unity entity that generates a W-2 and/or 1099 tax statement.

I did an online search for any information on Lifton Institute for Media Skills and came up with little other than the school's website which didn't provide any tuition rate information and a comment that was left under the Oakland Press article:

Jimmy Lifton as well as all the other clown shoes "film schools" that have mysteriously popped up in the last 2 years are just a bunch of scam artists. They use Michigan WORKS! tax payer dollars to line their pockets.

Jimmy Lifton charges up to $12,000 a class for "film training"- you will never see a true film camera in his classes- you will never be taught by an industry professional. He holds his "classes" in beat up abandoned automotive office space with free rental equipment that he has borrowed from local rental houses- the gaff house and william f white.

He is stealing power from the plant next door, clearly a fire hazard as well as thievery. (please investigate if you have the means)

I don't know how this jerk sleeps at night. no rent, no audit, poor excuse for a business, stealing tax payer dollars..

only saving grace...
You will make a short video on a prosumer digi camera starring JIM LIFTONS DAUGHTER!!!- hope its worth 12 grand!

Good luck finding a job "graduates" !.... Lifton Institute! WHAT A JOKE!!!!!!!!! you will be viewed at as a moron, untrained, or "one who has been scammed"
Keep up the DENILE Jimmy.. its a great tactic for liars, thieves and cowards!

Who knows if the school even has more than a few of Lifton’s children gullible students who attend? Despite the lack of public information on this “film institute”, Lifton was able to obtain a $2 million unsecured loan to improve his school. If you are from the Detroit area or know more about what is happening on the ground in Allen Park, please comment or email me with the details. BIDER would love to expose this scam and warn potential students to avoid attending this film school at all costs.

What was supposed to be a joint project with Unity Studios and Allen Park has instead become a $150 million bad investment paid in full by the city with Lifton pocketing every loan and grant he could get from taxpayers. I wonder how long Lifton will be able to continue this scam with the assistance of Allen Park city officials who need pretend everything is on the right track to save their jobs in the next election.

This story should be a reminder that if someone pops up out of nowhere in your Podunk town with an offer that sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Honestly, why would a legitimate, big name Hollywood studio exec want to invest over a $100 million in a studio outside of Detroit instead of a bigger city like Chicago or even Minneapolis? Any competent city official ought to have questioned this guy’s motives. Now, their constituents will suffer for their million dollar mistake.



Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Wall of Shame: Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick

Kwame Kilpatrick is emblematic of the idiocy and corruption that runs through our political system because of those important family connections. Here is a little background for those of you who only know about Kilpatrick's recent legal troubles (I'll get to that in a minute).

Spoiled and irresponsible, Kilpatrick was handed prestigious, six-figure jobs his entire life due to shady family connections in politics. His mother, Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, is a Congresswoman for Michigan's 13th District. His father, Bernard Kilpatrick, served as chief of staff to former Wayne County Executive Edward H. McNamara.

Kilpatrick immediately succeeded his mother in the Michigan State House of Representatives when she vacated the seat to run for Congress. Kilpatrick was only 26 years old at the time. During his time in the Michigan State House of Representatives, Kilpatrick received a JD from third tier Michigan State University College of Law. Yep, another reminder that a TTT degree is useless unless you have the connections to get you a law firm or political job. Five years after being elected to the House of Representatives, Kilpatrick would become the youngest mayor of Detroit at the age of 31.

I really don't know what he did during his first term as mayor of Detroit, but everything that I've read has been bad. According to Wikipedia, he closed the century-old Belle Isle Zoo and Belle Isle Aquarium. An Associated Press article reveals more into some of the crimes that he and his family committed while he was in office:
Brash and arrogant, Kilpatrick was criticized during his first term for improperly using city credit cards to pay pricey restaurant tabs. It was later revealed that his wife used a city-leased vehicle for her personal use. Each time, he asked for his constituents' forgiveness, and he came from behind to win re-election in 2005.

This is video of Kilpatrick's mother stumping for him during his re-election campaign. I guess we can see where he got his brashness and arrogance.



Another article by the Associated Press stated that Kilpatrick charged at least $210,000 on his city-issued credit card during the first 33 months of his first term. I don't think anyone needs to be reminded that Detroit is cash strapped and one of the poorest and most dangerous cities in the United States. This idiot wasted money on cars and vacations when kids in that city are falling victim to senseless violence everday. The most recent story that made national headlines was a 7-year-old girl who was shot to death by the Detroit Police while she slept. Awful.

This man is involved with so many controversies and crimes that I don't have the time to list them all in one post. You can go over to Wikipedia again and read about Kilpatrick's wild Manoogian Mansion party and his connection with the murder of an exotic dancer who attended the party in 2002. You can also read about the whistleblower trial and the text-messaging scandal that finally ended his "career" in politics.

To make a long story short, Kilpatrick pleaded guilty to obstructing justice by committing perjury in connection with an investigation into sexual text messages he had sent his former chief of staff, Christine Beatty. He was supposed to have paid the city of Detroit a million dollar fine. Instead, he refused to pay the required monthly restitution payments and has been living it up in a Texas mansion and working (yes, a convicted felon who stole possibly millions from Detroit can find work and we can't) at Covisint, a Texas subsidiary of Compuware.

Yesterday, Kilpatrick was sentenced to 18 months to 5 years in prison. Kilpatrick has abused the legal system long enough and deserves his punishment, but I'd much rather see him pay the citizens of Detroit the million dollars they so desperately need to rebuild the city. Shame on you, Kwame!

Poster Print Winner!

The winner of our Online Poster Printing Giveaway is comment #14, Ania! Congratulations!
Ania said...

I would love to have my private view of the mountains(I have a perfect picture) at home :-)
fingers crossed!

Enjoy your new poster of the mountains :-)

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Gina Pogol Woke Up!


GINA POGOL WOKE UP AND FOUND BIDER AND POSTED THE FOLLOWING COMMENT IN RESPONSE TO HARDKNOCK'S INQUIRIES:
Gina Pogol said...
Hello, I wrote the article and I do earn six figures editing and writing. My research is all from government sites and verified data, not anecdotal, which is what you guys are supplying. I also earned $80k as a paralegal with a finance degree and a paralegal studies certificate which took me six months to get. And I never say online schools get you six figure jobs; I say what education is required, online or on campus, what the growth possibilities and median salaries are per the US Dept of Labor. I think that's better than your sources which seem to be the personal experiences of disenchanted unsuccessful types. Clearly you have not "done everything right."
THANKS FOR THE WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT. I'M HAPPY THAT YOU'RE HAPPY.


Then she toned it down by saying:

Gina Pogol said...
Lawyers with business or mortgage expertise can earn excellent money writing for online publications. It's also a great way to promote yourself and drum up business. In the past, you had to go to a fancy private college, then slave for a decade before you could get a good editorial job in a publishing house. Today, publishing is cheap, demand for content is high, and good business writers are hard to find. My finance degree and research/writing experience as a paralegal helped me get my first editorial job and it's the most fun you can have with clothes on. The $ is great too. Sorry to be a little sharp with some of you but I don't like being called an imbecile for completing a writing assignment as requested. Yahoo content is more infotainment than serious stuff, but I'd be happy to offer up my sources to anyone who wants to supply an email address. They are reliable, government or edu or business sites.

TUESDAY, APRIL 6, 2010


Yahoo HotJobs: Legal, Advertising, Writing??


Yahoo should do their homework before posting another article like this one on the front page of their website. Unsurprisingly, the article which includes law, online journalism, and advertising as future hot careers is written by Gina Pogol who works for Find the Right School, another scam-like website that takes your email address and spams you with junk mail from University of Phoenix, Devry University, American Intercontinental University, and Kaplan University. I looked up this "journalist" and discovered that her past job before she became an editor was loan officer at CTX Mortgage Company. This is what the former loan officer turned third tier toilet shill had to say:


Not hot: data entry, customer service, and collections
As companies look for ways to save on labor costs, more of them are off-shoring entry-level "knowledge worker" jobs such as customer service, collections, and data entry. Many of these jobs can be handled remotely from countries like India, where English is widely spoken and the educational system is good. The trend is for English-speaking countries with low labor costs to pull these formerly lucrative jobs out of North America.


The writer doesn't seem to realize that a lot of our legal jobs are beingoutsourced to India too.



Prepare for top careers
The top careers of the future are not entry-level positions. They require career training in the form of an on-campus or online degree to get started. Here are five careers that are most likely to offer interesting work, loads of opportunity, nice paychecks, and job security.


Anyone who tells you that an online degree could lead to a six-figure legal job or online journalism career is clearly a scam artist. Guess what, Ms. Pogol? Most of us here have professional or graduate degrees from top schools and even a few years of work experience and we're still considered to be "overqualified" entry-level candidates. I don't thinklegal temping for $12/hour or doing freelance writing for $20/hour part-time in Manhattan with no benefits qualifies as interesting work with loads of opportunity and job security.

Writing
Most working writers have bachelor's degrees in English, journalism, or communications, but other degrees are acceptable in many industries if applicants demonstrate good writing skills. Many work on marketing, instructional, and technical materials; online journalism is popular, too. (Only a few writers pen bestsellers and award-winning screenplays.) Many writers work as freelancers, so business courses can come in handy as well. In-demand professional writers and editors can earn six-figure incomes. There are many opportunities, but competition is keen because many people want to enjoy this career.
Yes, an editor or regular columnist at the New York Times or Newsweek makes a six-figure salary. But for every Paul Krugman or Fareed Zakaria, there are millions of unemployed journalists making pennies a day on their personal blog hoping to be the next Julie Powell. Newspapers and magazines are shutting down all over the country and the online journalism market is as saturated as the legal profession. Most freelancers and online writers live at the poverty level. The luckier ones who work for reputable online newswires make around $40k a year in New York City and DC.

Legal careers
Legal careers can allow you to work in any area that interests you, including environmental law, estate planning, personal injury, and politics. And there is a career for every education level--from legal-assistant certificate programs to bachelor's degrees in paralegal studies to Juris Doctor (JD) degrees for attorneys. Despite excellent growth in these professions, the BLS states that competition will be tough, and you'll need formal training to grab the best jobs. Earning potential for top-level pros ranges from about $60,000 for legal secretaries and assistants to about $75,000 for paralegals, to hefty six-figure salaries for lawyers.
Do I really need to go into this one? The legal profession is shrinking, not expanding. Most lawyers do not make a six-figure salary outside of BigLaw. Thousands have been forced to make a career out of temping for $20/hour and no benefits. The author also forgets to mention the six-figure debt to get a JD.

Advertising
Advertising is a sexy profession and a "highly coveted" one, according to the BLS. So of course there's a lot of competition. Advertising, marketing, public-relations, and sales managers are responsible for their companies' market research; marketing strategies; public image; print, online, and TV ads; and more. This job allows a lot of creativity but also brings pressure, long hours, and frequently a lot of travel. Most employers prefer candidates with a bachelor's degree in business, an MBA, or a degree in communications, public relations, or journalism. If you can take the heat, you can pull in a cool salary--top dogs earn over $120,000 a year.

I don't know a ton about the advertising biz, but several of my friends who have worked in advertising say it is anything but glamorous. Starting salaries are around $30k and this is in cities like Los Angeles and New York. Just look at any big city's craigslist under marketing and pr and you'll see internships that require a college degree that are unpaid or offer $20 a day for lunch and travel expenses.

Death of the American Dream! Thanks, Ames!

Let's Welcome the Tweens to the Legal Industry.

John Grisham, a famous writer of fictional novels about the legal industry that glorify it tremendously, has decided to reach out to tweens and encourage them to join our hell, otherwise known as the legal world.  The book is entitled "Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer" and here's the basic premise:
...Like the writer who created him, Boone has an unusual fascination with the legal system. The only child of two busy lawyers — one a divorce attorney, the other specializing in real estate — he has a dog named Judge and spends his free time at the local courthouse. His interest in the law is so well known that classmates seek him out for legal advice and judges make special accommodations to speak with him. Boone even scores prime seats at the local murder trial in which a husband stands accused of killing his wife.
Geez.  Is he serious?  This will definitely push more kids into becoming lawyers.  So, the flood continues.  


On the train yesterday, I came across a couple of college students who were complaining about the unavailability of paid internships.  So, I butted in and asked their majors and, sure enough, one was a Poli-Sci major.  I begged her not to go to law school.  BEGGED.  She said, "But I can only qualify for entry level positions that don't pay well."  I said, "The only difference between you post-college and you post-law school, is that you won't even qualify for that."  I think I got my point across.  


Now, I've got to keep my eyes open for tweens contemplating law school.  This doesn't get any easier, does it?  What next?  A children's book????


So, when is the movie coming out?


Monday, May 24, 2010

How Do You Feel About the Tea Party Now?

Rand Paul, Ron Paul's son, won the election in Kentucky as a Tea Party Candidate. I love Ron Paul and I'm on his list serve.  I realize that Ron Paul and his son have embraced the Tea Party wholeheartedly, but I was reluctant to follow.  Namely because my perception of the Tea Party is that it consists of racist rednecks who are anti-immigrants and government.  The morning after Rand Paul and several other teabaggers  won elections in the United States, I almost changed my mind. I heard a broadcast on NPR about how the it was shocking that Republican Voters went to the polls and voted for the Tea Party because they are also anti-war--which is contrary to the Republican Platform.  If I had to classify myself, it would be as an anti-war, anti-spending Libertarian. I almost jumped on the bandwagon, but the end of that broadcast.  Then, as quickly as that feeling came, it went. I got on the subway to the office, picked up a Metro (free paper available in most big cities all over the world) and read about this jerk-off.  Mark Williams, a leader of the Tea Party, said this regarding the new Islamic Community Center that is to be built in downtown Manhattan--near the former World Trade Center:
 “The monument would consist of a mosque for the worship of the terrorists’ monkey-god.” Urged to apologise, he said: “I owe an apology to millions of Hindus who worship Lord Hanuman, an actual monkey god.”
I don't have to be a monkey to see that he's a racist and hateful bastard.  This community center is slated to be built in the old Burlington Coat Factory Building two blocks away from the World Trade Center site.
The $100 million (£69 million) project would include a swimming pool, a basketball court, a 500-seat theatre and possibly a daycare centre. About 2,000 Muslims are expected to attend Friday prayers there.
Well, I wonder if he realizes that there was a mosque IN the WTC.  Just as there was a shul.  Jews and Muslims need to pray during the work day and the WTC accounted for that. I imagine there was a chapel as well.  So, if they are building another mosque/community center near by--I am sure that it serves a need for the Mulim-American community.  Remember, none of the terrorists were American.  And, even if you disagree with Muslims' freedom to worship, how can an emerging third party's leader say ignoramus things like "monkey-god."

So, they lost me.

I find it hard to believe that the Tea Party will continue to gain power when they spew nonsense like this.  How will they gain the support of sane and educated people?  I'm not sure if the Tea Party is going to continue to support this monkey asswipe as a political boss, but I am probably lost to their cause.

Do you support the tea party?

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Thoughts on the Georgetown Law/NPR Segment


I'm a little late posting my thoughts since I only listened to the interview ten minutes ago. You can visit Fluster Cucked and Attorney to Temp to read what other scam bloggers thought about the NPR segment.

Reader "Minneapolis 3L" made the following comment about the interview in our open thread last night. I think his opinions sum up a lot of the sentiment I've been hearing around the web from scam bloggers and our readers. We all know that T14 and TTT grads can't find jobs. The question the mainstream media should be asking is why is the law school scam and outrageous tuition rates allowed to continue?

As the mainstream media slowly picks up on the story of law school being financial suicide for the vast majority of graduates, I noticed NPR did a story on Friday about underemployed law students. It was a strange format, a five-member panel of Georgetown law students. While the lead-in made it sound like NPR would tell everyone how much of a scam law school is, the piece turned out to be fluff, with all of the students saying something like "oh well, I won't make 160k right out of school, but I will have a decent life in government work." EVEN the 3Ls whose plan was to "move to California and shack up with my solo practitioner pal."

These 3Ls were a bunch of ninnies who were obviously hedging and not placing a toe out of line. They probably were lined up for the panel by GULC's career services office. Despite two or three of the panel members really having NOTHING solid and lined up, they made it sound like they were just happy to "settle" for a job that paid under 160k. No one came flat out and said "we are unemployed and grasping at straws, fuck you GULC for charging us 150k," even though that was clearly the situation for two, and maybe three, of them. Only two of them had real jobs, one with the federal mine safety agency, and one with some legal aid org on the West coast...sounded like volunteer work actually.

Anyway, I had high hopes for this story, but NPR dropped the ball and basically turned it into a fluff piece about how law school can still give you a great job in government or public interest, just not in biglaw anymore. LOL. I'm sure any 0L or their parents listening naively breathed a big sigh of relief and cut a check for their seat deposit in the class of 2013. "Well, I won't be making 160k at biglaw, but at least I will have a decent federal job and it's probably less stressful than biglaw anyway. Law school is a great choice."
I think Minneapolis 3L makes some good points. After listening to the interview, I wouldn't call the Georgetown 3Ls ninnies. Yes, a few of them are more optimistic than those of us who have been unemployed for awhile and have come to the realization that things won't get better soon enough to help any of us. But a few of them made really great points about the problems with the structure of law firms and how they knew they got the rough end of the stick because they'd never get the chance of working at a biglaw firm. You either get a biglaw job offer after your 2L summer or you're out of the game forever. From the transcript:

Mr. LEWIS: I think that a lot of the real problem that's happened at legal profession is that now we're suffering because the economics of the large law firm just doesn't work. You know, I think that's why you see not many of the firms have gone under, but one of the things that I hope that does come out of this is a restructuring of it.

And maybe law students are going to have to realize that coming out of law school after a three-year education and expecting $160,000 a year is just not a realistic business model.

Ms. BOGO: I do think that our generation be it our year or the year behind us and maybe the year in front of us or something like that, I think we did kind of get the rough end of a stick just because we didn't know that the economy was going to take a downturn when we signed up for X number of loans every year.

And if the economy does turn around, which I'm optimistic maybe because I have to be, but if the economy does turn around and law firms start hiring again, they're not going to hire us. They're going to hire the class that's behind us, who are coming straight out of law school, who they can train up in the way that they always have.

SIEGEL: Because this is a career in which you get on the escalator at a...

Ms. BOGO: Yeah.

SIEGEL: ...particular time, in a summer when you're at law school. They look you over and you look them over. And then you...

Ms. BOGO: Yes. Law firms generally don't hire you out of government or out of, you know, being a private practitioner. They generally hire you straight out of law school or from another comparable firm.

I sympathize with these students because they aren't any better off than the rest of us and are in for a rocky year. Just give those 3Ls a few more years unemployed or underemployed in a job that doesn't pay enough to payoff their loans and they'll be a lot more frustrated with their situation than they are now. NPR can find plenty of T14 grads from several years ago who never found a job or were laid off and have been unemployed ever since. Graduates a few years in the real world are likelier to complain about their law school experience and troubles paying off their six-figure debt. But that is assuming the mainstream media wants to question the law school scam at all. As Frank at Fluster Cucked said:
I don't know what NPR is like in other cities, but in my area NPR airs "support for NPR" ads from law schools, including one from Boston University (which airs nationally, I assume). Perhaps NPR doesn't want to risk angering its supporters. I suppose that that is a sensible policy, but it calls into question the network's journalistic independence.
Much of the mainstream media is corporately owned or depend on the support of universities and large donors who are on the board of a university. I'm not holding my breath for the mainstream media to rock the boat if it means angering very rich and powerful people, whether they be in politics, business, or the education scam.

Please post your thoughts on the interview in the comments section below.

How Will Lost End?

Tonight is the end of Lost! It's an end of an era and I don't know if there will be another new Scifi show that can fill the void I'll have after tonight. There were a few disappointments. I wish the writers had spent more time explaining the Others and the Dharma Initiative rather than the alternative time line. But all in all, Lost was a great show and will likely deliver an incredible finale that will satisfy the majority of its fans. How will the series end? Will the remaining candidates kill Fake Locke and save the island or will the alternative time line win out? Post your theories and comments about the show.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Arranged Marriages Take Education Loans Into Consideration

This Times of India article made me laugh because so many of our readers have told us about their concerns with finding a mate or burdening their spouse with hundreds of thousands in student loan debt. Well, apparently we're not the only ones who worry about loans ruining our love life. Women in North India who have taken out education loans for an advanced degree are having issues finding a suitor who wants the responsibility of assisting in the payback of those loans.

The marriage market in North India has a new condition for brides-to-be – no education loan.


Shashikant (name changed), an advocate in the Allahabad High Court, was a trifle surprised when he was advised by his close friends not to play up the education loan taken for his daughter’s degree in dentistry while looking for a groom for her. But that’s how things are in the marriage market these days. Not only is a bride expected to be fair, convent-educated, English speaking and homely, she also has to be loan free. With parents increasingly turning to education loans to fund their children’s education, prospective in-laws are keen to know whether the bahu-to-be comes with the burden of paying off an education loan since an education loan has to be paid off by the student. So marriage alliances are dependent on the status of loan repayment – pay it off before tying the knot is the new demand coming from grooms’ families.

Sangeeta Bhattacharya, a graduate from Banaras Hindu University took an education loan to pursue her MBA from Pune. After the completion of her course, when her parents began looking for a match for her, questions about her education loan would invariably always crop up. “Almost all the guys would ask me about the status of the education loan. I was not offended since I believe that there should be transparency in matters of marriage,” she says.

Admitting to this trend is Kiran Chawla, who runs a franchise of a marriage bureau. “Education loans are figuring prominently in fixing matrimonial alliances these days. The most common query that comes from the boy’s family is whether an education loan has been taken by the girl or not and the clearing of the loan is the primary condition for a match to be arranged. The prospective in-laws are not ready to take the risk of paying the loan if it is still unpaid," she says. “While a well-educated girl is still sought after, that demand comes with a no-debt rider,” according to Chawla.

Let this be a lesson to students everywhere before you sign off on that student loan. Unless you want to die alone and penniless with your degree as your only accomplishment in life, think twice about how much money you will be able to pay back and how much you think your future spouse will tolerate. No one wants to marry - or have their son or daughter marry - into a situation where they are responsible for paying thousands of dollars in non-dischargeable debt.


Friday, May 21, 2010

Should 1L Year Tuition Be Free for Dropouts? An Illinois Law Professor Thinks So.

Illinois Law professor Christine Hurt at the Conglomerate Blog thinks first year law school tuition should be free for students who decide to leave at the end of their 1L year. Under her proposal, students who have decided that they do not want to practice law (or have come to their senses that they are unlikely to find a lucrative Biglaw job upon graduation due to grades, the economy, law school rank, etc.) would be able to leave debt free rather than stick it out till the end because they already invested so much on their first year tuition:

We have all had conversations with students who are unhappy in law school or have come to suspect that they won't like practicing law. These are hard conversations. We aren't encouraging a child to stick with piano lessons or the track team; we are helping students decide whether to continue to make a large investment in a professional degree. Although we always say that there are so many things one can do wiith a law degree, the one thing most people think of is practicing law. And many of the things one can do with a law degree don't require one.

However, when I talk to the rare student considering dropping out, the student usually mentions the amount of debt already incurred. Sometimes these are students unhappy with their grades or who fear their aptitude is not mapping on to the practice of law. Other students just don't like the study of law and fear that they won't like the practice of law. But students are loath to change courses because of the money already invested. Yes, I understand the concept of "sunk costs," but I also understand option theory. Yes, we may say that a student should walk away from a $30,000 mistake instead of throwing good money after bad and turning it into a $90,000 mistake. Particularly in a bad job market, where high-income producing jobs are getting fewer and fewer, we might advise the student to cut their losses. But the other side of the coin is that a student might think that paying $30,000 for nothing is worse than paying $90,000 for something. A law degree is worth something, and it might all work out in the end.

Now, having students stay in law school who either don't enjoy the study/practice of law or who may not be well-suited to it cannot be a good thing for either the student or the institution (never mind the loss to the profession the student might be perfect for). So, here's my proposal: free first year of law school. Here's how it would work:

If Progressive Law School costs $30,000 a year today, then starting next year, the first year is free, and the second year is $45,000 and the third year is $45,000. Students are admitted the same way, only tuition is deferred until a student registers for the second year of law school. If after the first year a student thinks this is not for her, then the student walks away with only the lost opportunity cost of nine months. I think few students would choose this option. Most students like law school or at least like it enough for the benefits of a law degree, which they plan to use. There's not a lot of career advantage to having one year of legal study, so few would game the system just to get nine months of fun common law courses! Admissions would still be competitive, so it probably wouldn't work out that students came just for fun.

What's in it for the law school? First, it would give them a comparative advantage over their peer schools because they are offering applicants a hedge. Second, it would probably end up increasing alumni morale and also placement statistics. I was bouncing this idea around to a colleague who suggested that the second and third years could also be increased over $45,000 to subsidize those who took the option, but I still think the number would be small enough that this might be unnecessary (or require a very small increase).


I agree that students should be given the choice to leave for free or at a reduced tuition rate. That would give students who come across BIDER and are at the bottom of their class or at a third tier school the opportunity to leave, no strings attached, and not waste two additional years and $100k+ on a useless degree.

Where she loses me is her proposal to increase second and third year tuition to a whopping $45,000+ to "subsidize those who took the option". That is ridiculous. Second and third year students shouldn't have to subsidize for their classmates' decision to drop out. I think what Hurt really meant is that tuition should increase by whatever amount necessary to maintain her six-figure salary. How about eliminating 3L year altogether and charging students who drop out after 1L year only half of the full year's tuition? That way, dropouts can cut their losses by half and remaining students won't have to subsidize the loss or go into further debt for a useless third year. What do you think?

Horror News Open Thread

Another day, another sign that the world is going to hell in a handbasket.

Let's start with the news that 300k teachers could be laid off this summer. Unlike overpaid law professors who fuck (literally) their students and contribute little to the well being of our society, teachers who work in primary, middle, and high schools are underpaid, overworked, yet are essential to an educated safe, and productive community. Schools in my area have already proposed 4-day school weeks and extended vacation. I expect the crime rate to skyrocket. When teenagers have nowhere to go because all of the schools and recreational facilities have been shut down, the only thing left to do is alcohol, drugs, sex, and loitering.

I've been putting off the BP Oil gusher spill because it's just too depressing beyond what we've all read and seen on the news and in photos. I recommend Naked Capitalism and Corrente for updated news and analysis of the cover-up story. Not only have wildlife and jobs been destroyed, but now there are reports that fishermen have become ill from BP's toxic chemicals while trying to clean up the spill.
More and more stories about sick fishermen are beginning to surface after the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The fishermen are working out in the Gulf -- many of them all day, every day -- to clean up the spill. They said they blame their ailments on the chemicals that BP is using.

One fisherman said he felt like he was going to die over the weekend.

"I've been coughing up stuff," Gary Burris said. "Your lungs fill up."Burris, a longtime fisherman who has worked across the Gulf Coast, said he woke up Sunday night feeling drugged and disoriented."

It was like sniffing gasoline or something, and my ears are still popping," Burris said. "I'm coughing up stuff. I feel real weak, tingling feelings.

"Marine toxicologist Riki Ott said the chemicals used by BP can wreak havoc on a person's body and even lead to death."

The volatile, organic carbons, they act like a narcotic on the brain," Ott said. "At high concentrations, what we learned in Exxon Valdez from carcasses of harbor seals and sea otters, it actually fried the brain, (and there were) brain lesions."
Despite the environmental disaster in the Gulf, Shell continues to go forth with plans to drill on the Alaskan coast as early as July 1st.

Do you have additional doomsday news to report? This is an open thread. Legal and non-legal news welcomed.

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Harvard Scammed!

Jokes on you, Ivy League.  Let's start the "I Love Adam Wheeler" Fan Club!

Watch CBS News Videos Online

Ode to Sally May! A Story of Hope and Loss.

I enjoy reading the comments, more than you enjoy reading BIDER.  Especially when I find poetry from those that have been inspired by life circumstances.  An Anonymous comment blew me away this morning and I thought I should post it.  Thank you, Anonymous Commenter, for making me smile and reading our blog.  Enjoy:


Anonymous said...

Well, I'll just say this because it's a better day than most. Not because the sun is shining or because there is any hope that my law degree will get me a job, but, look, at this point, I'm sitting at the table, I'm on a losing streak, I'm down more money than I've ever had in my life, my wife/girlfriend has got pissed off and left the casino, I would be sleeping on the couch (if I had not lost it in the previous hand), and I've only got my car key to go all in, so, I'm throwing it on the pile. I'm all in, and I will be all in every hand after this because I'm a man with nothing to lose. It's the first bit of enthusiasm I've had for a couple of years now. You're going to have to forgive me.

I'll play fair. I'll be up-front. I'll be honest. I'll play by the rules. But, one rule no one can change is that when you've got nothing to lose, losing the next hand doesn't move you. You find yourself right back in the same place. it's funny, that. So, my law degree is staying on the wall. It's worthless. I know. But fuck me if it didn't suck trying to get it. It's staying to remind me that I work for myself. That was what it was supposed to represent at some point. Misled I was, but the fact is that the reason I thought I was going to law school was to chart my own course.

Forgive me if I haven't changed my mind about doing that. There are no debtors' prisons. What has been taken away from me, and I suppose from all of us, is nothing more than the incentive to live a lower middle-class life. The Sallie Mae death-zone makes me a slave, and quite frankly, she can go fuck herself. I'm not going to work for her, the harlot. I'll work to take care of what I need, but I'm not going to do 80-hour weeks at $15/hour so Ms Mae, the tart, can garnish 55 of them until I'm dead and gone.

So, get this: I'm gone. I'll tell you where when I get there, wherever it will be. I'm going to keep in touch. Don't you worry your pretty little head about that. But, I'm also going to take obscene career risk after obscene career risk until one of them banks. And, if it never happens for me, well, then, I guess, Sallie, you're just going to have to live on less, now aren't you.

Economically, is that not the rational, cold-blooded business decision? Tell me it's not. Tell me there is a reason I should live my life in your death-zone. Tell me this is not what some of the major banks just did when they walked away from mortgages and leases and then refused to let under-water homeowners do the same thing. Know what? I'm too big to fail. So go fuck [sic.] yourself. No, my debts won't be discharged in bankruptcy. No, I'm not going to disappear on you and the kids. And, yes, I'm going to try my best. But, look, one thing I learned in law school is that the interests and debtors and creditors are not always aligned, however much you say you really want to work "with" me. That tends to happen when you over-reach and when you create necessitous men. Maybe you should have thought of that before now, because I've only got so much money, and you can't starve me into a better job (though, no doubt, you'd try).

Jerry O'Connell, TTT Student and C-List Actor, Will Play a Lawyer on TV This Fall

Here goes another "comedic drama" about lawyers living it up in the big city,this time starring Jerry O'Connell and Jim Belushi. The show is called The Defenders and it will air on CBS this fall. I'll give this show a chance, but I wouldn't be surprised if it ends up in the television graveyard along with The Deep End by the end of the year.

In case you didn't know, O'Connell just finished his first year at Southwestern Law School. Nando recently profiled the TTT, which costs $74,050 for the 2010-2011 school year. It makes sense for someone like O'Connell who is wealthy and has nothing else to do between television pilots to earn the bragging rights of having a useless law degree. He's just following in the footsteps of other celebrities such as James Franco who slept his way through Columbia University and Tiger Wood's estranged wife Elin Nordegren who is a student at Rollins College. Unlike normal people, none of these celebrities need their degree to survive, find another job, and pay their bills.

For those of us who don't make millions of dollars each year from acting or a philandering billionaire husband, wasting $74,000 each year on a useless degree at a place like Southwestern Law School will likely be a life destroying decision. Just like the character O'Connell will portray, having an exciting legal career as a defender, meeting beautiful women, and living in a fancy apartment with a TTT degree is a fantasy. Enjoy it as entertainment but don't believe this in any way reflects reality.

Fan Mail!

I love to hear from BIDER readers.  Please, email me and Hardknocks with whatever you have.  We can't keep up with every story that would interest our readers.  Here's a letter from a recent grad who has a tip to share.  The story is divinely ironic!

Hey Angel,

Just thought I would pass this your way, for some reason my brower's cookie settings won't allow me to post on BIDER or any other blogspot sites, which is frustrating as it shuts me out of commenting on all of my favorite scamblogs.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704250104575238692439240552.html

Author spends the entire article talking about how horrible things are for our generation, and then wraps up by noting that his unemployed son is starting law school in the fall. AS IF THAT IS GOING TO REALLY HELP. I'm starting to think we're all just really, really retarded. Christ...

Anyway, if you or any of the other bloggers might want to mention this big LOL in the middle of an otherwise good piece about how fucked we all are, it might be worth a line.

Thanks for your work and keep it up!

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Online Poster Printing Giveaway


Enter to win a
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This giveaway is limited to US Residents only. Must be 18 years old and up.

To enter this contest, please comment below with why you'd like to win a Poster Print. It's that simple!

The contest ends at midnight, Tuesday, May 25th. A winner will be selected at random and contacted by email so please leave a valid email address. You can also email me at hardknocklaw(at)gmail(dot)com if you prefer not to leave you email address in the comments section.

Get an additional entry if you follow our blog. Please let me know in the comments or by email if you are a follower and would like to be entered.

This giveaway is sponsored by Online Poster Printing, a subsidiary of UPrinting.

Survey Shows Recent Graduates Are Screwed Regardless of Rank, GPA, or Joint Degree


Do not go to law school. I cannot stress this enough to college graduates who think three years in law school will somehow make the recession end and older and experienced laid off lawyers disappear. A new survey from legal staffing firm Robert Half Legal shows what Angel and I have already told you. The job market is over-saturated with lawyers and there is no way young graduates without connections will get a job when there are thousands of laid off attorneys with experience competing for the same jobs and willing to work for less money and fewer hours. Most of you reading this already knew that.

In the survey, more than four in 10 (44 percent) of lawyers cited training or real-world experience as the most marketable attribute for law school graduates. Funny since most of us never got any real-world training or experience in law school. So unless you worked as a paralegal or law clerk before attending law school, you won't have the "experience" to compete. No, your internship with Bob Loblaw Shitlaw P.C. and moot court does not count as real experience.

Lawyers were asked, "In your opinion, which one of the following criteria makes recent law school graduates most marketable?" Their responses:


Training or experience in a high-demand practice area 44%
Law school or class ranking 19%
Technological proficiency 9%
Project management skills 8%
Joint J.D. and MBA degree 5%
Bilingual ability 2%
Other 9%
Don't Know 4%

The T14 means little to nothing in this new economy. Law school and class ranking counts for only 19 percent. Joint degrees count 5 percent. Fancy degrees and working your butt off to graduate cum laude will no longer guarantee a Biglaw or government job. Do not believe a joint JD and MBA degree will get you a job. I have several friends with a joint JD and MBA degree from top 10 schools who are unemployed. One of my friends admitted that he has been unemployed for too long to ever enter the private sector again. He graduated at the top of his class from a T14 and has a joint JD and MBA degree. He also has several years of experience in Biglaw. Do not go to law school.

Robert Half Legal offered the following bullshit job-search tips to law school graduates.
  1. Make the most of your time. Hiring managers look favorably on candidates who have used their post-graduation period wisely. Use this opportunity to secure informational meetings with potential employers. Also sign up for additional training, including certified legal education, and business development and technology classes.
  2. Consider pro bono or project work. These short-term assignments can help you make valuable contacts and develop skills future clients will seek, and may even lead to a full-time role.
  3. Rethink the firm route. Consider clerkships that offer one to two years of formal training and can serve as an entree into a long-term position. Also, don't overlook mediation or alternative dispute resolution, and public interest roles.
  4. Network heavily. Use social media sites to expand your contact list but also make an effort to meet people face to face by attending alumni networking events or bar association meetings.
  5. Look beyond your legal circle. Friends, neighbors, former colleagues and college classmates outside your field could have connections or information that can lead you to your next position.
I think these tips, like most of the tips I've received since the economy collapsed, will do nothing to help most of us. We all know that. All of us who have put in 110 percent into networking, interning for next to nothing, and interviewing already know that pro bono work, doc review, internships, and networking with people who could care less about you and already decided to give the job to their relative, friend, or lover does not lead to a job. Do not go to law school.
 

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