Who Should Go to Law School?

My main squeeze suggested that I write about this topic.  Perhaps he thinks I'm too one sided when it comes to the law school debate.  I probably am.  However, there are a few people who I would suggest should go to law school--very few.  If you fulfill the following criteria, then I am on board with you going to law school and I'll dance at your graduation.

1. If you get into a T8 school;
2. If you get get a full ride or borrow, at most, $40K;
3. If you can live at home or with a spouse that will pay your living expenses or if you are independently wealthy; and
4. If you worked for a small firm for at least a year, and still want to practice the law.

Then, once you have finished your first year, you can continue with my blessing if:

1. You placed in the top 25% of your class and
2. You secured a summer associate position.

Notice #10, Duke Law?  My point exactly.  T8 or fugetaoutit.

Let me explain:

• I think that a T8 will be prestigious enough to weather this financial storm.  
• If you get a full ride, then you are free to work wherever you'd like or--more honestly--doing whatever you can find. You should never borrow more money than you think you will earn in a year.  I think $40K is a safe bet for lawyers these days. That's a great starting salary in NYC from my observations.
• I had a substantial scholarship for tuition, but it's easy to lose site of the cost of rent and food and other expenses.  Therefore, if you want to do it right, you should have all of your expenses paid for by your parents or by your spouse.  When you're 22 years old and you have $10K in your bank account (from Sallie Mae), it's so easy to spend the money frivolously.  But when you pay back that $10K, it will be be $30K.  So, when you buy a Starbucks coffee for $4, if you're buying it with borrowed money, it's a $12 coffee.  Remember that.  Of course, if you're independently wealthy then these issues don't pertain to you.
• I worked for a small firm and there were many kids that worked there while in college.  They all hated the small firm environment and what we did for a living, but still wanted to go to law school.  Why? Did they think they were better than us?  Here's the cold, hard truth--you will be lucky to find a job in shit law.  So, if you work there, and you don't like it--don't bother going to law school. If you thrive in that sort of atmosphere, welcome to the profession!  At least, by working in a small firm, you will have a good grasp of the worst case scenario.  Well, that's not entirely true.  The worst case scenario would be not finding a job at all.
• Once you've finished your first year, that's it. Your future is decided.  If you didn't do well, there is no trophy if you keep on keeping on.  You are screwed out of all of the great opportunities for law students.  You won't land a summer associate position that will give you premier employment. You're done.  Cut your losses and get out.

Your 15 Minutes of Fame...

I was contacted by a reporter today (see below).  He wants to hear from you and yours. This is your chance.  If you are featured in the story, I will probably cover it and then you'll be famous like Zenovia Evans!  Or you can just tell him your story and not your identity to further "the cause."  What's the cause?  Well, if you don't know, please don't contact him. Otherwise, it's our turn to take care of the youth. Yes, we're not the youngest victims of the law school scam.  We have to spread the word so that 22 year olds avoid our mistakes.  It's too late for us, but it's not too late for them.  So, do a charitable thing and reach out to this reporter and tell him how you feel about law schools/contract work/employment manipulation, etc.

Dear B.U.D.E.R.,

Hi, I'm a writer for the NY Observer hoping to put together a story about the scamblog phenomenon. I wonder if there's any chance you might be able to field some questions and/or point me to any good sources for 1) evidence behind the claims of employment figure manipulation, specifically in the NY/NJ area (I saw your Duke thing which was pretty amazing), 2) first-hand accounts of the post-"TTT" boiler-room document review world evoked by the scamblogs.

Any help much appreciated.

sincerely,
--
John Gorenfeld
www.gorenfeld.net
john@gorenfeld.net

****

On Wed, Sep 1, 2010 at 3:48 PM, Angel the Lawyer wrote:
It's BIDER... lol.
Well, I am not one to out myself, but just a look at my blog and the blog roll (other scamblogs) will show you that we are not blowing smoke.  We know that the numbers are manipulated, because most of the lawyers around us are unemployed or underemployed.

I will forward your email to the other bloggers and maybe they will speak up.

****

Sorry for the dyslexia :) Anyway I welcome all soul-crushing debt stories and can protect the anonymity of anyone who would like to share their story--appreciate it.

-J

A Chart That Requires No Commentary.

Thanks for the tip, anonymous BIDER reader.  I can't wait for this bubble to burst.  Heads are going to roll.

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!

$848,028,384,295: Student Loan Debt Clock

Mark Kantrowitz of Fin.aid has set up a clock, much like the U.S. Debt Clock near Times Square in Manhattan, measuring the amount of private and public student loans piling on the back of young Americans.

This clever feature "takes into account both new loans being made and old loans being paid off, which decrease the total amount of debt outstanding. The reason the clock grows by a couple thousand dollars per second is simple: Current students are borrowing money much faster than former students are paying it back."
Scary, right?  I'm hoping that the digital nonsensical clock on the side of the former Virgin Megastore in Manhattan can be used to publicly display the Student Loan Clock.  Since Virgin closed, I'm sure it's available.

Look!  It's perfect!  And it has space for growth.  After all, "in 2010, Kantrowitz estimates that the government will make about $100 billion in federal loans -- and receive just $22 billion in principal payments, leading to a net increase of $78 billion per year. That doesn't even include private loans."
So, it will need to be a big clock, a really big clock.

Thanks for the tip, friend!

Honesty is Refreshing!

The Lost Generation--that's you, folks!  Crain's put out an article spelling out the cold, hard truth:

Young lawyers in New York are not supposed to have to wait tables or string together temp jobs until they get their big break—that kind of seat-of-your-pants lifestyle used to be reserved for aspiring actors.

Not these days. The traditional career path—which assured law students that if they studied diligently and racked up good grades, a decent legal position would await them at the end of law school—has been all but washed away by the financial crisis, which has caused the New York legal industry to contract by 10% over the past year.

Waiting tables.  Stripping.  Working as a barrista at the local Starbucks.  Finally, the truth.  Being a lawyer isn't all it's cracked up to be.  Namely, it's not even being a lawyer.

“We're being called the lost generation,” says Shorav Kaushik, a 2009 Brooklyn Law School grad. Despite interning with the New York Attorney General's office, finishing in the top half of his class and winning a fellowship at the New York City Environmental Control Board, Mr. Kaushik has been unable to land a full-time law job.

Boo hoo, Shorav.  How many of BIDER readers went to better schools and finished in the top quarter of their class, and still don't have a job?  What about those that GOT a job, and because of stylish deferments, still don't have a job.

Indeed, 22,000 law jobs disappeared during the year ending in May. The 88% employment rate for the class of 2009 was the lowest in nearly two decades, according to the National Association of Legal Professionals. 

I hate the NALP for citing this figure.  88%?  That's a statistic that certainly includes all of those in the private industry, such as those working at Banana Republic and Johnny Rocket's and those working as Independent Contractors for shitlaw firms.  It's no wonder that bloggers and our sympathizers are called "whiners" with bogus stats such as this. I wish it was 88%.

Ramit Singh doesn't need to be told. The 28-year-old finished in the top 25% of his class from New England Law and came to New York nearly two years ago to pursue entertainment law. He tried volunteering at entertainment law firms, with no luck. He has strung together freelance positions at a music-licensing company, a part-time stint at a social media company and a volunteer gig at the New York State Supreme Court. He also does freelance document review. “It's a lot of really small irons in a big raging fire,” he says.

While he doesn't regret becoming a lawyer, “I didn't think I'd be hustling like this,” he says. “I had three jobs last month.”

That's what it comes down to, hustling.  Hustling is certainly what I've been doing to get by. You hustle your ass off.  Some months, you make it.  Some months, you don't.  Your savings decrease. Your credit card balances increase.  You're exhausted and you don't have health insurance, so you just hope that something stable comes through.  I'm a hustler.  Chances are, so are you--or:

Some new lawyers have responded by doing the unthinkable—working for nothing.

After graduating from New York Law School last year, Alyssa Farruggia ended up volunteering nearly full-time for the Staten Island courts. “You have your sights on the job at a big firm, but when that doesn't happen, you've got to do something else,” explains the 25-year-old Staten Islander, who lives at home. “The most important thing was keeping my résumé going.”

Most of the city's law schools last year started working with the New York State Unified Court System, channeling grads into its Volunteer Attorney Programs, so local courts are now flooded with young lawyers looking for experience and something to do. 

Working in New York, I've actually run into bunches of these kids.  If I represent a creditor, they represent the debtor.  They lifelessly argue their *extremely* valid points in the halls of civil court.  Their  eyes are dead, their clothes are dirty and torn, they look broken. I feel for these young lawyers, but it's not bunches better for this older lawyer.

People think that the legal industry goes in cycles.  By all accounts, we've been hit by several "bad" markets: the eighties, the dot.com bubble burst, post 9/11 economy and now this.  The lemmings who just started law school last week, are convinced that hiring will miraculously pick up in 2013.  However, this isn't a slump--it's a sputter of a dying engine.  The legal industry is shot.  Only when people believe that, and refuse to mortgage their futures on the chance that things will get better in three years, will we have any chance of salvaging our crippled industry.

You're not being smart going to law school. It blows to start off at the bottom rung of any company because you "only" have a college diploma.  But you're better off than you will be if you do the responsible thing and go on to get an advanced degree.

Humor for Lawyer: Famous Last Words

Ran across this article and thought I should share with the BIDER readers.  Serial Killers live by the sword and go out with a bang.  Here are some notorious killer's last words before they went to see their Maker.  I found it funny in a dark way:

1. Gary Gilmore: “Let’s do it!”—Here’s a nice bit of trivia for you. Did you know that Nike got the inspiration for its slogan “Just do it” from the last statement of convicted murderer Gary Gilmore? It’s absolutely true, and it’s kind of creepy. Gary Gilmore was put to death on January 17, 1977 by a volunteer firing squad. He was charged with killing a motel manager (convicted) and a gas station employee (not convicted).
2. Aileen Wuornos: “”I’d just like to say I’m sailing with the rock, and I’ll be back like Independence Day, with Jesus June 6. Like the movie, big mother ship and all, I’ll be back.”—These were the final words of 6-time murderer Aileen Wuornos. Wuornos worked as a prostitute, and she robbed and killed men as a means of supporting herself. You may recall a movie was made about her called Monster starring Charlize Theron.
3. John Wayne Gacy: “Kiss my ass.”—Remember how we said some people use their last statements to apologize or share their love for others? Gacy wasn’t one of those people. Gacy’s “kiss my ass” statement was probably to be expected from a man convicted of the rape and murder of 33 men in a 6-year span.
4. George Appel: “Well, gentlemen, you are about to see a baked Appel.”—Appel is the only death row inmate on this list to use a pun as his final words. That creativity alone earned him a spot in our top 10 list.
5. Jimmy Glass: “I’d rather be fishing.”—On June 12, 1987, Jimmy Glass was put to death in Louisiana for robbing and murdering an elderly couple after escaping a jail 5 years earlier. He was just one vote short of having the electric chair declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
6. John Avalos Alba: “Okay Warden, let’s do it. I love y’all. I can taste it already. I am starting to go.”—Alba was sentenced to death after fatally shooting his estranged wife while he was out on bail for a child molestation charge. His last statement consisted of a lengthy apology and the unsettling words quoted above.
7. Erskine Childers: “Take one step forward lads. It’ll be easier that way.”—IRA combatant Ernest Childers encouraged the firing squad to come a little closer to make sure they didn’t miss when shooting at him.
8. Tom Ketchum: “I’ll be in hell before you start breakfast, boys. Let her rip!”—“Black Jack” Tom Ketchum was the last man to hang in America after he attempted to rob a train. He was a famous outlaw who robbed and killed plenty during his day, and he was finally caught when attempting to rob a train on his own. Here’s an interesting fact: Ketchum’s hanging was actually botched, and the noose cut his head clean off his body.

One of the comments in the original article had a nice addition:

James French also punned his last words based on his name. On the electric chair he yelled to the reporters, ” Hey, fellas! How about this for a headline for tomorrow’s paper? ‘French Fries’! ” that’s always been one of my favorites.

There's been lots of discussion recently (and always) about why we (lawyers) are so hated.  Of course, part of it must be that we represent the scum of the earth, such as the killers listed above.  But everyone is entitled to representation and rights afforded to them by the law.

My only wish was that their victims' names were as well known as their killers.  Oh yah, I wish their victims were still with us.