Monday, August 16, 2010

We Need More Christian Lawyers, Right?

Nothing against Christianity and religious people, but is it really necessary for Louisiana to open up ANOTHER law school with a focus on the Christian faith?  I'm really misleading BIDER readers here, because I don't care if Louisiana opened up a law school with a focus on Spanish Language, a law school with a focus on freeing the innocent and wrongly convicted, or a law school focused on sharia law.  We don't need another law school.  But, Louisiana has opened a law school in Shreveport and they are giddy about it.  I find it ironic that this announcement is made on the heels of the news from the Newark Star Ledger about dismal job prospects for New Jersey Lawyers.
Eager Lemming and Future Judge Paul Pressler School of Law Grad thinks, "But Louisiana is different than New Jersey. There's tons of opportunity here.  Especially for those with Christian values."

Hmmm.  I don't know.

I've never been to Shreveport, only New Orleans--which was a small, provincial and charming town.  Is Shreveport bigger?  How often do you Christian Values come into play when practicing the law?  Okay, these are the issues that may offend one's sense of morality as a solo, and these kids will be solos:
1.  Should I, or should I not, represent those seeking divorce when I don't believe in divorce?
2.  Should take on a bankruptcy client when it's immoral to avoid paying one's debt.
3.  Should I represent a women who was sexually harassed at work when she dresses too provocatively?

Actually, while I was drafting this list, I thought--people that have such a strong sense of morality that they seek to influence others, probably have no business being an attorney.  I represent many people I know and respect and many others that I think are slime, but justified legally.  I don't think there is room in the practice of law for morality.  What's legal is not always right--morally speaking.  According to the Shreveport Times, the school will provide a "biblical worldview" with the goal of training future lawyers "to defend conservative Christian values in courtrooms and politics."

Well, maybe there's a void?  Maybe there is no law school addressing this pressing need?  Nope.  Welcome to Regent School of Law: What makes Regent unique among law schools approved by the American Bar Association is that we thoroughly integrate a Christian perspective in the classroom. We are committed to the proposition that there are truths--eternal principles of justice--about the way we should practice law and about the law itself. We believe character matters. We talk openly about how an attorney can have integrity and humility in a profession that challenges both. And we discuss not only what the law is, but also its origin and what it ought to be.

You're not unique anymore, Regent.

Actually, on a side note, I chose my pen name "Angel" because I felt that it was divinely ironic that I am doing the devil's work and I'm a very moral person.  I wonder what these kids will think of the practice of law.

So, one more law school--another 100 or so students unemployed in the near future.  Welcome, kids!  It's been a hell of a ride and I'm happy you can join!

17 comments:

  1. Will the school accept the unclean money of the guvmint in this pursuit in the form of tuition dollars, or will it ramain "pure"?

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  2. The ABA is really approving a new law school? In these crazy times? I know Louisiana might need some talent to help legally sort out all the mess of the recent, but a whole school?

    Mmmmm... I smell greed disguised as religion... (its that same aroma that wafts through the air when I pass by a church or any other house of worship)

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  3. Remember that part of the Bible where Jesus told his followers to go $150,000 into non-dischargeable educational debt? That part was a great part of the Bible. I don't remember the section exactly -- I believe it's verse 28 from the book of Lemmings.

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  4. Absurd. There's nothing going on in Shreveport, and in Louisiana, the law school hierarchy is LSU, Tulane (a far second), Loyola, and Southern University. Those four law schools turn out way too many lawyers as it is. Starting salaries are disgustingly low even at "big firms" in Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Opportunities to go elsewhere are limited for kids who study only Civil Code courses. The last thing the state needs right now is another law school. *sigh*

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  6. 11:06 sounds like a recent LSU Law grad. If feeling superior to Tulane grads, or any other Louisiana law grads makes you feel better about your prospects . . .

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  7. as long as the government student loan scam keeps financing this foolishness, I can't blame anyone for establishing another diploma mill - Christian has become a word without meaning other than for marketing purposes - I think it still sells well down South. I think the next shoe to drop is the establishment of US Muslim law schools devoted to Sharia. It will be interesting to watch the ABA approve that, which they will.

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  8. I say this as a (nominal) Christian myself, but I HATE all this "the world needs more Christian lawyers" claptrap. It sounds nice (defend the innocent! uphold the law!) but it quickly devolves into obsessions over trying to overturn Roe v. Wade and "protecting" First Amendment freedom of discrimination...whoops...expression for Christian groups. It's a self-serving assertion that does not really promote the aims of the statement (surprise surprise).

    I got into a lot of arguments with my fellow Christian lawyers/non-lawyers over this one. Case in point - if you have a major property dispute that could protentially cost you six or seven figures of loss to you if you lose, do you want a lawyer that will "turn the other cheek" or one that will get you the best result possible?

    Even my fellow Christians had to 'fess up on that one. Let's cut the hypocrisy, try to live the best moral lives that we possibly can, and admit that "peacemaking" does not always solve the problems of a fallen world. Christain lawyers are not inherently preferable to non-Christian lawyers, especially when you're slinging it out in the mud.

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  9. The second law of thermodynamics still works. Entropy as it applies to institutions. Nice. I honestly don't see the problem with more unemployed lawyers. So what? If 30% of new lawyers are unemployed a year after graduation, then those are probably 30% that chose the wrong profession. I have never been in the bottom 30% in my life, and I'm not going to start now. What University stops or even advises a kid not to go into a certain profession because they are not going to make it or are not suited for it? None? Go get a degree in Philosophy. How's that working for you? How about Criminal Justice, even though you are a 100lbs overweight? Or you have a degree in Business, but are a complete moron at the interview and the only hope you have of working in the field is if at some point during your day you say, "Would you like fries with that?"

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  10. "If 30% of new lawyers are unemployed a year after graduation, then those are probably 30% that chose the wrong profession. I have never been in the bottom 30% in my life, and I'm not going to start now."

    You're adorable.

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  11. Yah. I thought that was cute too. We all graduated from college summa cum laude. Who told you that you were special? Your mama?

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  12. Angel, therein lies a problem. Not THE problem, but a problem. Grades will get you an interview. I never said I was special, I said I have never been a bottom 30% guy. I promise not to bitch about not having a job, because I don't need one. I am going to Law school purely for fun. At the end of it, I might get a job. I don't care about that. I just want to go and have fun with it. I promise not to ever bitch about failing, as I won't. I promise to never complain about working, because I will if I want. Sometimes starting at the bottom is what you have to do. Seems like a lot of whining. Weak people, if you ask me. As the drill instructors used to like to say, "Shut your pie holes." Most folks that complain, new and old, have no idea how to do this.

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  13. The graduates will get jobs in the Justice Dept. of the next republican president. Ashcroft's DOJ hired almost exclusively from Regent, which is ranked in the FIFTH tier and is acclaimed by nobody except hardcore jeezus freaks. Remember that Monica Goodling or Gooding? She wrote those memos saying how it's OK to fire the non-complaint US Attorneys using logic like (paraphrasing) "because the president said so?" Regent, baby.

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  14. 10:47. What profession screens applicants out like that? That's an easy one.

    the Clergy.

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  15. 1:01: You have a strange conception of "fun".

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  16. @5:31 - try 12 years out, formerly with a large New Orleans firm. Just telling you how it was - two of the firms where I clerked were solid on LSU undergrad/LSU law, and Tulane/Loyola clerks were not extended as many offers as LSU law students.

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