NYLS, Brooklyn, NYU, Columbia, St. Johns, Albany, Cardozo, Fordham, Touro, CUNY School of Law, Cornell, Hofstra, Pace, SUNY Buffalo, Syracuse.... Binghamton???????

Yes... Binghamton is planning on opening up a law school.  They don't even lie and say that New York or that Binghamton (in upstate New York) is in dire need of a law school.  It's pretty daggone obvious that New York is drowning in law schools.  Besides the obvious motivation ($$$$$) what could they be thinking?  Especially with the legal industry producing a ton o'grads a year.  43,587 graduates to be exact.  So, what's another 160 or so???? 

Here is one of their reasons:

Based on statistics from 2007-08, out of all the then-seniors that applied to attend law schools across the country, 76 percent were accepted to one or more American Bar Association-accredited law schools after graduation. Of those applicants who were seniors at BU, 86 percent have been accepted to one or more law schools.



"We are 10 percent above the national rate," Appelbaum said. "Binghamton does a wonderful job in preparing students for law school. I think it would do equally well in providing a legal education."

What an achievement! With over 200 law schools in America, the Correspondence College for Monkey Science can produce graduates that get into law school... somewhere.  Is that really an achievement? 

Once again, the total disregard for the future of students after they get out of the law school is shocking to me.  I can open a law school in my living room, but I wouldn't.  I could just teach them a  Barbri Course and they will be better prepared for the Bar then if they went to law school.  But I won't.  Why not?  Because I can't tell these kids that they will have a future in the field.  What Binghamton and other law schools are doing is fraud.  Why isn't the State Attorney General of New York prosecuting these hacks.  I really think that law schools are the biggest Ponzi Scheme of all.   Deans everywhere should have to pay their unemployed graduates back the money they stole.  That would be justice.

Workers Unite!

Alternative Title: Law School Grads! Don't gut the Temp Legal Industry by taking whatever hourly rate is thrown your way. You're fucking up your own future!

My friend, Eve, a contract attorney, hit the streets this week. She was registering with new and exciting temp agencies in light of her current project coming to an end. And, the rates are dropping, folks. It's gone from $40/hour to $35/hour, and now to $33/hour and lower in some markets. DC is offering $30/hour and they want us to grin and bear it. The reason why, Eve says, "too many people looking! especially with all the new grads getting their pass letters. also, places are very picky about whether you've done ___ type of case before."

If we all decide not to accept jobs for lower than $35/hour, then they will be forced to pay us what we need to work and live and pay our bills. I'm not putting it all on the shoulders of the recent grads who are eagerly running to temp with bar results in hand. I realize that the agencies are selfish--that's a given. The law firms are cheap. The clients are picky. But they are getting away with murder here. Just over a year ago, they were billing out 1st year associates at $200/hour to do the same work. Now, they are driving the price as close to $20/hour as they can... With a savings of $180, do we need to give them more????

I am totally freaked out that the bottom feeding law school grads will jump on $29/hour without thinking about what it does to the temp industry. It will take months to get back to reasonable rates. As Eve said, "just fyi -- i did doc review in 2002... and the rate was 40 an hour!"

How does everything in the world get more expensive and we get cheaper and cheaper by the month? Why haven't we "benefited" from inflation???

I realize that we are the hookers of the legal world. But let's try to be high class escorts, rather than crack whores.