Things Suck in Iowa Too--Nando Could Have Told You So.

There is one thing I hate to hear when I tell non-lawyers how much the legal industry sucks in New York Shitty.... "Why don't you move to the midwest or some other state where there are fewer lawyers?"

Never mind the bar and admissions.  Usually, where there are less lawyers, there are less jobs for lawyers.  There are likely less jobs for everyone because there's less people.

What about Iowa?  Nando from Third TTTTier Toilet Drake (or is it fourth?  or is it second with the bullshit that the USNWR is pulling?) can give us all an earful on the state of the legal market in Iowa.  I also ran into an article about the horrid state of the job market in Iowa.  Thought it was worth mentioning here.

It starts off with an awesome quote:
The sad thing about lawyers is not that so many of them are stupid, but that so many of them are intelligent. The craft is a great devourer of good men; it sucks in and wastes almost as many as the monastic life consumed in the Middle Ages. -- H.L. Mencken (1880-1956).

A few weeks ago, I was representing a friend in a crazy civil case (she lent some money to another friend that didn't return it).  We were waiting for opposing counsel to come and she asked me how she looked.  I said, she's 40ish and has grey hair.  So, my friend proceeded to examine all of the lawyers who came in with grey hair.  After we finally located opposing counsel, my friend said, "Angel, you need to stop being a lawyer. All of the lawyers, men and women, look like death walking and I'm afraid for your future.  Please promise me you'll teach or something. ANYTHING, just get out of this profession."

I'd like to think that lawyers look old and used up, much like meth heads or prostitutes--not so much like monks.  But, you get the idea.  It's no wonder too. With the job stats that are out there... Back to the article:

...according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, jobs in all legal occupations from now to 2018 will be only 0.86 percent of all jobs nationwide, totaling less than 1.5 million. For lawyers the expected growth is only 12.9 percent, representing 240,000 new jobs. The largest growth area will be paralegals and legal assistants, at 28 percent. This estimate does not reflect the significant downturn in hiring over the recession of the last two years....

Yet law school tuition keeps climbing. According to the American Bar Association, average in-state public-school tuition and fees are increasing at 9 percent per year, resulting in a 2009 average of $16,836. Out-of-state tuition is growing at 7 percent to over $28,280. Average private-school tuition was $33,985, increasing at 6 percent per year.

That's inflation if I ever did hear it.  But a state like Iowa will surely weather the storm better than most, right?  With only 2 law schools, what do they have to fear?

UI, with a top-tier rating by U.S. News and World Report (26th), has been prominently mentioned as having significant tuition increases, implementing a 20 percent in-state increase and 13 percent out-of-state increase in 2009, double the norm. 

Wow.  That's some kind of an increase for a state university!  But, the Dean has an excuse for this:

Dean Carolyn Jones characterized the tuition increase as an "unusual situation" and necessary to "maintain our progress, reputation and the strength of our degrees." 

One would think the strength of your degrees would be maintained by NOT shackling the hands of your students so much so that they cannot find gainful employment in the state of Iowa.  Your graduates would probably love to work for pennies, but can't because of the monstrous student debts on their backs.  Have you ever heard of fathers that are obligated to pay so much child support that it's not worth it for them to work?  This is the same situation.  You should strengthen your degrees by dropping tuition drastically and going bare bones budget wise a la Chris Christie.  Trim, trim, trim.... I'm a little delirious right now, and this may not make sense to most people.  But a school is run like a small state, and the best way to run a small state is not off the backs of your "citizens" (i.e. graduates) but by cutting back on expenses.

Whatever.  I'm done with that.

Thought Nando would appreciate this this article mentions Drake as well.  But nothing we don't already know.  It's a bit cheaper than IU, but at the end of the day, graduates of either school are screwed:

Drake University law school graduates are carrying a median debt of $91,576; Iowa graduates $87,891, of government loans only. Even before the proposed tuition increases, Iowa graduates have more than $21,000 more in debt than the average student, not including undergraduate or private loans, or credit card debts. Including those amounts would result in real debt to our Iowa young people of $125,000 to $150,000, plus interest. A great devourer of good men and women, indeed.

Median Salary by Job - Bar Association: Iowa Bar Association (United States)

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For those of you who are in Iowa, how accurate is this chart?  Just wondering.