University of Illinois: Lying Scumbags

They posted inaccurate information to look like hot shit on a pile of shit.   

Here's the info off of their website:

The accurate, independently verified data for the class of 2014’s Law School Admission Test (LSAT) scores and grade point averages (GPA) are as follows:  median LSAT, 163; median GPA, 3.70.  Information originally posted on the College of Law website last month inaccurately listed the median LSAT score as 168 and the median GPA as 3.81.

This is a curious development.  For a while now, as the economy has tanked, the law schools' GPA/LSAT stats have increased as the lemmings have flooded in with nothing better to do.  I always took this trend to mean that students who would be better served entering the work force cannot find jobs, thereby artificially inflating the stats of law schools. Let's be frank, when I went to law school, a 160 was a golden ticket to most law schools.  I received a scholarship with that LSAT score and a 3.767 GPA (but a 4.0 in my major, toot!). Today, I don't think I could get into my alma mater, let alone score a scholarship.   You really don't need more to pass the bar--which I did on my first try.  Now, with this lie, I'm thinking the lemmings--the smartest in the bunch--have heeded the warnings and decided to stay away.  Therefore, the stats have gone down.

What do you think about this?  

Duke Law: Full of Shit?

Facts and Statistics

Employment at Graduation & Nine Months Later

The quality of our students and of a Duke Law education makes our graduates highly desirable to employers seeking talented new attorneys.

Graduating Class	2009	2008	2007	2006	2005	2004
Employment at Graduation	100%	100%	97.75%	95.7%	95.6%	95.1%
Employment Nine Months Out	100%	100%	100%	98.18%	100%	100%

Does anyone else find it interesting [read: "a fucking lie"] that Duke Law has managed to have 100% employment at graduation during the Great Depression, and not during the boom years (2004 to 2006)?
This is such a ludicrous chart, that it should be disregarded and thrown out.  That's almost honest.  Try harder next time, Duke Law!
Here's more bogus and bullshit stats here.  Enjoy!

No More Room at the Bench! The ABA speaks!!!

Surely, by now, you've heard of the above-titled article by Mark Greenbaum. It was among one of the first mainstream media articles that addressed the oversupply of lawyers and asked that the ABA become accountable for its sins--namely, failing to regulate law schools. Well, there's been a response!

Here are portions of ABA President Carolyn Lamm's Letter to the Editor, in pertinent part--which I lifted from ATL.  My comments are in grey:


To the Editor:

You published a recent opinion piece by Mark Greenbaum. His analysis is premised on incorrect facts from which he draws flawed conclusions. He misstates the number of American Bar Association-approved law schools, ties it to what he describes as a “flood of graduates,” and insists the ABA should “block” new schools. He fails to acknowledge that in fact existing law schools have reduced voluntarily class size and therefore despite a minimal increase in the number of accredited law schools (7% over a 5 year period) first year enrollment grew by only two percent. Hardly producing a “flood of graduates”.

First of all, the flood started in the late 90s--not since the Great Recession.  I have yet to hear about a law school that is voluntarily reducing its class size. I would venture to say that is a fib.  However, I have heard that applications are up 20% and that New York Law School, for example, is expecting 50% more first years this coming school year. That is an additional 250 attorneys when New York City cannot support the tens of thousands of attorneys it currently houses.

Careers Services Scrambling... Reminds me of my Alma Mater

I hope this post doesn't offend anyone.  If you're overly sensitive or PC, you should not read this post.  I am not sensitive, nor am I politically correct, and I cannot censor myself.

I ran across this article and it brought me back to my school, circa 2000.  Basically, some Colorado Law School is looking at an unemployment rate of 65% at graduation.  So, what are they doing?  Are they overhauling the system, not accepting a new 1L class?  Are they setting up loan forgiveness programs?  NOPE... they are "scrambling" to place students in temporary jobs.  Ha.  Is that so they can report 99% of students employed to US News?  If they get all grads on the same temporary project that lasts 1 week, for that week, they can say that all grads are employed. Hilarious....

Well, this is not really the point of my post, but a side note.  Back when things were good...  Oh yah... they haven't been good for lawyers since the dot.com bubble exploded--which is when I graduated.  But I digress.  In my class, there was a guy who I could not stand.  Although I'm friends with many gay men, I could not stand this one.  He was queeny and catty and annoying.  Imagine Christian Siriano, but a lawyer and not particularly nice.  He would regularly spread rumors that every straight/married/attached guy in our school made a pass at him when they were alone.  I just found his efforts to convert people, or claims that he did, a little obnoxious.  He wasn't even cute... a little pale, frail and skinny boy. If I were a straight man-- I would not turn for him.   Let's call him Lee.  

He was also a trust fund baby (one of the few people in my class that paid for his tuition in full) and VERY southern.  As such, when he graduated with very good grades, he insisted that he wanted to stay in the south.  In an ideal and non-bigot world, besides his obvious personality issues, he should have been a shoe-in with excellent grades and a commitment to staying in the area.  But Lee was inexplicably rejected by firms although he was the most qualified candidate.  In his own little trust fund world, he failed to see the merits of toning it down a  little bit for the sake of the stuffy old white guy in the suit.  And I admit that it's a sad state of affairs that "toning it down" is necessary.  But even straight people have to do it some extent.  As you may recall:

1.  If you are married and female, don't wear a wedding ring.  Employers will think you'll get knocked up soon.

2.  If you are not married and male, wear a wedding ring.  Employers like to think that you are shackled down with responsibility and a family. It makes you a harder worker.

3.  If you have curly hair, straighten it and tie it back.  I don't even know why this is. I guess old white stuff lawyers are scared by curly hair.

and so on...

So, Lee failed to tone it down a bit to land a job and he would prance into interviews in his queen-like way and not get the job offer.  

So graduation came around and Lee was still unemployed.  Well, my Alma Mater freaked out because they couldn't have one of their star students, who was from a rich and well known family, remain unemployed. 

So what did they do?

They scrambled.  The created a professor position at the school and gave him an offer.  And he happily accepted. I guess he thought he was just that good.  Maybe the dean was secretly lusting after him as well.  

Unfortunately, this is not a singular incident--isolated to my school.  It has happened at other schools subsequently.  There is just so much pressure to lie for the U.S. News & World Report.