Monday, December 6, 2010

Is this Article about North or South Korea? Either Way, I'd Rather be There than Here.

Joking of course.  I'm not going anywhere, but I definitely have respect and admiration for whichever Korea after reading this....
Quotas--for attorneys?   Obviously, the Korean Government has been reading BIDER and they see the writing on the wall [The Wall Reads: "Unemployed and Homeless Attorneys Coming Soon!"].  The Korean Government, unlike the ABA, wants to control the lawyer population--much like New Jersey controls the black bear population.  Failure to do so, will result in many ruined lives.  The Korea law students are on crack and possibly opium--wanting limitless access to law licenses.  They are clearly short-sighted.  I actually have more than a few readers from Korea and I advise you to spread my warnings far and wide.  You will be us in thirty years.  Read below and weep for our comrades:

About 3,000 law school students have signed written pledges to quit their schools in a collective protest against the government’s move to limit the number of lawyer licenses to be issued to graduates.
They staged a large-scale rally against the move in front of the Ministry of Justice in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, Monday, a day ahead of the government’s deliberation to decide on the exact quota for successful test takers in the 2012 bar exam.
They represent more than 80 percent of a total of 3,827 students registered at 25 law schools nationwide. 
Korea is basically heaven for lawyers:
The dispute began after it was reported that the ministry was considering capping the ratio of successful bar exam takers at around 50 percent of all graduates. Under the government policy to limit the number of new lawyers, only around 1,200 graduates will be given licenses each year. The government and the association of lawyers believe the market is already saturated here and the number of new lawyers should be checked. 
You don't have to look too far to see the results of doubling and tripling your lawyer population.  Nevada?  New York?  L.A.?

Many lawyers [are] concern[ed] that adding more than 2,000 will lead to a “collapse” of the whole industry. 
“Many junior lawyers have struggled to land a job since the government increased the number of successful bar exam takers to 1,000. The situation will get worse if the number of new lawyers is not restricted,” said lawyer Lee Jung-hwan at a recent conference. 
He also expressed concerns about the entry of unqualified lawyers into the market. “The government should put priority on how to maintain quality services,” Lee said.
That Lee dude is right on the money.  100% of our law student population has no idea how to practice law after graduation...but somehow the ABA is not concerned.

Perhaps, we should do away with the ABA and give the responsibility of governing our profession to the entity that picks us up when we can't find jobs after graduation--the government.  After all, they provide out of work attorneys with unemployment benefits and food stamps.  The government also causes the problem by funding our educations.  Maybe they are best situated to stop the problem by limiting the number of lawyers who may practice the law--going in the front end or out the rear end of the this monster that they have created.
That's how to get their attention.

7 comments:

  1. I read that article too. The ABA is the anti-trade association. I have never seen a more dysfunctional advocacy organization. You don't see the AMA or ADA bending over backwards too push free medical or dental care while many of their members can't get a job, no practical training, and flooded by an uncontrolled lawyer population. We need advocates for lawyers.

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  2. I had no idea about the state of law schools until I came across your blog and others like it. I'm applying to a couple JD/PhD programs and I was blown away at how (seemingly) easy it is to get into law school compared to a Psychology PhD program.

    Making programs more competitive and only taking a few students per year would definitely be a solution to this problem but I don't see that happening given the amount of tuition that would be lost.

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  3. So let me get this straight, the Korean law students (i.e. future lawyers) are protesting because the government wants to put a monopoly on the labor market of their future profession. Are lawyers, collectively, just the biggest idiots on the planet? This is what makes your profession prestigious and valuable! And it's also something the ABA should have done like in 1990 instead of accrediting places like the Johnny B. Goode School of Confederate Law.

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  4. "Are lawyers, collectively, just the biggest idiots on the planet?"

    Yes.

    This has been another edition of simple answers to simple questions.

    ReplyDelete
  5. The current students are upset because the government made this decision after they had already enrolled in law school. The government has the right idea, they should have just announced years ago that in 2011, law licenses would be capped, and potential students should thus find something else to do.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Flowers for Algernon said:

    I whus a gradhuaated lawhuh reeely reely smart and uh handsomme lawyhuh guy tuu. Fammmely were reeeely proud uhhf me tuuu.

    and theen the biggg bill mail told me i wus reely bad and owed thugh government lots and lots of munney bechuse i was too dummy to be a big rich lawyer and the schuul was really sad bechusse i oweed munney and i am realllleeey bad.

    and now i owe the goverunmenthhuh loots and loots of munney and i am going to throhhhuh uhhhp bechuuuse i am reeely confuhusssed and ready to jhuuump

    or sufhocathe.

    Algernon is doing great by the way.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh My God. I was reading some of the Student Loan Horror stories here:

    http://studentloanjustice.org/victims.htm

    Things are getting really bad with the student loan situation in the USA.

    After reading these kinds of stories I am very afraid for the future. This kind of situation cannot sustain itself.

    Kids, we are living in very terrible times in the USA. All consumer protections have been eradicated.

    Do not, and I repeat: DO NOT TAKE OUT STUDENT LOANS for anything.

    If you cannot afford a Higher Education.

    Do not go.

    Please, for the love of a merciful GOD! If I could grap you by the shoulders and shake some sense into you:

    DO NOT TAKE OUT STUDENT LOANS

    ReplyDelete

 

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